You are Probably Hydrating Wrong: Sweat Expert, Andy Blow - 09/02/2020

You Are Probably Hydrating Wrong: Sweat Expert, Andy
Blow

 


Are you over-hydrating during your runs? Under-hydrating? How can
you even tell and what should you do about it?  Sweat,
dehydration, and cramping expert Andy Blow talks sodium, fluids,
and performance with Coach Claire in this super informative
episode.


 


Andy has a degree in Sport and Exercise Science and was a regular
podium finisher in elite short course triathlon racing in his
younger days, but he learned about dehydration the hard way. Andy
found that he suffered more than most racers in heat and humidity
and at longer Ironman distances, frequently visiting the medical
tent due to cramps and dehydration despite following common
hydration protocols, and he ended with poor race results.


 


Andy sorted out his hydration needs thanks to years of trial and
error. Turns out, he’s a very salty sweater. As proof that one
size does not fit all when it comes to hydration, Andy loses
nearly twice as much sodium per liter of sweat than does his head
of operations, Jonny. 


 


Motivated by his struggles, Andy specialized in electrolyte
replenishment and founded Precision Hydration with the help of
respected heart surgeon, Dr. Raj Jutley, who introduced Andy to
sweat testing and the huge variances in sweat and sodium losses
among athletes. 
Precision Hydration produces hydration products, and offers
unique sweat and sodium testing, as well as education on creating
the right hydration plan to fit your individual needs. They have
created personalized hydration plans for top level athletes and
teams such as the English Premier League, International Rugby
Union, the NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL, Formula 1 Motor racing, MotoGP, and
IndyCar, as well as elite individuals from the worlds of cycling,
running, triathlon, and firefighters and service personnel who are
exposed to high levels of heat stress and sweating, helping them
maintain performance in even the harshest  of environments. As
Precision Hydration progressed, they got exclusive access to
patented sweat testing technology that requires no physical effort
from the athlete. The technology has a long, credible history as a
diagnostic test for Cystic Fibrosis and the test is simple,
painless, and extremely accurate. They also developed their own
range of effervescent electrolytes early on because existing
products were simply not strong enough to meet most serious
athletes' needs. The company working with We were now, built up
such a wealth of data on how athletes sweat that they were able to
build an algorithm-based questionnaire to deliver personalized
hydration advice for athletes who couldn't make it to one of their
test centers. Precision Hydration’s mission is to give every
athlete access to a personalized hydration strategy so that they
have the best chance of achieving their goals. Disclosure:
Precision Hydration is not a sponsor of our show and this interview
is not an infomercial for their products.  This is all about
having an expert in the field help us understand our unique
hydration needs.     Questions
Andy is asked:

        


4:31 You are a former elite triathlete that learned about
hydration the hard way.  I would love to hear some of your
horror stories about how failing to hydrate properly affected
your performances.


 


5:38 What were you doing wrong specifically with your hydration?


 


6:33 Can you give us a quick history lesson on the advice that
athletes have been given about hydration?


 


8:33 Do you think it’s true that being a little dehydrated is a
lot better than being over hydrated?


 


9:39 How do you know that you are well hydrated and how do you
get hydrated before you hit the starting line?


 


12:29 I was looking at the back of a thing of salt that I have
and salt has about 600mg per quarter teaspoon of sodium in it, so
can I just take my bottle of water and throw a little sodium in
it and call it good?


 


13:55 Can you just tell us what we should drink?


 


17:17 How do we measure our own sweat rate and  how do we
measure our sodium losses?


 


22:01 Let’s talk about cramps because I have a pretty high level
Masters Athlete that I coach and he is very, very fast. He’s a
2:27 marathoner, he’s almost 50 years old, and he often suffers
in cramps, and for the most part, it’s at the end of the
marathon, and he just powers through it. And we have not been
able to figure it out. We think that it’s a muscle issue, but he
is a strong hard worker, and so it’s really hard to figure out.
Can you help explain the cramping issue?


 


27:36 Drink to thirst or drink to plan?


 


30:07 There’s a pretty common myth that if you’re 2% dehydrated,
that’s too much. Can you talk about that?


 


31:58 How does somebody come up with a hydration plan? Do we just
go out and run and see when we fall off the cliff? What do you
suggest? Obviously trial and error, but let’s say I’m brand new
to this whole thing. What advice would you give me?


 


34:35 Just like glycogen, we’re not trying to replace everything
we lost during the actual event. Is that correct?


 


36:20 After the race, what do we drink?








Questions I ask everyone:


 


37:33 If you could go back and talk to yourself when you first
started running, what advice would you give yourself?


 


38:06 What is the greatest gift that running has given you?


 


38:15 Where can listeners connect with you?




Quotes by Andy:

 


“I’ve had some very, very depressing long walks along highways by
the side of the road at the end of an Ironman triathlon feeling
like absolute garbage because of the problems I had with
hydration.”


 


“Anyone who’s operating in a warm-to-hot environment who’s going
for more than 90 minutes to two hours or doing lots of hard
sessions on back-to-back days in that warm environment, they’re
the people who benefit from really understanding their individual
hydration needs a lot closer, and that requires a bit of
investigation.”


 


“I quite often think that cramps that happen late on in endurance
activities have a component that’s related to electrolyte
imbalance.”


 


Take a Listen on Your Next Run


 


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Mentioned in this podcast: 

 


Precision Hydration


hello@precisionhydration.com


How To Measure Your Sweat Rate


Cramps


How To Start an Event Well Hydrated


How Much Dehydration Can You Tolerate?


How To Tell if You May be a Salty Sweater


Discount code for precisionhydration.com for 15% off your first
order: RUNTOTHETOP


Free: Book a 1:1 video chat with a Precision Hydration team
member to answer your hydration-related questions!


Runners Connect Winner's Circle Facebook Community


RunnersConnect Facebook page


claire@runnersconnect.net


 


Follow Andy on:


 


Facebook


Instagram


Twitter






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