EP8, Hydration: The Overlooked Performance Booster in Your Gym Bag

In this episode of Unstoppable By Design, Matt Terry discusses the critical role of hydration in enhancing gym performance. Featuring guest Head Nutrition Coach Emily Hyde from Juggernaut Fitness, the episode highlights how even mild dehydration can significantly impair strength, endurance, and mental focus. Emily shares practical tips on optimal water intake, the importance of electrolytes, and strategies to make hydration more enjoyable and effective. The episode also offers guidance on managing hydration during different scenarios like long commutes or workouts in varying climates. Listeners are encouraged to audit their hydration habits and implement simple, actionable changes for superior gym performance.

00:00 Introduction to Unstoppable By Design

00:18 The Importance of Hydration

02:05 Common Hydration Myths and Misconceptions

02:51 Effects of Dehydration on Performance

05:22 Practical Hydration Tips and Strategies

07:52 Dealing with Taste Fatigue and Bathroom Breaks

10:11 Electrolytes and Cramping

12:53 DIY Electrolyte Drinks

16:06 Hydration Gadgets and Myths

17:56 Hydration-Friendly Adult Beverages

19:32 Conclusion and Weekly Challenge

Transcript

Matt: Let's gooooo! Welcome to Unstoppable By Design, where we talk all things fitness, mindset and what it means to truly be unstoppable inside and outside the gym.

I'm Matt Terry, and today we're tackling the most overlooked performance booster in your gym bag, water. Before you roll your eyes at the humble H2O bottle, consider this, losing just 2% of your body weight in fluid can sap your power, slow your reaction time, and leave your PRS on the rack. Luckily, Juggernaut Fitness' Emily Hyde is here to show you how proper hydration is the cheapest, fastest way, to level up strength, stamina, and focus. Emily, how are you? 

Emily: I'm great. You know, I think it's pretty good timing that it just started raining while we're talking about water. 

Matt: This is true. This is true. Uh, over the next 30 ish minutes, you'll learn how even mild hydration torpedoes your training, the real world fixes for taste fatigue, endless bathroom breaks, and mid workout cramps. Then when plain water is enough, and when a hit of electrolytes turns the tide. So grab your favorite jug bonus points if it's bigger than your head, and let's dive in. So Emily, give us the one liner. Why is water the cheapest performance enhancer most lifters ignore?

Emily: Because even mild dehydration can really tank your strength and it will slow down your recovery. And, it actually will make you feel even hungrier than you are, which can then lead to kind of derailing you from your goals. 

Matt: Yeah, so in the long run, it's you. You gotta be on top of water, 

Emily: Gotta be on top of it

Matt: Gotta be drinking. All right, so biggest misconception, you hear about eight glasses a day. Is it a magic, is it myth or is it a decent starting point?

Emily: It's a great starting point. You know, if someone's not drinking any water, let's get those eight glasses of water in a day. But it's usually not anywhere near enough for most people. So I think a better estimate is to aim for half of your body weight in ounces, and then we can adjust that based on how you feel or how much you're training or if you, you know, work outside in the heat and you're sweating a lot. All of those type of things. 

Matt: Yeah. So it's a good place to start, but it's not the end all. Be all. There might be a bunch of different factors in there. 

Emily: Yes. Mm-hmm. 

Matt: All right. So I mean, we talked a little bit about it, sapping power and strength, but walk us through what even mild dehydration does to strength, power, and mental focus during a workout.

Emily: Yeah, so like you mentioned in the intro, even just being one to 2% dehydrated can lead to noticeable drops in performance causing. Less power, slower reaction time. Quicker fatigue. The strength output can dip. Endurance suffers. Something that a lot of people don't necessarily think of when they think of dehydration is how it affects you mentally.

With just feeling foggy in the brain or having brain fog or feeling less motivated. It's like trying to lift or work out with the brakes on, and that's not really gonna work. It's not just, you know, water's not just for cooling us off. When it's really hot, it literally helps your muscles contract and your brain stay sharp.

Matt: Yeah, I really like that you said that. It's like working out with the brakes on. That's probably the best way to describe it. I've definitely felt the brain fog trying to go into a lift and then you're like, you're not really in the workout. Yes, you're there, but you're not there. How quickly can losing just one to 2% of body weight in water start to take tank performance?

