Scientific hydration strategies for marathon runners

Abstract

There exist great energy expenditure and a large quantity of fluid and electrolyte loss in marathon running. Inappropriate hydration strategies will result in acute dehydration, electrolyte imbalance, accumulation of lactic acid, and in some serious cases, exertional heat stroke, exercise-associated hyponatremia and exercise-induced metabolic acidosis, and even death. In order to keep fluid and electrolyte balance, the following hydration strategies should be adopted: paying close attention to hydration status, keeping balanced diet and euhydration before running, preventing excessive dehydration or overhydration during running, and supplementing fluid and electrolyte timely after running. What's more, personalized hydration strategies should be employed according to the environmental conditions and his/her own characteristics. It would be better to consume sports drinks or fluids with an appropriate amount of electrolytes, minerals and carbohydrate, and avoid drinking purified water only.

Keywords

• arathon
• dehydration
• electrolyte imbalance
• exertional heat stroke
• exercise-associated hyponatremia
• exercise-induced metabolic acidosis
• scientific hydration strategies