We have waited all winter for the opportunity to be outdoors. During the summer months, we love to take our exercise outside. However, whether you are walking, biking, playing tennis or doing any other outdoor activity, it is more important to hydrate yourself during this time.

This year, the weather forecasters are predicting a hotter than usual summer, and I wanted to take this time to remind you of the importance of keeping your body hydrated, especially during and after exercise.

Your body can absorb about 500 millilitres of water an hour, and you require about two litres a day, but if you drink too quickly, most of that water is not absorbed, Therefore, you should not drink huge amounts all at at once, but rather drink a little less more frequently.

In addition, you really need to be drinking before you are thirsty, which is easy to say but not easy to do.

And during the summer, you lose more water just sitting, because of the heat. Sweating, which is one of the ways your body loses water, is also one of the ways your body cools itself.

When you exercise, you lose about 500 millilitres to a litre of water, depending on how hard you work, or really, how hard your body has to work to keep you from overheating. Keeping yourself hydrated is important during exercise, not only for the obvious reasons, but also to help keep you limber. When you allow yourself to get dehydrated, even to the smallest degree, you run the risk of having muscle cramps during and after exercise.

Muscles, like all other parts of your body, need water, and when they get dehydrated you get stiff, and your body does not recover well from the exercise.

So remember, it’s important to drink water before, during, and after you exercise or engage in any physical activity.

You can contact me with your questions at [email protected]