DEHYDRATION OR POSTURAL HYPOTENSION?
The second reason for recommending that endurance athletes drink as much as they can came from observing some competitors who collapsed after crossing the finish line. The impression was that these athletes were severely dehydrated; they were rushed into the locker room and given fluids intravenously. Thus, based on these scenarios, it makes sense to be aggressive about drinking water during a prolonged event, right? Certainly at one time, the sports medicine community believed it to be the right approach. In 1996, the American College of Sports Medicine officially endorsed this strategy in their guidelines Exercise and Fluid Replacement (Convertino VA, et al. 1996). In this position paper, they urged individuals to “consume the maximal amount that can be tolerated.” Since then, the understanding of fluid replacement during exercise has changed. Read on…. HYPONATREMIA CAUSED BY DRINKING TOO MUCH WATER Today, the strategy of drink “as much as you can” is no longer recommended. Here’s
