How much to drink when excersising

I was wondering how much additional water do you recommend when exercising. I do feel like I'm drinking enough, but maybe you have something like a guideline.

My training is not always high intensity work, a lot of it is skill work, but it can be very demanding physically and mentally, especially when rehearsing. For me a normal day looks roughly like this: 

F7 or Handstand or Aerial Acrobatics  (one category per day, so 2 x F7 per week, 2x handstand, 2x aerial)

1,5 hr Ballet

3 hr Modern dance

1,5 hr Jazz Dance 

0,75 hr floorbarre (like ballet, but lying down)

1 hr stretch 

Any recommendations?

Drink when you're thirsty during exercise, no need to push a set amount.  Don't be drawn in by the marketing team of Gatorade, Power Aid, or (insert your favorite sugary exercise drink here).

Thanks for your answer. I only drink pure water - tastes best

I remember coach saying at a seminar we are all to pampered concerning training and we are all taking to many breaks during training to drink or do something else. 

I really do not ask to get an excuse for more breaks

Johannes,

Do you have a ball park figure of the amount of water you are currently drinking on a day like the one outlined above? How do you feel with that amount of water during the day and how about when you wake up the next day? 

I will keep an eye on that tomorrow, but for now i would say roughly 5l. 

During the training i sometimes feel a bit dizzy, but could also be because of not enough food/energy (i did not figure out what to eat while training, because we only got 5-10 minute breaks between classes).

The next day i'm feeling good in the morning.

5 Liters!!  dude, that's a lot.  are you thirsty, or just pushing water?  do you pee a lot?  How long are your exercise sessions?  Just off hand it sounds like a lot, but I suppose it could vary depending on if you're working out for 2-3 hrs a day, etc.  If you're peeing a lot, it's probably more than you need.  Give us some more information.  Cheers.

Did you see his daily schedule? Guy dances seven hours on top of GST and an hour of stretching. Nonstop training and no time to eat, I'd be downing water pretty hard myself.

You must be starving at the end of the day, Johannes.

So guys, Monday is nearly over here in Germany and i tracked it down for today:

I had a total of 7l Water + some Coffee (black)

I taught 2 hr of fitness classes (not that much moving for me besides showing)

Did F7 and the Middle Split Series

1,5 hr of Ballett, 

4 hr of Modern Dance

1 hr of Jazz Dance

Feeling good so far, nothing special or different from my other days

Do you salt your food? 

6 hours ago, Jeff Serven said:

Do you salt your food? 

yes, but only slightly. For breakfast i had 4 scrambled eggs with salmon, there i salted slightly and added some herbs. lunch was rice with veggies (no salt) during training i had 2 apples, 1 orange and 80gr of nuts and dried fruit. for dinner i had 250gr pasta with 250gr minced meat, 2 carrots, 400gr tomato, half an onion and some salt and other spices (pepper, chili)

Try to use a colored salt and, for 2-3 days dramatically increase the salt you use on your meals. Then report back. 

On 23/2/2016 at 4:28 PM, Jeff Serven said:

Try to use a colored salt and, for 2-3 days dramatically increase the salt you use on your meals. Then report back. 

Hello Jeff. I am curious about this advice, and the reasons behind it. Is it regarding trace minerals, or actually salt itself?

I ask because a few years back I have removed salt entirely from my diet - not for any specific reason, I just stopped buying it and noticed that food didn't taste any worse. So I stopped using it because it didn't feel necessary anymore, just something that I was doing out of habit. My only exposure to salt has been when cooking pasta, or when eating salted stuff (salmon, salted nuts, pickles, etc). I wonder if I have actually done myself a disservice, nutritionally.

@Fabio Pinna, my understanding (though Jeff may have more to comment), is that our body loses salt when we sweat and our body needs salt (amongst other electrolytes). 

I think he recommended the salt intake specifically for Johannes because he must sweat a LOT with his activity load and he wasn't replacing salt in his diet.

