Sweating in the Gym? Thirsty? Drink this...

WATER!!

The other day, between training sessions, I watch as a steady stream of exercisers paraded past the front desk; most of them purchasing one sport drink or another. Often Gatorade, Powerade, or Propel. I was astonished to see sports drinks sold 2 to 1 over water!

The desire to consume a beverage like this is likely fueled by smart marketing, and savvy advertising - the average recreational exerciser is making a mistake by drinking these; for several reasons.

First, these drinks are often laden with sugar, or sugar substitutes. Both of which are equally bad for you.. Sugar the HUGE enemy in the fight to lose weight, and maintain a healthy weight. Sugar substitutes have a whole other set of problems.

Humans are addicted to sugar.  It goes back to caveman days when sugar was in short supply.  When we found it, we ate as much as we could.  This need is now engrained in our DNA.  Now imagine a nicotine addicted cigarette smoker.  Give him a cigarette with no nicotine, he'll smoke one, then another, then another all in an effort to satisfy the craving; which has now futher compounded itself. 

So, when our mouths taste "sweet" our body prepares for a calorie load to follow.  When we don't get that calorie load, we drink more soda, and more soda...which leads to us EATING!  Artificial sweetner is bad stuff.

Going on, many sports drinks have sodium in them. This added sodium is actually there for a good reason: It induces thirst, so you drink more water. However, few actually drink water - they simply reach for another Gatorade.

I'm sure this all sound confusing...so let me explain. Sports drinks are designed for athletes exerting themselves at an extremely high level. These drinks include sugar for fast energy, sodium to induce thirst (and thus more water consumption for hydration), and electrolytes. The electrolytes are there to replace what is lost through sweat.

The issue with recreational exercisers drinking these sports drinks is that many simply don't exert themselves at a level necessary for a sports drink. The sugar only adds calories, making weight loss or maintenance more challenging.

So? What should you drink? Water. And for those of you who insist on replacing lost electrolytes, there are electrolyte enhanced waters (Smartwater). These enhanced waters give you the hydration benefits of the sports drink without any sugar and without any calories.

Now I'm sure people will argue this point, and that's fine. Please feel free to email us: Info@fit2youfitness.com.

As always - If you've got it, flaunt it. If you don't, get it with us! Now get up, get out, and get fit!