UL Coach Rusty Whitt Says Hydration Key To Summer Health

UL Head Strength and Conditioning Coach Rusty Whitt joined 'Mornings With Ken and Bernie' today and had some timely advice.  With tomorrow being the first official day of summer we asked Coach Whitt what would be the best advice he could give listeners to prevent heat stress or heat stroke.  Whitt replied,

If you're going to go outside in this 100 degree heat in Louisiana you're going to need to have water on-site with you.  I would recommend a twenty ounce bottle of water sitting right there on the concrete next to you.  If you feel thirsty you're already getting dehydrated.  If you start feeling that your mouth is dry and you're sweating you're already starting the dehydration process.

In relation to non-athletes preparing to do some outside labor such as mowing the lawn Coach Whitt said,

Pre-hydration is good if you're planning to work outside.  About thirty minutes beforehand drink a couple of glasses of water and then take some with you.

With all the sports drinks on the market we asked Coach Whitt if he felt drinks like Gatorade or Powerade were of any value and according to him,

If you're sweating and losing electrolytes by all means I would recommend a Gatorade or Powerade product.  The problem is that there is a lot of sugar in those beverages and if you're going to drink them at your computer desk you're taking in a lot of sugar you're not going to to expend...I wouldn't recommend them for general hydration and sitting around in closed doors.

Coach Whitt had a lot more to say about athletes as well as non-athletes and you can hear all of his comments by listening to the interview: