Hydration

So why is hydration so important when it comes to running? Water acts as a coolant when you are exercising. Think of the water within your body as the anti-freeze you put in your car. Sweating is the involuntary response that keeps your body from overheating. When you begin exercising your body’s temperature begins to rise, this in turn triggers your brain to signal your sweat glands to increase sweat production to speed up the cooling off process.

Because our bodies are comprised of 40-70% water, just a slight shift in the body’s fluid balance can lead to drastic changes in our running performance. Sweating accounts for well over 90% loss in water during a run – add warm temperatures and humidity into the mix and this rate can go even higher. The remaining fluid loss comes from our breathing as well as urine and feces production. Keeping tabs on your hydration is essential to getting you through your run.

It has been reported that for every 1% drop in body weight from fluid loss, there is a 2% drop in your performance. This may not sound like a lot of weight, but for a 120-pound runner a weight loss of 3 1/2 pounds can lead to a 6% drop in running performance.

Finding your body water needs

With the worry that under-drinking can leave you dehydrated and suffering a loss of pace and over-drinking can have some nasty negative consequences such as nausea, dizziness and fatigue, it is sensible to work out your fluid replacement needs so that you can tweak your fuel plan to meet them.

Every individual is different so there is no one definitive answer that any one person can follow. However, there a couple of solutions. We can measure our sweat rate ourselves, for example. Follow the five-step plan below and easily calculate your own sweat rate.

Step 1: Weigh yourself (kg) in minimal clothing prior to running.

Step 2: Run at your ‘steady/natural’ pace for one hour.

Step 3: If you run and consume fluids, keep the bottle.

Step 4: Weigh yourself (kg) again in the same clothing as before and pat yourself down with a towel to remove surface fluids.

Step 5: The difference in weight is the amount lost in sweat during your run!

For example, if a runner weighs 75kg prior to setting off and does not drink any fluids while running but returns with a weight of 74kg after one hour, we can calculate that he or she lost 1kg of sweat which is the equivalent of 1 litre of fluid. This gives an approximate value of 1litre of fluids that should be taken on board while running every hour.

Of course, this is not exactly an instant process. It would be far better to get an instant result. Tanita use Bio-electrical Impedance technology signals sent through the body to calculate how much water the body has; the theory is simple as water is very conductive whereas fat is not. This method is quick, simple and you will also get much more information such as muscle mass, body fat and basal metabolic rate readings.

Simon Bradeley,  Body Composition Expert says: “Keeping track of total body water on a daily basis is vital for athletes at any level, we know that if you are not properly hydrated before any race or training session you simply will not perform at your optimum capacity. We want all out athletes to get best results so we fit all Tanita Body Composition Monitors with Total Body Water as a basic feature.

“Understanding your body composition including body fat, muscle mass and total body water is important to maintain your motivation and ensuring safe and optimal training levels. At Tanita, we work with our Medical Advisory Board to ensure we are providing the most accurate data available to provide this information instantly in your own home.”

For each kilogram of weight lost, at least 1 litre of fluid should be added to your hydration protocol. In colder conditions (October can be a fickle month for weather) this will suffice, but when the weather is warm this should be increased to 1.2 litres per kilogram and in the extreme heat (80 degrees plus) 1.5 litres per kilogram.

As you get fitter your hydration needs may change, so it’s important to regularly monitor your body water levels and reassess your hydration needs every few weeks.

Hydration and training

Dehydration will make your workouts noticeably harder and put your health at risk, so don’t carry fluid deficits from one workout to the next. Again, checking your body water levels regularly will help you make informed decisions. You can make up for any previously incurred fluid deficits by consuming 400–600 ml of water or sports drink about 2–4 hours before your workout. If you are well hydrated, this should lead to urine production that is light in color (like the colour of lemonade). If it doesn’t, or if the urine that is produced is dark in color (like the colour of apple juice), drink another 300ml about two hours before you start pounding the pavement. Keep hydrating as needed prior to your training session, especially when conditions are hot or humid.

For training runs up to the half-marathon distance, your existing fuel stores should tide you over, and your focus can be on staying hydrated. Try to consume fluids at a rate that keeps pace with your sweat rate. However, your fluid needs can vary based on factors such as the intensity of your workouts and weather conditions. Clearly, the hotter it is, the more likely you are to sweat and in greater volumes. Staying hydrated in these conditions is obviously of greater importance and the performance losses will in turn be greater.

Factors that can determine our sweat rate include:

- Ambient or air temperature – the higher the temperature there is an increase in sweat production. But note that even in colder temperatures, the body will sweat, but at a much slower rate.

- Humidity levels – the higher the humidity, regardless of the ambient temperature, the more difficult it is for the sweat to evaporate off the skin making it harder for the cooling off process to take place. If you notice sweat rolling off your skin, this is an indication that you need to stay on top of your hydration.

- Wind speed- the higher the wind speed the greater cooling-off effect so that sweat production may be lessened. Calm days may lead to an increase in your sweat rate.

- Body conditioning – the better conditioned you are to a particular activity, the greater the sweat volume, so you will usually begin to sweat sooner into your run.

- Gender- men tend to sweat more than women, not only due to their bigger size, but also due to their increase in muscle mass.

- Genetics- we are all the product of our ancestral genes, therefore, some individuals sweat more profusely than others, even when not exercising.

- Wearing inadequate clothing: it is important to dress as though it is 20 degrees warmer than the actual ambient temperature. In other words, if the ambient temperature is 55 degrees, you will want to dress as though it is 75 degrees – usually this means shorts and a short sleeve wicking shirt. You may be a little chilled in the beginning of your run, but within a few minutes, as your body’s core temperature begins to rise, so will your sweat rate.

Finding the right balance between weight, fat and muscle is important to monitor over time to ensure peak performance is achieved. In general, having a relatively low body fat percentage may aid athletic performance by improving the strength-to-weight ratio. It also helps by lowering the resistance, or drag, an athlete has as he or she runs etc. Having too little body fat on the other hand can be dangerous as it is an essential energy store which is particularly important for race training and endurance sports.

Evaluating body fat at home

An athlete’s body fat percentage varies depending on the gender of the athlete and the sport. Optimal body fat percentages for an athlete should be determined on an individual basis. Because the amount of body fat, not the weight, is the important factor in living a healthy life, it is better to determine and track the percentage of your body weight that is body fat (percent body fat).

The traditional method of measuring body fat is with skinfold calipers. If each test is performed correctly, according to the recommended guidelines, there is a +/- 3% error. As the calipers measure subcutaneous fat (under the skin) the accuracy level reduces if the person is very lean or obese. The method is inexpensive and fast with an instant reading.

New technology has driven the development of new fitness devices that use bio-electrical impedance analysis (BIA) to measure body composition. They are very much like a traditional bathroom weighing scale but with built in BIA electrodes which will scan the body and measure your Body Fat, Muscle and Total Body Water levels in addition to other fitness markers such as visceral (abdominal) fat, basal metabolic rate and bone mass.

For in-depth analysis of how training affects body composition, the Tanita BC601 Segmental Body Composition Monitor measures each arm, leg and trunk area separately and stores the data on an SD card. The measurements can then be downloaded and monitored. This is especially useful for assessing the effectiveness of a new training program or monitoring injury recovery.

“Excess body fat in sport is generally not conducive to optimal training and performance, and we at Tanita understand the need to measure body fat as well as muscle mass changes in the body on a regular basis to maintain optimal health and performance,” says Simon Bradeley, Body Composition Expert, Tanita Europe. “We can now provide measurements such as total body water and basal metabolic rate to give the user greater understanding of what changes are taking place when you exercise and make dietary changes in your life. Before, it has been costly and intrusive to make these measurement but we think it’s important to be able to measure quickly and cost effectively at home.” 

So whether you are using basic calipers or the latest BIA technology, carefully monitoring changes body fat levels along with hydration during intense training and pre-race conditions is essential to achieving optimal performance and reducing the risk of serious injury.

In the minds of athletes, there is an inherent conflict between overcoming the resistance, or drag, associated with sport and having enough energy to sustain power output over the entire course of a competition or training session.

An athlete who is carrying excess weight may be more prone to injury when performing difficult skills than the athlete with a more optimal body composition. However, when athletes attempt to achieve an optimal body composition, their methods are often counterproductive. Diets and excessive training often result in such a severe energy deficit that, although total weight may be reduced, the constituents of weight also change, commonly with a lower muscle mass and a relatively higher fat mass.

Know your body

First, however, it’s worthwhile to appropriately assess if you even need to lose weight. This is where evaluating things like body composition (using more than just a mirror!), body mass index, regular menstrual cycles (for women), normal testosterone levels (for men) and regular summer or winter seasonal weight variations all play a role in the assessment. It makes no sense for training or health to force an unnatural bodyweight.

It is worthwhile remembering your weight is primarily made up of water, muscle, fat and bone. Understanding your natural baseline for body water, muscle and body fat is a good way of assessing how your body responds to training, injury recovery and setting goals for an ideal pre-race physique. Focus should be to have a long-term mentality or mind-set.

This is where the latest Body Composition Monitors can really make a difference. Using the Advanced bio-electrical impedance technology (BIA), the scale measures body fat, body water, muscle and gives key indicators such as basal metabolic rate.

Preparation

Usually during the preparation training the volume and intensity begins low. You might be doing less miles and speed in the beginning with a focus on base building or rebuilding. Throughout preparation, training intensity and volume will gradually increase.

Weight loss comes in to play more during the beginning stage of this cycle. The more miles and intensity you add to training, the less you want to focus on weight loss and more on your muscle/body fat balance. A diet lacking particularly enough carbohydrates and protein during critical phases of training can contribute to risk of injury, heighten fatigue, and compromise good training. Keeping track of your Daily Calorie Intake or Basal Metabolic Rate is a good way to stay in tune with your body’s  changing nutritional needs. Again, the clever Tanita Body Composition Monitor provides this information in seconds.

