The test is just one part of a full consultation that takes about 45 minutes to an hour to complete.

The test process is a very simple one, it is completely exercise free (yes, no sweating it out on a treadmill!) and painless.

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After going through a thorough history of you, your current issues (if any) and what events you have coming up, the test has 3 simple steps.

STEP 1 - SWEAT INDUCEMENT

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Reece uses a sweat inducer machine that makes a 20cent piece size of skin on your forearm sweat.

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This process only takes around 5 minutes.

STEP 2 - SWEAT COLLECTION

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Reece will use a small sweat collection device (that looks a bit like a wrist watch) to collect a very tiny amount of sweat.

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STEP 3 - SWEAT ANALYZATION

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Your sample is the run through the sweat analyser to determine the sodium concentration of your sweat.

Once we know your sweat concentration, we combine it with your sweat rate (see "how is sweat rate measured" FAQ to learn how this is done) to build your personalised plan.

During a consultation we go through the following steps

Full history

Sweat Test (explained above)

Results explanation

Personalised Hydration & Fuelling plan formation

Race day planner walk through
Product recommendations*

*Reece does work on behalf of Precision Fuel & Hydration but there is no pressure to use PF&H products...if you have products you are already using and you enjoy, we can formulate your plan around these)

From this test you will have a thorough understanding of your sweating, what you need to be replacing and the skills & knowledge to put it all into action.

Following your test you will receive:

• Your Test Results

• A personalised hydration and fuelling plan that you can adapt at any time using the PF&H race day planner

• A post test info email that touches back on what we went through in the consultation (there's a lot to remember!)

• Ability to contact Reece for trouble shooting

It is impossible to do a "one-off" test for sweat rate, so I get you measure this during your training. This is in contrast to your sweat concentration, which will not change no matter the conditions, so we can do a "one off" test for it.

Your sweat rate will be influenced by many factors, with the main ones being temperature, humidity & intensity of exercise.

It's quite simple to take these measurements, all you need to do it weigh yourself before and after training sessions and note the duration of the session, the temperature and also the intensity of the session (I use RPE for this which is a rating out of 10)

If you perform this under a range of conditions you get a graph of yourself and how you sweat! Here's a very handy spread sheet that can help you track your results

See an explainer video I did on the process HERE

Sodium is an essential nutrient for life as it plays a vital role to maintain a balance of body fluids and keep muscles and nerves running smoothly

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We all lose sodium through our sweat, for each person this amount is different (hence the need to test!)

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When exercising, out sweat rate increases and therefore we start to lose sodium, to maintain performance this sodium needs to be replaced.

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This is often seen as "fade out" late in events, which is commonly incorrectly attributed to under fuelling (I have this conversation with athletes a lot)

In the context of exercise and performance, these are the 4 key roles Sodium plays;

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1. Reduce/Eliminate cramping

2. Fluid Retention/locks fluid into your body (i.e. avoiding dehydration)

3. Nerve conduction (key for efficient muscle activation)

4. Muscle contraction (key for strong muscle contraction)

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Let's go into these a little bit deeper

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​REDUCING/ELIMINATING CRAMP​​​

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Interestingly, we still don't know what the exact mechanism of "exercise induced muscle cramp" is, which is amazing considering how common it is and that it has derailed many an event for athletes world wide for centuries

Thankfully though, what we do know is that for the vast majority of cramp sufferers supplementation and replacement of sodium losses during their event eliminates cramp

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AVOIDING DEHYDRATION

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Sodium is the key element that "locks" fluid into the body. If we don't have enough sodium in our system, fluid is unable to be retained in the body and will simply be excreted out (i.e. you'll be weeing a lot!)

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The inability to hold onto fluid overall leads to a drop in blood volume (i.e. dehydration), meaning

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- your body can't transport oxygen and nutrients to your working muscles

- it is unable to bring heat from deep in your body to outside to be expelled (leading to over-heating)

- your heart has to beat/work harder and therefore fatigues

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NERVE CONDUCTION & MUSCLE CONTRACTION

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If you can remember back to high school biology sodium (Na+) is vital for producing something called action potentials

For nerves to send signals and muscles to contract the action potentials are vital.

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When your sodium is depleted, this process can not happen efficiently and therefor you see big drops in performance as your movement becomes less coordinated and weaker.

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The full test process that includes;

• 1 hour consultation

• Sample collection & analysation

• Full results & explanation

• Personalised fuelling and hydration planning (including race day planner walk through)

• Product discussion & recommendations

• Access to Reece for follow ups

is $249

The main locations for testing are:

MELBOURNE TESTING - Kieser South Melbourne

GEELONG TESTING - My home in Leopold

Group tests can be organised at other locations.

YES!

I have conducted group sessions for teams such as Iron Ryan, Beckworth Training and The 2XU Rookies

Sweat Testing Clinic events can be organised on specific dates, pop in an enquiry and we can get this organised.