Emily: So that can really start happening within 30 to 60 minutes of sweating hard without having enough fluid also coming in to balance that out, so you might not feel super thirsty. Yet, or at first, but you could already be seeing a dip in power or endurance or mental sharpness. So that's why pre-hydration and sipping during your workouts is super important because if you wait until you're really thirsty, then it's too late. You're dehydrated by that point, usually. 

Matt: Yeah. And that's fast. You said maybe 30, 30, 60 minutes, you're in an hour workout. I mean, right in the beginning, you're starting to get hit if you don't take care of your hydration. 

Emily: Yeah, and I think it's important too that our hydration needs change with seasons, right?

And so we get used to working out in, you know, where we're maybe not sweating as much and then all of a sudden the weather changes and it's, we're in here sweating, or it's really humid and get impacted. A lot quicker. So being just cognizant of that pre-hydration, making sure we're staying hydrated all around, so we're like hedging our bets for when that happens.

Matt: Yeah. And since, you know, I mean, no better time than right now, talking about some checkpoints, uh, if we're thinking about how do we tell if we're properly hydrated? 

Emily: Yeah. So one good way is to look at the color of your urine. We don't want completely clear urine because that can mean we're over hydrated.

And at that point we can flush out electrolytes and stuff that we need in our body. But at the same point, we don't want really bright yellow or like, um, a darker color. We want it like that pale. I always say like kind of like light lemonade, something like, something like that is a great way to check in with your hydration.

Matt: That’s awesome. So we do not want yellow from like a Lysol bottle. 

Emily: No, we don't. No, we don't. Another way that, you know, if someone maybe is doing something more along the lines of endurance, like a long distance run, um, or bike ride, something like that. Weighing yourself beforehand and then weighing yourself when you get home and seeing the difference in weight can help you also figure out how much extra water you need to drink that to help you for the next time you train, but also to help you rehydrate after.

Matt: That's a data-driven approach right there. Alright, so people forget to drink until they're parched. What practical cues or habits can help crack that? 

Emily: My favorite one is to start the day with water. So wake up and one of the first things that we do should, in my opinion, be to drink some water. Because if we think about it, if we've just gotten eight hours of sleep, we all should be getting eight hours of sleep or at least seven.

If we're between 7, 8, 8 hours of sleep, then we've gone that long without hydrating. So if we did that during the day, we would for sure think that we would be hydrated. Well we lose water and stuff as we sleep. So I think one way to get ahead of dehydration is to drink some water when you first wake up.

And then, um, another thing like setting alarms or giving yourself, like having a goal. I'm gonna drink this much before lunch or drink 16 ounces before a meal. Something like that where you're having, um, reminders. That help you stay on track. 

Matt: Yeah. Uh, another thing to talk about is taste fatigue. So this is something that I experience a lot with water, but how do you coach clients who say plain water is boring?

Emily: I mean, I get it. Plain water is not that exciting, but we wanna treat hydration like a habit, not a punishment. And we can totally dress up our water so you can infuse it with. Berries or cucumber, or if you wanna get fancy, you can muddle some mint and put it in there. Herbal teas count as water, so you know, we can make those hot or we can make them iced.

If you love sparkling water, which I do, go for it, like that's another way. So adding in different forms of water can be really helpful instead of only drinking the plain water, 

Matt: just water. Alright. Now let's say we're properly hydrated, we're doing all of the things, drinking a whole lot. What about how to deal with bathroom break anxiety on long commutes or flights? Do you have any strategies behind it besides just holding it? 

Emily: Yeah. Okay. Three different strategies that I would take. So the first one, we wanna hydrate strategically, not constantly. So front load your water earlier in the day or before a trip, then taper off if you're leaving for travel. This is something I am not good at. If I'm like getting in the car for a long trip, I'm like, wait, I've gotta drink all the water. So not doing that is, is one way. Second would be including electrolytes.

So if you include even just a pinch of salt in your water or you use like an electrolyte mix. The water will, the body will actually absorb the water instead of sending it straight to your bladder. So you'll notice that you have to go to the bathroom a little less when you're using electrolytes. And then the third one, you know, is let's look at the diuretics we're having as well, not just blaming the water.

