Exercise is an important part of any healthful life, with organizations such as the American Heart Association recommending you include at least 150 minutes of exercise each week. However, exercise can result in side-effects if performed incorrectly or if you neglect other important aspects of your health such as staying hydrated before your exercise session. Common side-effects including sweating and dizziness.
Muscles and Heat
When you exercise, you dramatically increase the rate in which your muscles are using energy. To keep up with the energy needs, your body accesses new energy by burning calories from recently consumed foods or from fat stored in your adipose tissue. A byproduct of this burning process is the production of heat. Generally heat is used to maintain your body temperature. However, when too much heat is created, which is common with exercise, your body must release the heat to prevent your body from overheating.
Sweating
The primary way your body gets rid of excess heat is through sweating. As fluid is pushed out of the glands toward the surface of the skin, evaporation occurs. Evaporation pulls heat away from the body, effectively cooling the body down. However, sweating requires the loss of water, which can cause side-effects such as dehydration.
Dehydration and Dizziness
When your body is dehydrated, the amount of fluid available for your bloodstream is reduced. Less blood results in a lower blood pressure, which can cause the sensation of dizziness. When you sweat, you increase your risks for dehydration, especially if you went into the exercise session dehydrated, or you are exercising outside in the hot sun. Dizziness can lead to other serious signs of dehydration, and in some cases is a warning sign of heat exhaustion or heat stroke.
Water Recommendations
To prevent your body from getting dehydrated during exercise, and to prevent the side-effect of dizziness, drink plenty of fluids before, during and after you exercise. Varying levels of water have been recommended, but a general guideline is to replace the estimated amount of water you lose each day, suggests MayoClinic.com. This works out to approximately 2 l of water per day. If you are taking part in particularly intense exercise, or exercise during a hot day, you should increase this number even more to make up for the additional sweat.
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