Hydration as a Trainable Skill
An often overlooked aspect of hydration guidelines.
Foreword
This is a wee change of pace for Performance Nutrition Digest, and a chance for me to write a bit more about some of the applied side of Sports Nutrition.
This type of post will likely become a regular part of paid subscriber benefits, but I wanted to put this one out there for everyone, to share some of my thoughts on a topic I’ve been playing around with for a while.
There are definitely comparisons to other areas of applied sports nutrition (e.g. fuelling, cooking, recovery), regarding the skill of performing those actions in context. But this particular piece focuses solely on hydration.
Please share your thoughts on the format and if there is interest in this type of post going forward. Enjoy!
Tom
Background
Conventional hydration guidelines and/or advice often suggest that fluid intake is unnecessary during runs lasting less than 60 minutes. While this may be sufficient for maintaining fluid balance in shorter sessions, it overlooks an important opportunity to develop a key performance skill: the ability to tolerate and efficiently absorb fluids during exercise.
Hydration, much like running mechanics or lifting technique, is a trainable skill. Regular exposure to fluid intake under exercise conditions promotes physiological and gastrointestinal adaptations that enhance comfort, absorption, and performance when demands increase, particularly during prolonged training sessions or competition.
Physiological Rationale
The process of maintaining hydration during exercise involves coordinated interactions between several systems.
Gastric emptying refers to the rate at which fluid leaves the stomach and enters the intestine. Intestinal absorption describes the efficiency of water and electrolyte uptake across the intestinal wall into circulation. Thermoregulation reflects the body’s ability to maintain stable core temperature through sweat and skin blood flow responses.
Repeated practice of fluid ingestion during training can improve these responses.
Athletes who habitually consume fluids during shorter sessions may benefit from faster gastric emptying rates, enhanced intestinal fluid absorption, and reduced gastrointestinal discomfort during longer endurance events.
Over time, this supports more efficient maintenance of plasma volume and thermoregulation, both of which are critical factors in endurance performance.
Importantly, you’re also getting your body used to a mechanism by which you can efficiently ingest higher carbohydrates amounts during exercise, a key component of modern endurance fuelling strategies.
Training Adaptation and Application
Sub-60-minute sessions provide an ideal environment for skill acquisition in hydration. These lower-stress training contexts allow athletes to refine drinking strategies such as sip frequency, fluid temperature, and composition without the pressure or fatigue associated with long-duration runs.
Although I would recommend practicing hydration strategies during long runs and race pace efforts also.
Developing hydration tolerance in this manner can reduce the risk of gastrointestinal distress, which commonly occurs when fluids are introduced in competition scenarios.
This practice-based approach can therefore be viewed as a component of race preparation, just like nutrition periodisation or pacing strategies.
Practical Considerations
Athletes can incorporate hydration practice during shorter / lower intensity training sessions once or twice per week.
Fluids should be consumed in small, frequent sips to promote tolerance and efficient absorption or larger volumes to test the gut to a higher degree.
Practitioners should monitor sweat rates, environmental temperature, and gastrointestinal comfort to individualise recommendations.
It is not necessary, nor practical, to carry fluids on every short run. Instead, athletes can view these sessions as an opportunity to train the gut and refine hydration strategies that can later be applied under competition intensity or heat stress.
Conclusion
Hydration during shorter runs should not be viewed solely through the lens of fluid replacement, but rather as a mechanism for developing adaptation and tolerance.
Training the gut to handle fluids efficiently provides an important competitive advantage by enhancing comfort, fluid absorption, and thermoregulatory stability during endurance performance.
In essence, hydration is a trainable skill, and those who practice it consistently are better prepared to perform when the physiological demands of competition rise.