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Summer Hydration Tips & Tricks
Eric Belliveau • June 5, 2018

As New England now seems to be trending in the direction of warmer temperatures and classic-ly humid days there is need to revisit HYDRATION! Namely, the importance of being hydrated, how to determine if you are, and helpful tips and tricks to staying hydrated all summer long.

Hydration is critically important to our bodies and performance. Consider the role of water in your body. Water helps lubricate joints, hydrate muscles and fascia, and protect your body organs. It helps remove lactic acid from your working muscles. More importantly, water makes up 90% of your blood when you are fully hydrated. This is critical to know because blood allows for oxygen delivery to working muscles, it helps dissipate heat, and it helps with absorbing calories and fluids when training longer than 90-120+ minutes. If your blood isn’t well hydrated and is running “thick” through your body it will not be able to help you work and train at an optimal level.

Eat plenty of hydrating fruits like watermelon, organic strawberries & grapes, oranges, cantaloupe and vegetables like zucchini, cabbage, spinach, celery, and carrots.

In class, out of the roads, or doing yard work being aware of your hydration status should be of real concern. Just consider the dynamic of the classes we offer at CPC. PIQ, METCON Madness, Metabolic Mashup, GMA, etc. are all centered around the same goal to provide a High Intensity, Metabolically taxing environment for 1 hour of your day. Regardless of what class you take there will be a huge demand on your anaerobic-endurance energy systems with big movement patterns like squats, deadlifts, swings, pull ups, broad jumps, and the dreaded burpee. Your heart rate and breathing will increase, energy/caloric demands go up, sweat and lactic acid develops, and before you know it you’re reaching for your water and a towel. Your desire for water has gone up within a few minutes and you have over half a class left to give everything you have. Thinking of nothing other than hydration, will you be able to keep up? You should be able to to if you follow the few tips and tricks listed below.

1. First and foremost make sure that you’re in a well hydrated state, and yes this requires the pee check. If your urine is a light yellow or light lemonade color you’re good. If it’s darker it’s time to drink.

2. Eat plenty of hydrating fruits like watermelon, organic strawberries & grapes, oranges, cantaloupe and vegetables like zucchini, cabbage, spinach, celery, and carrots.

3. Carry a CPC Hydroflask (not so shameless plug) with an electrolyte blend like NUUN, Skratch, or Ultima to sip on throughout the day. A squeeze of lemon or lime to the water will help provide a little taste encouraging you to drink it more frequently.

4. Limit caffeine and alcohol. Both have a diuretic effect, leading to more trips to the bathroom, and potentially putting you in a state of dehydration. Summertime screams for an ice coffee in the morning and a cold adult beverage at night. When consuming both just be aware of how much and often and to combat the effects with a water of equal size.

5. Go into your workout prepared! Before heading into a workout (2-3 hours prior) consume around 16 oz of water. During your workout fight the dehydration battle with 2-3 big gulps of water every 15-20 minutes. After class the best bet would be to weigh in and weigh out and consume 16-20oz of water for every 1 lb lost. Try filling up your bottle before leaving and drink ALL OF IT before starting your day or grabbing that oh-so refreshing iced coffee.

Take advantage of these simple tips and you’ll not only feel better but you’ll perform better throughout the summer months!

Happy Summer,

SK

Hydration Resources

Dixon, M. (2016). THIRSTY WORK: IRONMAN RACING AND HYDRATION. [Blog] Purple Patch. Available at: https://purplepatchfitness.com/blog/thirsty-work-i... [Accessed 4 Jun. 2018].

Anon, (2018). [online] Available at: https://www.bostonmagazine.com/sponsor-content/hyd... [Accessed 4 Jun. 2018].

www.NCAA.org. (2018). Fluid Balance, Hydration, and Athletic Performance. [online] Available at: https://www.ncaa.org/sites/default/files/Performan... [Accessed 4 Jun. 2018].

Nutrition - Calculating Sweat Rate. (n.d.). IRONMAN University.

The Meat Hangover

By Eric Belliveau • October 7, 2020
When it comes to taking meat out of your diet, some people have the idea that they will only see positive changes immediately following this choice. While those positive changes are definitely part of the deal, so is an adjustment period for your body.