Thank you @Julia Quigley. I understand that Jeff's comment was specific for Johannes, but still I was curious. Salt is one of those things about which everybody says everything and the opposite of everything! Personally, I didn't feel any impact in either direction from the removal of salt, but I like to challenge my perceptions and beliefs so I'm always on the lookout for new data to think about

Julia hit the nail on the head. salt(sodium) is an extracellular electrolyte and so is glucose in a way, it holds onto a lot of water. So if you are a fat disgusting Homer Simpson and you eat massive amounts of both you go beyond the optimal amount. The advice to reduce sodium and or carbs for most people is more than likely sound advice but thats based off of the bell curve and the smallest amount of people are in the middle of the curve so that advice actually only apples to a small amount of the population. 

In Johannes case he is probably experiencing some dehydration. It sounds odd because he drinks a lot of water but as Julia point out he sweats a lot. The more you sweat the more electrolytes you need. The more water you drink the more electrolytes you need. Johannes is an extreme example and in that extreme example he may need something hold that water in his body and not just let it pass through. 

Salt is a good thing. Salt your food. Yea there is trace minerals in there too. Salt is like carbs - its a knee jerk reaction of people to get rid of it. No real logic behind it when you take into account all elements of nutrition. Here is my BS alarm: if you decide to take nutritional advice from someone start with the mindset they are wrong and continue to try and prove them wrong until you cant in which you concede they are infact right. During this research phase do every thing they ask for the duration they ask. You may not understand why they are asking you to do a particular step but it also may be critical to the success of their program. If you cant prove them wrong and what they ask provides results then you know they are the real deal. Thats how I decide if someone knows what they are talking about. This is what you should be dong to me right now. If you did this with salt you would instantly realize through both research and practical experience its bunk. 

On February 28, 2016 at 10:39 AM, Jeff Serven said:

Julia hit the nail on the head. salt(sodium) is an extracellular electrolyte and so is glucose in a way, it holds onto a lot of water. So if you are a fat disgusting Homer Simpson and you eat massive amounts of both you go beyond the optimal amount. The advice to reduce sodium and or carbs for most people is more than likely sound advice but thats based off of the bell curve and the smallest amount of people are in the middle of the curve so that advice actually only apples to a small amount of the population. 

In Johannes case he is probably experiencing some dehydration. It sounds odd because he drinks a lot of water but as Julia point out he sweats a lot. The more you sweat the more electrolytes you need. The more water you drink the more electrolytes you need. Johannes is an extreme example and in that extreme example he may need something hold that water in his body and not just let it pass through. 

Salt is a good thing. Salt your food. Yea there is trace minerals in there too. Salt is like carbs - its a knee jerk reaction of people to get rid of it. No real logic behind it when you take into account all elements of nutrition. Here is my BS alarm: if you decide to take nutritional advice from someone start with the mindset they are wrong and continue to try and prove them wrong until you cant in which you concede they are infact right. During this research phase do every thing they ask for the duration they ask. You may not understand why they are asking you to do a particular step but it also may be critical to the success of their program. If you cant prove them wrong and what they ask provides results then you know they are the real deal. Thats how I decide if someone knows what they are talking about. This is what you should be dong to me right now. If you did this with salt you would instantly realize through both research and practical experience its bunk. 

HI Jeff,

I recently started the Thrive program.  I like the implement small changes approach and build gradually.  I had question after reading the exchange about salt on here.  I do hot yoga at least 3 or 4 times per week (in addition to GST).  The hot yoga is 80 minutes long, 105 degrees, additional humidity.  I sweat buckets in it.  Should I be adding salt to my food to compensate for that?  If so, how much salt would you recommend? and the type of salt are you saying a colored salt is best?  Thanks!

Yea, colored salt is better. Generally because those colors are caused by trace minerals. I would look at it more from a "complete" perspective-salt is a electrolyte. When you sweat you lose all electrolytes. Replace all.