The human body is made up of 90% water and represents approximately 50% of your total body weight. This percentage can be even higher in athletes as they have less fat and more muscle tissue, so while exercising it is EXTREMELY important to maintain your hydration.
Have you ever felt thirsty while shooting? Thirst is the carving of fluids by your body and it is your basic instinct to increase intake to fluid balance.
If you only drink fluids to quench your thirst while exercising, you will leave your body short on fluids and in poor physical state that will result in a lower performance. You should be continually drinking water or other fluids to replenish your body fluids. Athletes also need to replenish electrolytes (or salts) in there system while performing and they play a key role in the performance.
Not being properly hydrated or lacking electrolytes can lead to muscle cramps or dehydration, neither of which an athlete wants while in competition. You should always be drinking something, especially during competitions, excessive exercise or outside on hot days as these all lead to perspiration and loss of fluids and electrolytes.
Choosing the right fluids is also important, drinking sugar drinks such as soda pop can cause your sugar levels to spike and then crash, this can harm your body during performance. If you need to maintain sugar levels choose drinks with natural sugars such as apple or orange juice as your body can more easily process and use the sugars.
Remember, if you are thirsty; drink something, your body is talking to you.
Jordan Sequillion 