Four Tips for Better Hydration While Skiing

When you’re outside in the heat and you can’t help but see the sweat beading down your skin, you know you need to stay hydrated. But when you’re skiing in colder weather, sometimes more concerned about remaining warm rather than staying hydrated, it can be easier to ignore your body’s need for water. Well, it’s time to stop ignoring the need for hydration while you’re skiing – these four tips should help.

Tip #1: Have quick access to water throughout the entire skiing session. If this means bringing your own bottle of water, that’s what you’ll want to do. Skiing can be a physically demanding sport, and it’s easy to sweat underneath the layers of insulation you provide yourself. Make sure you have quick access to water and take swigs of it throughout a skiing session – this will keep your body’s water supply more stable and will help prevent dehydration because you won’t leave your drink until later.

Tip #2: Listen to your body. As you take a water break, pay attention to how it feels. Sometimes, a ski session might not take a lot out of you and you might not need to drink so much; if that’s the case, you should feel it as you drink. But if you find yourself guzzling down your water bottle, it would be a good idea to find a source of water that you can fill the bottle up with.

Tip #3: Eat right. The more water-rich foods you eat as opposed to dense foods, the better. Water-rich foods include fruits and vegetables, which are easy on your digestive system and will make you feel less sluggish when you’re on the slopes. The easier you can make it on your body, the better. Avoid energy drinks completely, and don’t use a special drink like Gatorade unless you’ve been exercising a long while and need to replace electrolytes as well.

Tip #4: Don’t let yourself get carried away in a ski session. If you find yourself out-exercising your water supply, stop. It’s better to simply stop and get water; it’s easier on your body. This isn’t to say that you need to be tied to a water bottle all the time, but you’ll want to at least know there is water available when you need it.

Water is a beautiful thing: refreshing and zero calories. Remember that your body also needs it, so take it seriously!

Photo Credits: Erazo-Fischer

This post involves:

beading, dehydration, dense foods, digestive system, electrolytes, energy drinks, fruits and vegetables, Gatorade, hydration, insulation, pay attention, ski session, slopes, source of water, sweat, water bottle, water supply, weather

... and focuses on:

health, ski tips

Posted by Ski Snowboarder on November 24, 2009 in health, ski tips. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.