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Any avid gymgoer knows how important it is to hydrate before a serious workout—especially in this heat—but that doesn’t mean you should just grab anything before heading to the gym.
According to Columbia University, you should drink at least 20 ounces of water about two hours before you start exercising and around eight ounces every 10 to 20 minutes during your workout.
To make sure you get the most out of your next workout, here are a few things to avoid drinking before you even lace up your running shoes:
- Fruit Drinks: Juices packed with sugar and high-fructose corn syrup will make your body crash in no time. If you’re tired of drinking plain old water, try infusing it with berries, citrus fruits, mint, or basil. Chugging some coconut water is also a great way to replenish your electrolytes after your workout!
- Carbonated Beverages: While it should go without saying that soda before a workout (or ever) is never a good idea, it might surprise you to learn that all carbonated drinks are bad news. Fizzy beverages tend to dehydrate your body, leaving you unprepared for that upcoming sweat sesh. To avoid feeling tired and drained right before your workout, stick to non-carbonated water.
- Sports Drinks: Yep, the drinks that are supposedly created specifically for your workout aren’t so great after all. Loaded with sugar, these sports drinks will do little to improve your performance, but they’ll probably end up making your crash later. If you’re really looking to replenish electrolytes after a hard workout, Women’s Health actually recommends chugging some tomato juice.
- Milk-Based Drinks: No surprise here! While milk’s nutritional benefits have been touted as an excellent post-workout option, anything containing dairy is typically just going to make you cramp up before a workout. With tons of protein, carbohydrates, and fat, milk takes so long to digest that it’s definitely not something you want to be processing during a long run.
