Water - When to Use Supplements
It is well known that high levels of water are necessary for all athletes. Hours of working out and sweating every day can lead to dehydration. For bodybuilders in particular, water has the added benefit of naturally helping your body to rebuild itself after a workout. Low hydration levels can lead to a weakening of muscles - the opposite of what you are striving for.
For the past twenty years, athletic coaches and sports drinks companies have maintained that plain water is not enough to rehydrate a serious athlete. Rather, when a person sweats for long periods of time, they lose not only water, but also electrolytes, sodium and potassium. Thus, it makes sense that when drinking plain water after a workout, only part of what you have lost will actually be replenished.
Popular sports drinks like Gatorade or Powerade promise to replenish not only your water supply, but also the minerals you lost during your workout.
The downside of many sports hydration drinks is that they include a high amount of carbohydrates and sugar - something that natural water does not carry. Sugar (glucose) will actually be stored as fat in your body, and additional fat is something that no bodybuilder wants.
Sports drinks companies have tried to combat this problem by creating low sugar or zero calorie versions of their drinks. These types of sports drinks have little to no calories, but have the added issues of unnatural sweeteners such as asparatame.
For athletes that burn an immense amount of calories on a daily basis, drinking the original sports drink with sugars and carbohydrates is probably a better idea. For moderate to light workouts, natural water should be enough.
Sports drinks should not be used as water replacement, but rather, a water supplement. This means that while you are working out, you should be drinking natural water. After your workout, you can supplement with an electrolyte-filled sports drink.
For reviews on the best sports drinks for athletes, please see the Supplements Review page.
Disclaimer: Before attempting any exercises, programs, routines, or modifying your current diet/supplement program you must get approval from a licensed medical practitioner. Any methods or advice given in this web site must be reviewed with your physician. Before attempting any new exercises or routines a full physical examination is highly recommended.
