Posts Tagged ‘Hydration’
Proper Hydration: Clear Urine Is Best
With a double header softball game this afternoon in what will undoubtedly be a hot day, hydration is always on my mind. Dehydration can hit pretty quickly when you’re running around outside in the sun and it can affect your mood and athletic performance in insidious ways. You’ll get moody, cranky, and miserable to be around. Your reaction time will slow, your body will feel more sluggish, and you’ll find yourself preferring to sit out rather than play the next inning. Proper hydration is crucial.
So, what’s the best barometer of hydration? Your urine. Your urine is yellow because of bile. Bile is produced by your liver and used to help break up fat. Afterwards, that bile is broken down and urinated out of the body. Urochrome, a pigment in bile, is what turns your urine yellow. The darker yellow it is, the less water you have in your body. The lighter the better and a dark yellow is a sign of dehydration.
Drink more liquids and pee clear!
Subscribe to the comments for this postImportance of Proper Hydration
Every Tuesday for the last two months I’ve played in a work softball league that starts around 6 PM. Fortunately in the last few weeks our games have been played in relatively mild temperatures, but there was a stretch where the temperatures were pretty high. Well, I’m an outfielder, generally center right or center left (we play four outfielders in our league, which I believe is standard), which means I get to stand in the sun and wait for fat old people to crush balls in my direction.
Anyway, when it’s in the 80s or 90s, even standing perfectly still out in the sun at 6PM will get me sweating and so it’s important to remain hydrated for our two and half long double headers. This usually means just a 1 quart bottle of Powerade or Gatorade (not Powerade Zero Mixed Berry though) throughout the first game.
What happens when you don’t get proper hydration? (we’re talking mild dehydration, not the headaches, muscle craps, death-type of dehydration… don’t ever let yourself get that far) I’ll tell you what happens to me, I get really irritable, sluggish, and my reaction time slows. When you’re playing in a work softball league, you’re really out there to get a little exercise, have a good time, and hang out with your friends. If you’re irritable, sluggish, and your reaction time is slow, it’s hard to have a good time. If you’re losing, it’s even worse.
The first few games of the season I didn’t bring my bottle of Powerade/Gatorade and so I felt like I wanted to go to sleep every time I stepped up to bat. Now, armed with my sports drink, I feel great and have been playing better, enjoying the game better, and overall been happier out there.
