Sweat analysis

Kléber

I hadn't heard of getting sweat analysed.

Sweat analysis tests like this are now de rigueur for top athletes. All of Britain's Olympians have undergone a similar assessment prior to Beijing, and footballers from Premiership clubs view them as an essential part of their preparation. According to Shirreffs, the aim of such tests is to determine the rate of fluid lost through sweat so that sports people, and even Joe Joggers like me, can accurately pinpoint the amount they need to drink during exercise to avoid dehydration. "No two people have the same sweat rate," Shirreffs says. "It can vary as much among top athletes as the rest of the population."

Read more here
http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/ ... g.fitness1

Anyone got any thoughts on this?

knedlicky

It’s not really analysis, is it, although one can apparently learn things by proper analysis of the salts in the sweat.

The idea of measuring how much liquid you need by weighing you isn’t new. I first read of it about 5 years ago, in a running magazine. You need a fairly precise set of scales and get weighed naked immediately before and after at least 30 mins exercise. For every 500 grams of weight you’ve lost, you should have drank 400-500 ml litres of liquid – nothing really complicated.

The idea in the link that some people need more liquid, others less, isn’t new either. I tried to list some of the reasons I believe for that in the recent What To Drink thread, where I also mentioned some people drink too much (as does the linked article).

Kléber

Measuring weight loss is easy, it's when they start to measure salt content, to see exactly what you're losing. Maybe some of us are prone to losing more a particular mineral than others? Also, you can lose some weight by sweating but you breath out a lot of water too.

unclemalc

I wouldn't mind being tested for mineral loss while sweating. I lose a helluva lot when working at anything, even walking quickly for a couple of miles, and the salt marks on my shirts and jeans are testament to it.
I add the stuff (sodium and potassium) to on-the-bike-drinks but its guesswork as to the right amounts I need.
Since I've been doing this its definitely made a positive difference to preventing after-ride headaches and cramps tho'...