Are you a juicy walker?

The guide to eating and drinking properly during the walk

In the earlier articles we explained the importance of eating properly to avoid fatigue. However it is just as important to ensure you drink enough during the walk, as dehydration will also cause fatigue. In the good old days sports trainers considered drinking during exercise to be bad for the athlete. The poor old athlete was basically told to tough it out and not be such a wimp as to ask for a drink of water. We now know better. Water is provided during all endurance events, and in fact the elite athlete is careful to ask for the correct brand of water or sports drink so he or shee gets to keep the sponshorship another year.

Studies have been done to show that fatigue can set in when the body is as little as 2% dehydrated with severe effects on performance when this reaches 5%, although it has been difficult for researchers to measure exactly the level of dehydration when fatigue occurs or the level of performance loss that occurs. One study completed in 1995 showed that drinking too much beer while eating chips and peanuts did significantly impair performance, however the results were inconclusive and researchers continue to study this topic extensively, even taking time off work to continue their investigations. Despite not knowing exactly why, or not being able to measure the results exactly, researchers do agree that fatigue will set in a relatively low levels of dehydration.

Hot weather also causes problems during exercise as our bodies will sweat more to keep cool. This causes the body to become dehydrated sooner and can easily lead to faitigue. We need to keep drinking regularly during hot weather to keep hydrated and avoid getting too tired. Don't become a walking prune, keept the fluids up and avoid becomeing dehyrated as it takes time to reverse this.

So what about sports drinks - are they any good? It seems that drinks with small amounts of carbohydrate (ie sugars etc) do maek a difference and can be better than plain water. the elctorlytes in the sports dirnks also help with absorption of fluids into the body. As a general rule for low intensity activities like bushwalking it pays to keep drinking and eating during exercise and low concentrate sports drinks will be beneficial.

The most important thing to remember is to avoid becoming dehydrated in the first place. Thirst is very poor indicator of dehyrdation until it is possibly too late. For walking the tips are:

• Drink early and begin your day well hydrated.
• Drink often - don't we a walking prune.
• Choose beverages that are cool and tasty - sports drinks will also be beneficial
• Also keep eating while you are walking.

And remember the words of a famous general... A juicy walker is a good walker