Fitness is an essential part of your life. You need to make time and put in the effort to work on your fitness in any way you. A great to get way to burn some calories and get your heart pumping is simply by walking. It’s beneficial if you need to improve and maintain your health. Of course, walking alone is not enough, but it’s an excellent way to kickstart your fitness journey.
Now, to ensure you can consistently keep up the habit of walking for your fitness, the most important thing to remember is to hydrate. On a typical day, the average person should consume about two to three litres of water. Make sure to spread this out over a day. Drinking over two to three litres of water in a short amount of time could lead to hyponatremia.
So, if you plan to go on a lot of walks to get your daily dose of fitness, here are a few hydration tips you should follow:
Before Your Walk
Now, depending on the pace and the distance you’re planning to walk, you may or may not need to bring water along. Some people don’t like carrying things while out on their walk. And others don’t mind. Regardless of whether you bring water on your walk or not, you must make sure to be adequately hydrated.
And don’t just hydrate before your walk. Throughout the day or the night before — if you take your walks first thing in the morning — you should drink plenty of water. Drink it before, after, and during meals. You can add flavours or swap in tea or bubbles to make it more palatable if you’ve had enough of the taste of water.
Avoid caffeine just before your walk, as it can cause you to lose fluid and make you more thirsty and prone to urine breaks. For better balance, have a bit of extra salt with your meal or snack. Lastly, drink one tall glass of water before you go out.
During Your Walk
Assuming you’ve brought water on your walk, here’s what you need to remember. Bring a sports drink with you if you’re hitting a long trail that will take at least an hour or two to complete. Electrolytes can help your body move better throughout the walk.
If you’re not keen on power drinks, you could also flavour your water. It might make it easier and more enjoyable when you’re out on a long walk. You can add a little squirt of lemon, orange, or even just leave a few slices of cucumber in there. It will make it that much more satisfying. But if you’re going to skip on the sports drink, pack a few light snacks to keep your energy up.
Make it a habit to do a mental thirst check every 15 to 20 minutes. If your walk lasts at least two or more hours, you need to know when to take breaks and drink fluids. For walks that take more or less an hour, plain water should be fine. You might even be able to manage without bringing any if you’re hydrated enough.
After Your Walk
When you’re finally done, you have to replenish all the fluids you spent. Make sure to drink another tall glass of water. It would be best to drink something full of electrolytes as well or salty snacks. Rest your feet and pat yourself on the back for a nice and productive walk.
Summary
Walking is an excellent way to work on your fitness. It’s something that can get you in the condition to do more intense exercises in the future. But just because it’s nice and easy doesn’t mean there aren’t any necessary preparations you need to make. Hydration is key to helping your body throughout your walks. If you want to get fit and do it the right way, follow these hydration tips.
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