Do you know how much you sweat? When it is hot and humid outside, there’s an easy way to tell if you’ve been drinking enough fluids.
Use the simple method below to see just how much sweat you lose while running.
How to Calculate Your Sweat Rate
sweat rate = sweat loss.
- Weigh yourself immediately before your run.
- Keep track of your fluid intake during your run.
- Weigh yourself immediately after your run.
- Calculate your sweat rate using this formula: pre-run weight in ounces – post-run weight in ounces + fluid intake in ounces during your run = your sweat rate
- Just in case you forgot, 1 pound = 16 ounces
Example:
- Pre-run weight = 140 x 16 = 2,240
- Fluid intake during run = 16 ounces
- Post Run Weight = 139 x 16 = 2,224
2,240-2,224 = 16 oz + 16 oz = 32 oz or 2 pounds of sweat loss
How to Improve Your Hydration Levels
- 30 minutes before your run: Drink 8-16 ounces of water.
- During your run: Try to consume 16 ounces of water for every hour you are running.
- After your run: Drink water until your urine is pale.
- Daily: Drink enough water to keep hydrated and urine pale.
A small amount of dehydration will not have a negative impact on your performance, but if you sway too far and become overly dehydrated or overly hydrated you may see a decline in performance as well as experience serious medical conditions.
Impaired performance begins when you’ve lost around 3% of your body weight from sweat.
Check-in
Take a picture before, during or after your longest run this week post it to twitter or instagram along with your sweat rate and include the hashtag #RacePaceRunner @racepacejess.
Great post! When I go for long runs I typically will bring a water bottle and an energy gel (I like the espresso ones). I usually start to drink water at the 5 mile mark, and take energy gel every five-ish miles. I do find that after runs that are 10+ miles, I am super dehydrated for the rest of the day, so it is helpful to know how to make sure I am staying hydrated. Is there a way to know my sweat rate without a scale? How important is knowing your sweat rate, can I simply just drink a lot of water to combat the rate that I sweat?