How to Stay Hydrated on the Job Site
Although it’s always nice to have warm weather, it can make work on job sites significantly more tiring. This is because the added heat can be draining, with construction workers sweating up to 1.5L per hour on a hot, high intensity day.
But why is it important that you stay hydrated? And what can you do about it?
Why is it important that you are hydrated?
By making sure that you’re hydrated throughout the day, you’ll be able to keep your energy levels high, keep yourself from crashing in the afternoon, prevent heat exhaustion, improve your focus, and prevent general fatigue.
Because of this, staying hydrated throughout the work day is vital to making sure you can get through the day and still have enough energy to train or hang out with friends and family.
Tips on staying hydrated during the work week?
Bring your own water to the worksite
Making sure you plan ahead and have your own water bottle with you will prevent the chance of not having access to water within reach whenever you need it. This will let you keep sipping on water continuously instead of having to skull water when you have limited access to when you can drink.
Sip water throughout the day
It's common to forget about drinking water until the end of the day, but sipping on water throughout the day will keep us more hydrated than having large amounts at once. Specifically, we can drink about 250ml every 15 minutes or 1L per hour. Drinking large amounts of water at once will lead to a lot of the water not being absorbed and being disposed of in our urine.
Use electrolytes
When we sweat, it is a mixture of water and electrolytes. By replacing these electrolytes, we can retain more water and keep ourselves hydrated. Electrolyte supplementations also help optimise the amount of water we are absorbing.
On hot days, use an esky
No one wants to have warm water on a hot day. Bringing an esky for everyone to keep their water in will make sure that you stay cool and feel replenished.
Make sure you know how much water you need
The amount of water we need can vary a lot. A good starting point is 2-3 litres per day but if you are feeling fatigued or dehydrated during the day, it may be a good idea to try and find a more accurate measurement. To do this, weigh yourself, work for an hour, and weigh yourself again. The difference in weight, assuming you haven’t eaten or drunk, is the amount you are sweating per hour.