How much water should you drink when you exercise? Not drinking enough before, during, and after workouts can affect the muscles and brain. Amount of water that is needed will depend on what kind of exercise you are performing. But usually the purpose of water to keep your body hydrated since your body is losing a lots of water by sweating too much. Water is there to regulate body temperature and transfer nutrients between cells.

American College of Sports Medicine and USA Track & Field have come to agree that thirst is a good signal when you should be consuming water. According to their expertise, a good rule of thumb is to drink 3 to 6 ounces of water for every 20 minutes of exercises we do while putting into consideration that every individual is different and the environment in which they workout might be different. You can also consider drinking in 17 to 20 ounces of water or sports drinks between two to three hours just before getting down to exercise. And during exercise go for 6 to 12 ounces of water every 15 to 20 minutes. And after exercise, if you are able to weigh yourself you can consider drinking 12 to 24 ounces of water for every pound lost during physical exercise. 

How often should you drink water during exercise? As often as you want, as long as it doesn’t surpasses the limits we talked above. Usually 15 or 20 minutes gap between drinking period is a good time.