Eight, 8 oz. glasses of water a day: it’s a rule that’s been burned into our brains for years because the ideal quantity of fluid to drink every day. nevertheless notwithstanding what number times specialists say that’s approximately correct, several still believe “8×8” is that the magic quantity.

The truth: what proportion water you must drink every day very, actually depends on the person, Robert A. Huggins, PhD, of the University of Connecticut explained to Health. “Fluid desires square measure dynamic and want to be personalized from person to person. Factors like sex, environmental conditions, level of warmth acclimation, exercise or work intensity, age, and even diet ought to be thought-about.”

What this suggests is that merely paying attention to your thirst is that the best thanks to gauge once to drink. in a different way to watch association is to seem at your pee before you flush. you would like it to seem like lemonade; if it’s darker than that, you must down a glass.

But what concerning exercise?
To gauge what proportion water you specifically ought to absorb throughout exercise, astronomer recommends doing a little experiment on yourself.

First, before you're employed out weigh yourself carrying with very little to no consumer goods. “If you'll be able to, [make certain you’re hydrous beforehand] and avoid drinking whereas you exercise to create the maths simple,” astronomer says. however if you get thirsty, don’t ignore it: drink some and certify to live the quantity.

After you’re done physical exertion, weigh yourself once more. Then, take your 1st weight and cipher the second weight, and you’ll find yourself with what proportion fluid you lost. Convert this to kilograms (if you search it, Google can come the amount for you or attempt a metric converter), then drink that quantity in liters. (If you drank some water throughout exercise, cipher the quantity of water you drank from your final total.)

This is your “sweat rate,” astronomer says. It’s the quantity of water you must drink throughout or once your next exercising to switch what you’ve lost. (You also can use an internet calculator for sweat rate; simply infix your numbers.)

Complicated much? we tend to agree. astronomer estimates that almost all folks lose between one to 2 liters of sweat for every hour of moderate intensity exercise. however ultimately thirst ought to still be your guide.

Why it’s necessary to induce the proper quantity
You already apprehend that dehydration is dangerous, however over-hydrating may very well be even as unhealthy.

In fact, a brand new accord report within the British Journal of medicine found that a lot of athletes square measure in danger of exercise-associated symptom, that is Associate in Nursing solution imbalance which will be caused by drinking an excessive amount of liquid. this could cause nausea and reflex, headaches, fatigue, and in serious cases, coma and even death.

While it had been previously thought to solely be a priority for long-distance athletes competitive  in events like marathons and Ironmans, the paper (which was funded by CrossFit, Inc.) ended that a lot of athletes are literally perilously over-drinking throughout events as short as 10K races and even bikram yoga categories, Tamara Hew-Butler, PhD, lead author of the paper, explained to Health.

Because “it is not possible to advocate a generalized vary particularly throughout exercise once conditions square measure dynamic and dynamical, there's not one size that matches all!” she adds.

So the best methodology to stay you in this sweet spot between over- and under-hydrated is, like several things, to concentrate to your body.