Too much water slows marathon runners down, new study finds
Posted December 23, 2010 4:18 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
A new study suggests drinking too much water when running a marathon can slow you down.
The study in the British Journal of Sports Medicine found some runners are drinking too much water during their races and impairing their performance.
Researchers found those who took the longest to complete the race lost the least amount of weight and are the ones who drank more fluids. Drinking too much water increased their weight and slowed them down.
The slowest runners only lost an average of two per cent of their body weight.
Runners who lost more than three per cent of their weight during the run finished the fastest.
Researchers said over-drinking was likely the result of behavioural conditioning and prompted by advertising.
