Five rounds for time:
12 goblet squats (24/16kg)
8 burpees

Dehydration and Athletic Performance

Did you know that dehydration by as little as 1-2% of body weight can greatly decrease athletic performance?  Bump that percentage up to 5% and you can see dramatic loss of performance capabilities.

We want to take this opportunity to remind everyone to hydrate during this hot dry summer!  It’s not only good for your CrossFit workouts but for your overall health and wellness too!  Hop up from your desk and go fill up a glass of water!  And remember, coffee doesn’t count as water, especially if you drink 6 cups a day!

The main reasons dehydration has an adverse effect on exercise performance can be summarized as follows:

• Reduction in blood volume

• Decreased skin blood flow

• Decreased sweat rate

• Decreased heat dissipation

• Increased core temperature

• Increased rate of muscle glycogen use

In short, this means that when you are dehydrated your body overheats more easily and it looks uses precious muscle glycogen for something other than fueling you through your workout.  No good! 

“A reduced maximal cardiac output (i.e., the highest pumping capacity of the heart that can be achieved during exercise) is the most likely physiologic mechanism whereby dehydration decreases a person’s VO2max and impairs work capacity in fatiguing exercise of an incremental nature.” (Dehydration and its Effects on Performance)

So how much water do you need?  Check out this nifty Hydration Calculator to give you an idea!

How do you stack up?  Are you drinking enough water during this hot summer?  Post to comments.