{"id":10187,"date":"2011-07-21T13:26:58","date_gmt":"2011-07-21T19:26:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.withamymac.com\/news\/?p=10187"},"modified":"2011-07-21T13:28:26","modified_gmt":"2011-07-21T19:28:26","slug":"sports-drinks-benefits","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.withamymac.com\/news\/2011\/07\/21\/sports-drinks-benefits\/","title":{"rendered":"Do You NEED Sports Drinks?"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\"\"<\/a>When you are headed for the gym, out for a quick jog or a \u00bd day bike ride, do you reach for your favorite sports drinks? Should you?<\/p>\n

I am often asked about the necessity of sports drinks. Sports drinks like Gatorade and Powerade provide carbohydrates, which result in a burst of energy that may be helpful in endurance events or games. These drinks serve the purpose of rehydrating you and replenishing the sodium and potassium your body needs at a faster rate than water. Water is great for hydration but sweat is more than just water, and those elements do need to be replenished quickly in a high intensity situation.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

HOWEVER! Sports drinks contain calories and unless you get the sugar-free versions, they have lots of sugar as well. If you aren\u2019t doing intense, endurance activities, then you need to skip the sports drinks and all of their calories and sugar!<\/div>\n
Still curious as to whether your workouts are sports drink worthy?\u00a0Here are my rules!<\/div>\n
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  • Workout time should be more than 60 minutes BUT it can be less if the weather is really hot and humid because it will deplete you faster<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
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    • The workout should involve intense cardio this means you better be running, jumping, rowing, dancing or cycling your booty off!<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
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      • Obey the serving size! It may not be necessary to drink the whole bottle to gain some energy and restore your electrolytes, so be sure to check the serving size so you don’t get tricked into a bundle of unnecessary calories.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n
        Follow these rules and you\u2019ll won\u2019t just be downing these drinks because they look really awesome and hardcore in the commercials, you\u2019ll be using them to your body\u2019s benefit.<\/div>\n