So if you know, that means looking at caffeine and alcohol. If you're trying not to have all of those. Frequent bathroom breaks. Those play a big part in it too. Not just pour water, 

Matt: not just pour water. Alright, so let's say we've got a lot of cramping happening in late session sets. So we're working through our workout.

Maybe in the back half of the workout. We're starting to feel a little bit of cramping. Ways to fix that Could always be electrolytes or maybe a deficit electrolytes, or is it sometimes just plain under hydration? 

Emily: Yeah, it's normally a mix of both. So cramping can come from electrolyte imbalances, but plain under hydration is also common and can cause cramping.

So if you're sweating a lot and only sipping plain water, then you might actually be diluting your electrolyte levels. So the fix isn't always more water. It's smart hydration, so enough fluids, plus having the right minerals or electrolytes, especially if you're doing like a longer training session or an intense exercise or just a really hot day.

Matt: Okay, so I mean, if we're thinking about adding electrolytes. When do you tell an everyday gym goer to add electrolytes versus just drinking water? 

Emily: If you're doing a short light workout and not dripping in sweat, water is usually enough. But I recommend adding electrolytes if you're training longer than an hour, if you're sweating a lot, or if you're working out in heat or a lot of humidity.

Also, if you're feeling fatigued. You're getting cramps or you're lightheaded after exercise, that's a good sign that you need more electrolytes. Um, some people are naturally more of a salty sweater than other people, so if you sweat and notice that when your sweat dries, it leaves a white cast on your skin.

You're sweating through or like you're losing a lot of salt, a lot of electrolytes. So you would need to, even if you're, you know, even if you're doing a 20 minute workout or just going for a walk, if you are noticing that on your skin, you would want to replace that. Um, but aside from training, we also need to take into account that if you are on a low carb diet or you are fasting or you're trying to cut back on caffeine, all of those things, cause our electrolyte needs to go up.

If you're someone who never salts your food, so it can be a good idea to just add them in preemptively, but that would be how I look at whether we should add them or not. 

Matt: Okay. 

Emily: Alright. 

Matt: What is your favorite low sugar? Do it yourself option or whole food way to bump sodium or potassium without those fancy packets.

Emily: So we can make mineral cocktail, which is my favorite thing to give to people. So when you're looking at designing your own DIY electrolyte drink, you're looking to have some sodium, some potassium, some vitamin C, and depending on. What you're doing, if you're doing a longer duration workout that's like 60 minutes or between 60 and 90 minutes, or you're training in intense heat, you also wanna have a little bit of sugar to help speed up the absorption of the sodium and water in your gut.

So simple way to do it, we could, you could take some coconut water, coconut, some lemons or limes depending on what you like, squeeze it in, and then like a fourth of a teaspoon of salt. That hits that balance right there. We could also, if you're needing a little bit of that sugar, you could use some no sugar added orange juice, add some salt to that, and you can add either some coconut water to that mix as well, or fun fact cream of tartar.

This random spice that most people have on their spice rack that we use like once a year is like 700% potassium. Mixes really well. Tasteless mixes really well. You can add that in to get your potassium and then extra bonus, sometimes you can like, I like to mix that with vanilla protein powder. Ah, so then you have like a dreamsicle electrolyte homemade drink situation.

Yes. So. Really what you're looking for is, again, just a form of potassium when we're making our own drink. The easiest way to get that in is coconut water, some high quality salt, so we're looking for a sea salt or a Celtic salt or redmond's real salt because it has more of the mineral balance in it than like a regular table salt.

And we're looking for a little bit of vitamin C. With or without sugar, depending on what you need. So limes or maybe orange juice. 

Matt: I like that. I'm still thinking about, you said cream of tartar? 

Emily: Yes. 

Matt: Is that a fruit? 

Emily: It's, it's a spice. 

Matt: Oh, 

Emily: well, it's not a spice. It's, I don't even actually know what it's used for in cooking.

I know that it, it's really high in potassium. 

Matt: That's awesome. That's awesome. So if listeners do one thing this week, what's the simplest way to gauge if they're drinking enough? 

Emily: I would say just check the color of your urine. 

Matt: Yeah. 

