Before. During.
After.
Hydration is a routine, not a rescue. Three moments in every session.
In short
Start the session already hydrated.
Sip between rounds. Do not chug.
Finish the bottle after the bell.
On this page
01 Start hydrated02 Before the wraps go on03 Between rounds04 After the bell05 Two sessions in a day06 Check yourself each morning07 Make it a ritual01
Start hydrated
You cannot fix in round three what you skipped that morning. A session started dry stays dry, because most fighters sweat faster than they can comfortably drink.
The American College of Sports Medicine suggests drinking around 5 to 7 ml per kilogram of body weight about four hours before hard exercise. For an 80 kg fighter that is 400 to 560 ml. Sipped, not downed at the door.
02
Before the wraps go on
One stick in the bottle before the wraps go on. Mix it then, so the bottle is ready when you need it and you are not shaking powder with gloves on.
Start drinking in the warm-up, not when you first feel thirsty. By then you are already behind.
03
Between rounds
Sixty seconds. The bottle is in your corner. A few mouthfuls each rest adds up over a session to most of a bottle.
Do not chug. A full stomach and a body shot are a bad combination, and fluid taken in small amounts sits better while you work.
04
After the bell
Finish the bottle. Then keep going. Where a fast recovery matters, the same position stand suggests about a litre and a half for every kilogram lost, taken over the next few hours and not in one go.
Sodium is what makes that fluid stay. Drink it with food and the meal does part of the work.
05
Two sessions in a day
The gap between the morning session and the evening one is the whole window. What you put back in those hours decides how the second session starts.
One stick per session. On a two-a-day, that is two.
06
Check yourself each morning
Three quick checks before training. Your weight, compared with yesterday. The colour of your urine, where pale is good and dark is not. Whether you woke up thirsty.
One of the three being off means little. Two or three together mean you start the day behind.
07
Make it a ritual
Hydration works as a routine, not a rescue. Tie it to something you already do without thinking: the wraps, the walk to the bag, the bell.
Same stick. Same bottle. Same moment. Every session.
Sources: Sawka MN et al. American College of Sports Medicine position stand: Exercise and fluid replacement. Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, 2007. This lesson is general education, not medical advice.
