Training Hydration Cheat Sheet

Three protocols. One page. Pin it to your gym wall

1. Daily Baseline

ACSM
body weight (lbs) / 2 = oz per day
body weight (kg) × 35 = ml per day

Your minimum daily water intake before any exercise. Based on the American College of Sports Medicine position stand on fluid replacement

150 lbs: 75 oz (2.2L)  •  170 lbs: 85 oz (2.5L)  •  200 lbs: 100 oz (3.0L)
ACSM — Exercise and Fluid Replacement Position Stand

2. Training Addition

Galpin Equation
body weight (lbs) / 30 = oz every 20 min
body weight (kg) × 2.2 / 30 = oz every 20 min

Add this to your baseline for every 20 minutes of training. Adjust by intensity

Intensity Zone Examples Multiplier
Easy Z1-Z2 Walk, yoga, light ride 0.75x
Moderate Z3 Steady run, lifting, Peloton 1.0x
Hard Z4-Z5 HYROX, CrossFit, intervals 1.25x
170 lbs, 60 min moderate: 170/30 = 5.7 oz × 3 intervals = 17 oz added
Dr. Andy Galpin — Huberman Lab Guest Series on Exercise Physiology

3. Beverage Hydration Index

Not all drinks are equal

How much hydration you actually retain per drink, relative to water. Coffee counts. Beer doesn't

Beverage Hydration
Water 100%
Coffee 95%
Tea 95%
Milk 105%
Sports drink 95%
Beer 60%
Spirits ~20%
Killer et al. 2014 — No evidence of dehydration with moderate daily coffee intake
Maughan et al. 2016 — A randomized trial to assess the potential of different beverages to affect hydration status

Quick reference

Dehydration threshold
2% body weight
Performance drops 10-20%
Thirst signal
Lagging indicator
You're already 1-2% down
Pre-training
16 oz / 500ml
2 hours before training
Post-training
150% of loss
Weigh before/after to calculate

HYDROX calculates all of this from your body weight automatically

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