Hornit have teamed up with the Precision Hydration team to teach you the best ways to keep hydrated on rides. Take a look below at their guest blog to get some tips on keeping hydrated on your ride, as well as a juicy PH discount.

How to stay hydrated during your next ride

Hydration is always a big topic of conversation for cyclists, particularly during the summer when the warmer weather leads to increased sweat rates, making it tough to stay hydrated if you're doing a high volume of training.

Staying on top of your hydration all year round means you’ll ultimately perform better and get more out of each training session and that’ll pay dividends when the next event you’re training for comes around.

So, Hornit have teamed up with Precision Hydration to get their advice on how to stay hydrated when you’re leaving no stone unturned. The PH team can regularly be found out riding the roads and trails of the New Forest in the UK and have personalised the hydration strategies of some of the world’s top athletes, including UCI World Tour Cycling’s Team Sunweb...

How to start hydrated (and why that’s important)

• DON’T just drink lots of water in the build-up to a big training session or event

You can end up diluting your body’s sodium levels, increasing the risk of a race-ruining (and potentially dangerous) condition called hyponatremia. At best you’ll end up with a lot of fluid sloshing around in your stomach/bladder, which isn’t what anyone wants when they’re out riding.

• Consider drinking a stronger electrolyte drink before you start

Try adding sodium to your drinks (and meals) before big training sessions and events as this helps you absorb and retain more fluid, boosting your blood volume. Having more blood makes it easier for your cardiovascular system to cool you down and deliver oxygen to your muscles, reducing fatigue and helping you perform at your best for longer.

Drink a stronger sodium-based electrolyte drink ~90 minutes before the start (known as ‘preloading’) and finish your drink >45 minutes before your session to give your body time to fully absorb what it needs and remove any excess. PH 1500 is ideal for helping you start hydrated. Learn more

To find out more about your sweat and to get your own Personalised Hydration Plan, take this free online Sweat Test:

PERSONALISE YOUR HYDRATION STRATEGY

What to drink during your ride

Every athlete is different but, as a rule of thumb, very few cyclists can comfortably drink much more than 750ml per hour. So, unless experience tells you otherwise, it’s unlikely you’ll need to drink more than that.

What should you drink?

If you’re riding for less than 90 minutes, then generally drinking plain water will be enough.

But if you’re going for longer than 90 minutes and you’re someone who has high sweat/sodium losses and/or you struggle with cramp towards the end of longer rides, you should consider adding a sodium-based electrolyte drink to your bottle.

What electrolyte drink you choose does matter because everyone loses a different amount of sodium in their sweat. At Precision Hydration, we Sweat Test athletes and regularly see people who lose as little as 200mg of sodium per litre of sweat to as much as 2,000mg/l. PH founder and Sports Scientist Andy Blow loses just over 1,800 mg/l and he often suffered from hydration issues in hot climates as a result. It was his own personal search for a solution that led to him founding PH.

Sweat rates also vary from person to person of course; and from situation to situation for any given person (from almost nothing in cooler conditions and at low intensities, to several litres per hour during intense exercise in the heat).

When you combine differences in sodium concentration with those in sweat rates, the potential variance in the total net sodium losses experienced from one athlete to another can be really significant, especially over endurance events.

Your losses during a long ride really can be massive.

Rehydrating properly once you've finished

You should be able to top up on the fluids and electrolytes lost in your sweat through the food and drink you normally eat in the hours after the race.

If you struggle with cramp, or feel particularly dehydrated, a more deliberate fluid intake and sodium supplementation might be helpful. Learn more.

We recommend PH 1500 - an extra strong electrolyte drink - to help you replenish your fluid/electrolyte losses.

If you’d like to try Precision Hydration electrolyte supplements to take on your next ride, you can use the discount code HORNIT15 to get 15% off your first order at precisionhydration.com.

If you have any questions about PH products or your hydration strategy, feel free to email James at hello@precisionhydration.com or you can book a free online video call to discuss your hydration strategy with a Sweat Expert.

Enjoy your ride!