Finding the optimal muscle/fat ratio and hydration level during periods of intense training can make a big difference to your race time.

Sports Scientist have calculated that for every 1% of body mass loss, primarily as body fat, there could be a 1% increase in running speed. A brief example: if an average 80kg male, 4 hour marathon runner, was to lose 5kg (about 6% loss) this could mean an improvement of about 15 minutes – 3:44:50 (around 6%). Of course this is based on excess body mass and any weight loss and care should be taken with not to reduce to excessive levels.

Pre-race and race day

Training intensity increases during the weeks leading up to a race. You might be doing faster speed sessions with longer rest. This seems to also be the time anxiety often rises over being close enough to a perceived ideal race body composition. Last-minute weight loss effort is not uncommon. The thing is, even if you’re not increasing miles, energy requirements are high. This is a critical time in training where weight loss efforts can actually impair performance especially if the weight loss is coming from lean muscle mass instead of body fat.

As race day closes in, intensity might still be up but volume goes down in effort to rest up for race day. For longer races this may even involve carbohydrate loading to maximise glycogen stores. Losing weight during this time in training, again, can negatively affect performance. During the pre-race period and race day, focus should be on fueling well, carefully monitoring body water levels and preparing for competition. This includes after the actual race. Be sure to refuel soon after competition to facilitate the recovery process.

Networking is very important as a personal trainer.

Networking is the main way you will meet your clients and how you will develop a reputation and thus meet more clients.

There are 2 basic marketing methods available to you as a personal trainer:

1. Networking
2. Promotional material

All other marketing work should fall into these categories. Promotional material is often the focus of personal trainers who have either forgotten how important networking is or are afraid to network. Don’t get me wrong promotional material is important, however it is more expensive and less effective than networking.

So what is networking?

Networking is developing a reputation and group of people who will use your services and recommend your services.

It is done by talking and communicating, not just chatting to everyone you can but by developing relationships and trust with others. Also demonstrating that you are a highly competent expert in your field.

Networking can be done in the gym or out of the gym. In the gym it is straight forward, get to know everyone, especially key members of staff who talk and influence members. Also key members who again talk to people.

Outside of the gym it is also simple and the possibilities are endless, firstly however i recommend going to a business network. These are set up specifically for this purpose so all the people there will be keen to speak to you and find out more about you.

So what are you waiting for, Network and enjoy yourself.

Check out this article on business networking for fitness professionals.

p.s. Dont forget to pass on this article to your network!

I firmly believe it is good to start off employed, by working in a team of personal trainers you will gain a lot of experience and confidence. It is also good fun and you can make some great contacts in the industry.

Being employed can also have the opportunity for training, some employers put you through a number of useful courses, but it’s important to always push to go on these. There is also the added bonus of a regular wage (it can however be frustratingly small).

Self employed however, is a very different industry the financial rewards can be much greater, whether working in a gym or as a mobile personal trainer.

However you do need to be confident and driven, the industry at the moment is still suffering a little from the recession, so you‘ll need to work hard and stay motivated to get busy. But once you’re busy and you have a name for yourself there is a lot of security and satisfaction in being your own boss.

Despite the recession, there are still loads of people out there trying to get fit, and as a self employed personal trainer your whole city/area full of people are your potential customers.

So in conclusion:

I recommend gaining some experience employed in a team of personal trainers. Enjoy yourself and learn as much as you can. If you find you want to go self employed after, then go for it.

If you’d like to read more on this specific subject check out the article Employed Vs self employed.

Duncan Boltt – Ptgear

It will come with its own Monark software, which controls the bike and stores the data for realtiem display and download.

Link to You Tube video – LC7 Show around at Medica

1. When snacking throughout the dayalways opt for fresh or dried fruit. These can be half the price of a bar of chocolate & much better for you!
2. Add a handful of chopped fruit to your cereal – it will make your breakfast much tastier & it will count as one of your 5 per day!
3. Buy fruit and veg that are in season as they will be cheaper, as well as taking up the buy 1 get 1 free offers!
4. Always compare the price differences between pre-packed and loose fruit and veg and quite often the loose fruit and veg is much cheaper – and fresher!
5. If you have local market stalls or a farmers market then you’ll fruit and veg at half the price of your local supermarket and more often than not they are much bigger pieces too!
6. Vegetables that are close to their use by date save for stews and soups.
7. When cooking stews, curries, casseroles and soup, do so in bulk and freeze portions for a later date. This will save you time and money.
8. Canned fruit and veg still counts towards your 5-a-day, so you can stock up on them when the offers are good.
9. Don’t throw away fruit that is going past its best in your fruit bowl – throw it in a smoothie maker instead, with some natural yoghurt and ice. A much healthier start to the day than coffee!
10. Variety is the key to life – when you are buying your weekly shop make sure you have a range of colours across your fruit and veg selection, by selecting those that have offers on will make you try something new!

This book looks like a simple book for the mass market – it is, but it is easy to read and provides five basic rules that are based on good nutitional advice.

By writting in a easy to understand way rules like – no alcohol which may appear difficult to swallow, are obvious and put in a real down to earth way.

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