We're Trying

By Eric Belliveau • September 23, 2020
We were all thrown on this crazy ride together. Emotions were running high but so were patience, empathy, inclusion, and respect. Most of us could rally behind the #WeAreInThisTogether manta. We wanted to do right by each other - donate to charities, lend a hand, check-in on one another. Do our part. As the days turn to weeks and the weeks into months these dispositions decayed rapidly. I know that this Quarantine order has been going on for a long time. I know that a great number of us do not agree on the why. I know an even greater number of us are “over it”. I am painfully aware of the difference of opinions surrounding the pandemic. It is impossible to NOT be aware of this. This leads us all to frustration, anger, resentment, and the feeling that you are not being heard. Very real and very human emotions! It is okay to feel this way. I am not only writing this from the perspective of a fellow struggling human. I do find myself struggling with everything I mentioned above. Not just daily but multiple times a day. My ability to focus has been challenged by my worry. My ability to create time for myself and focus on self-care has been derailed for fear of other things becoming more pressing. I work on this every day. I am not only writing this from the perspective of one of the business owners who were never given a playbook for this. For weeks on end I thought WTF happened to the business and how would our model need to change and remain viable, how each business owner had to either weather a period in which we were completely shut down or allowed to operate under capacity restrictions, etc. The unknown of what the timeline would bring and whether we would be able to continue our dreams or make an extremely difficult decision of not continuing. This still haunts every one of us daily. I AM very much writing this as a service provider! I am writing this as an impassioned human who genuinely loves what I do for a living. I feel incredibly lucky to be able to have built a career surrounding something I get excited about every day. I am making a stand for all of us that make their living in the service industry. To the receptionist, hostess, waiter, cook, dry cleaner, teacher, technician, barista, utility worker, automobile service technician… It is truly impossible to be inclusive of everyone here.  No one human mentioned above asked for this ‘situation’ we are in. We are sure as hell trying to provide a level of normalcy, service, care, and happiness to the lives in which we choose to serve. With added restrictions, added expense decreased capacity and the fear of being fined or shut down for doing it incorrectly, everyday.

The Meat Hangover

By Eric Belliveau • October 7, 2020
When it comes to taking meat out of your diet, some people have the idea that they will only see positive changes immediately following this choice. While those positive changes are definitely part of the deal, so is an adjustment period for your body.

We're Trying

By Eric Belliveau • September 23, 2020
We were all thrown on this crazy ride together. Emotions were running high but so were patience, empathy, inclusion, and respect. Most of us could rally behind the #WeAreInThisTogether manta. We wanted to do right by each other - donate to charities, lend a hand, check-in on one another. Do our part. As the days turn to weeks and the weeks into months these dispositions decayed rapidly. I know that this Quarantine order has been going on for a long time. I know that a great number of us do not agree on the why. I know an even greater number of us are “over it”. I am painfully aware of the difference of opinions surrounding the pandemic. It is impossible to NOT be aware of this. This leads us all to frustration, anger, resentment, and the feeling that you are not being heard. Very real and very human emotions! It is okay to feel this way. I am not only writing this from the perspective of a fellow struggling human. I do find myself struggling with everything I mentioned above. Not just daily but multiple times a day. My ability to focus has been challenged by my worry. My ability to create time for myself and focus on self-care has been derailed for fear of other things becoming more pressing. I work on this every day. I am not only writing this from the perspective of one of the business owners who were never given a playbook for this. For weeks on end I thought WTF happened to the business and how would our model need to change and remain viable, how each business owner had to either weather a period in which we were completely shut down or allowed to operate under capacity restrictions, etc. The unknown of what the timeline would bring and whether we would be able to continue our dreams or make an extremely difficult decision of not continuing. This still haunts every one of us daily. I AM very much writing this as a service provider! I am writing this as an impassioned human who genuinely loves what I do for a living. I feel incredibly lucky to be able to have built a career surrounding something I get excited about every day. I am making a stand for all of us that make their living in the service industry. To the receptionist, hostess, waiter, cook, dry cleaner, teacher, technician, barista, utility worker, automobile service technician… It is truly impossible to be inclusive of everyone here.  No one human mentioned above asked for this ‘situation’ we are in. We are sure as hell trying to provide a level of normalcy, service, care, and happiness to the lives in which we choose to serve. With added restrictions, added expense decreased capacity and the fear of being fined or shut down for doing it incorrectly, everyday.
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