One of the most prominent features on a home elliptical besides the consul is usually the drink holder. For athletes in the United States, this drink holder may contain a variety of drinks professed to be healthy and even to have the ability to improve your performance.
Sports drinks have become a very common beverage for the athlete. These drinks are well known for their varying recipes of fluid, electrolytes, and carbohydrates.
There are three main types of sports drinks. The first kind generally contains Isotonic Fluid, electrolytes, and a few carbohydrates.
The second kind contains hypotonic fluid, electrolytes, and low amounts of carbohydrates. The third kind also contains hypotonic fluid, but only has high levels of carbohydrates.
A common term that is used in reference to fluids such as these is osmolality. Osmolality refers to the number of particles that are present in a solution.
Drinks that are very close to, if not the same, in osmolality to the osmolality of your blood are considered to be Isotonic. Drinks that have a low osmolality are not necessarily good for you because they tell your body that it has had enough, when it has not yet full replenished the fluids that have been lost.
In general, the best type of fluid to drink is isotonic. It replaces the lost fluids very quickly and can provide your body with energy through an addition of carbohydrates.
Those who participate in mid to long distance sports should especially drink isotonic drinks. However, if you do not need the energy boost that the carbohydrate provides, you may want to drink hypotonic drinks.
Hypotonic drinks can also replace the fluid quickly, but does not provide you with the carbohydrates. These kinds of drinks may be for athletes that participate in sports that require short spurts of energy, such as gymnastics.
Other athletes may want to drink a mix of the two types of beverages as their sport is in short and middle levels of needed energy. In their own ways, sports drinks can be both good and bad.
Some sports drinks have a tart and sweet taste to them. This combination does not help you feel like your thirst is being quenched.
As a result, you will need to drink more of it to replace the fluids you have lost and to feel satisfied. In addition, sports drinks are generally much more expensive than water.
Unfortunately, many sports drinks also contain quite a bit of sugar and caffeine to help you feel energized. These forms of energy are short lived at best and sugar can be quite unhealthy.
Caffeine will also tend to dehydrate your body rather than rehydrate it. Due to the sugar that may be present in a sports drink if you choose to drink it, it is best to drink it through a straw or to drink it all at once due to the damage the sugar may do to your teeth.
However, sports drinks can provide you with some things that water cannot, such as carbohydrates and flavoring. In addition, these drinks are usually healthier and contain fewer calories than other drink alternatives, such as juice and soft drinks.
Consumption of sports drinks should be fairly similar to drinking to water throughout a workout. For example, if you regularly exercise on the elliptical, you should still drink some of your sports drink before you begin your workout.
Throughout you elliptical workout, you should continue to drink small amounts of the sports drink so that you can stay energized and hydrated. This is part of why the drink holder that is present on the elliptical is so convenient.
With the drink holder, you will not have to climb off of the elliptical to get a drink and then climb back on, potentially losing all of your data because you stopped moving your feet. After you finish working out you should make sure that you drink quite a bit of water or sport drink to make sure that you are completely re-hydrated.
While there are some benefits to drinking sports drinks in some cases, many medical associations believe that it is healthier and more effective to simply drink water. Water does not contain sugar, caffeine or other substances that will damage your teeth or dehydrate your body.
In addition, water is much less expensive and readily available. Still, it is best to have at least some kind of drink with you when you exercise rather than nothing at all.
Author Resource:-
Jack Landry is a personal trainer and has authored hundreds of articles relating to physical training and ellipticals. He has been a health expert and physical trainer for over 15 years.
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