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 ...