Emily: It's simple. You know? You can also check in with your energy levels. Energy levels are affected by multiple things, not just hydration, but I would check in with those two things.

Matt: Yeah. And often dehydration can cause headaches too. So if you're experiencing some headaches, this could be a gauge if you're hydrated or drinking enough. Next question. Any bottle or gadget you actually find helpful or is just a plain jug and sharpie line good enough? 

Emily: Yes. This is an interesting question.

I think there's, I think it's finding what's helpful for the person. So, you know, there are those water bottles that have like the. 12:00 PM whatever. Have your water drink by a certain point of time, if that's helpful for someone. That's fantastic. I know that the tracking apps like Cronometer or MyFitnessPal have a place for you to add in your water.

I think you've tried that. 

Matt: Yeah. Yeah. You've had me track my water through Chronometer and it was actually, it was really helpful for me. I was kind of eye-opening too in the beginning, 'cause I thought I was drinking enough water. And then I realized, okay, yeah, no, I need more. 

Emily: I think a lot of people too just have their, you know, they have their water cup.

Yep. Right. That they know, like, uh, so many people will have their cup and they will say, oh, I drink three of these, you know, or so having, and sometimes I'll just say to someone, okay, well let's get four of those, you know, and so not even going off of ounces, but. Having some way to measure your progress. If we get to the end of the day and you've only drank one of your water bottle, we're, we're falling behind.

Matt: Yeah. Yep. All right. Myth time, cold or room temperature, water. Is there a preference for performance? 

Emily: It's totally personal preference. Yeah. So whatever someone, there's no right or wrong here if you prefer it. I prefer my water really, really cold. Someone else might prefer it room temperature, and that's, fine.

Matt: So you mean to tell me water is water. 

Emily: Water. Water is water. 

Matt: All right. Speaking of cocktails, cocktail hour, most hydration friendly adult beverage. 

Emily: So most hydration friendly would be a clear liquor with soda, water, and lime or something like a wine spritzer. That's half wine, half sparkling water. They're both lower in sugar, they're lower in alcohol, and they're easier on hydration.

Mix a electrolyte mix into your cocktail as like, you know, give it some flavor or, you know, a great thing to do if you do decide to indulge in a drink or two, uh, is to have some electrolytes either before you go to bed, you know, drink some water, drink some electrolytes that will make you feel so much better the next day.

Matt: Alright, so Emily, what is a resource to dive deeper into hydration? 

Emily: I would say book a consult. Let's talk about it. Let's talk, let's find out if you're a salty sweater or how much water you drinking today, and tailor that to your specific needs. 

Matt: Yeah, so if I'm thinking, hey, maybe I'm actually falling behind in hydration, maybe a little bit parts of my nutrition. I wanted to book a consult to meet with you and just talk about those things. What's my first step once I go to juggernaut-fitness.com? 

Emily: Yeah, you'll click on the button to schedule a free consult. Pick a great time that works for you. We can do it in person or virtually. 

Matt: Yeah, and we'll go 

Emily: from there.

Matt: Yeah, I like, I like that you do these virtually as well. I think that's very accessible for everybody, and I know that they take like, what, 30, 30 minutes? 

Emily: 30 minutes. 

Matt: That's awesome. 

All right, so Unstoppable challenge for this week. This week, audit your hydration. Pick one tactic. Maybe it's a marked line jug.

Maybe it's a mid session sip timer, or just adding electrolytes to any workout over an hour and stick with it for seven days. Again, tiny habit, huge payoff in the end. Powers forged in the weight room but unlocks when your cells are fully charged. You are unstoppable by design. Ready for a personalized hydration and nutrition game plan?

Head to juggernaut fitness.com to connect with Emily and the coaching crew. We'll fine tune every ounce you drink and every rep you lift. Hit follow drop. A quick review if today's episode quenched your curiosity and keep notifications on new shows land every Tuesday. If you've got questions, send them to info@juggernaut-fitness.com with Unstoppable by Design in the subject line, and we might feature yours in an upcoming listener q and a. 

Next week, I'm sitting down with Lis Rosencrum, Juggernaut Fitness' Head Coach for a deep dive interview on building unstoppable strength and leadership in the gym. Trust me, you won't want to miss Lis’ playbook. Until next time, be well Be unstoppable.