Fluids for Dancers

Fluids for Dancers

When researching into warm-up I find many sources talk about sweating and keeping hydrated during class or a performance, so I wanted to look into this slightly more.

Professional source written by Jane Griffin first published by ‘dance UK’ in 1998 but was revised in 2001 and 2005. 

Why do dancers sweat?

·         Sweating keeps a dancers body temperature steady

·         Cools the body down

·         Heat rises and needs to exit the body quickly and efficiently.

·         Pro longs the time of exercise if fluids and replaced, if not this will causes dehydrations and effects the performance of the body.

Dehydrations can effect a dancer physically and mentally.

2% loss of fluids starts to effect the performance already and 5-6% decreases the capacity to work by 30%.

Hydration is one of the main reasons dancers suffer from muscle cramps.

More exercise = More sweat

The higher the temperature of the room = More sweat

More clothing = More sweat

Humidity = More sweat because it drips off the body rather than evaporates so it produces more sweat.

Hydration status- dehydration eventually limits the sweat production, as the body is trying to conserve fluid. 

Also wearing the wrong clothes for dancing can resist sweating. This is not a good idea as this stops sweat, nor is a good way to lose weight as you are only losing fluid not body fat.

Drink 2-7% cards and sodium can help not being hydrated. This is called isotonic drink, same concentration as bodily fluids so they are more easily absorb.

Example of an isotonic drink:

·         50g glucose or sugar, 1 litre water, 1 large pinch of salt (1-1.5g)

Dissolve the sugar and salt water. Flavour with low calorie squash and top up to 1 litre with COLD water. Cover and keep chilled in the fridge until needed.

Sweating maintains the body temperature at 37 degrees, this results in the loss of body fluids and electrolytes, which are minerals (for example chloride, calcium, magnesium, sodium and potassium.)

Dehydration can cause circulatory collapse and heat stroke.

Fluid balance is maintained by receptors in the brain and circulatory system. They check blood pressure and the concentration of the dissolved particles in the blood stream.

When exercising the rate of heat production rises a lot, to remove this from th body but it does not take much of an increase in heat to overload the usual mechanism for losing heat. So the body finds a new method which is called the evaporation of sweat from the surface of the skin. Which will eventually cool down the body.

If you participate in a dance class for 30 minutes you should not need a drink break as long as you hydrate before and after class. If dancing for longer you should drink water or an isotonic drink.

You should always start a dance class well hydrated otherwise fluid loss will leads to tiredness and a risk of injury.

You should also vary what you drink during the day.

Remember if you are drinking tea, coffee, cola and other energy drinks normally contain caffeine which has a diuretic effect. Drinking 5 cups of tea or 3 coffees should be fine.

If a dancer wants to assess how much fluid you lose after a hard dance class they should weigh themselves (not with hot sweaty clothes on) every kilogram lost is equivalent to a litre of fluid not replaced.

It is also important to remember to keep hydrated and not wait until you feel thirsty, then that’s too late!

You need to train your body to drink water and keep hydrated. Start by taking small sips of water so you do not feel bloated and you can slowly build up the amount you drink.