Glucose
Intense exercise and strict diet regimens can cause you to produce stress hormones, such as adrenalin. They also make it harder for your muscle cells to utilize insulin.
When combined, these two factors raise your glucose levels and can lead to glycosuria — the presence of glucose in the urine. Glycosuria is a common sign of hyperglycemia (high blood sugar).
High blood sugar can cause several issues such as:
- Dehydration
- Organ damage
- Reduced mental clarity and focus
- Increased risk of cardiovascular disease and other chronic conditions
As a result, you may experience:
- Decreased energy and endurance during physical activity
- Increased fatigue and muscle cramps due to dehydration
- Physical limitations and problems that reduce your athletic ability
Specific Gravity
The specific gravity of urine is the concentration of electrolytes and other chemical particles in your urine.
Optimum hydration is essential when you are physically active. Your hydration and electrolyte balance can become unbalanced with supplements, diets, and tough training.
Electrolyte imbalance can cause symptoms such as:
- Dizziness
- Headache
- Fatigue
- Cramping
- Nausea
- Heart palpitations
- Dehydration
Dehydration can also lead to several undesirable outcomes, including:
- Reduced energy levels and stamina
- Decreased mental focus and concentration
- Overheating that leads to cramps and fatigue
- Low blood volume that results in reduced strength, endurance, and speed
A urine dipstick test like Urinox-10 can easily measure the specific gravity of urine, helping you stay alert about your hydration and electrolyte levels and replenish them as needed to ensure optimal performance.
Blood
Strenuous exercise, particularly highly intense long endurance or weight-bearing exercise, can cause a benign condition called acute hematuria (blood in urine). Some medications may also predispose you to exhibit blood in your urine.
Exercise-induced hematuria generally has no other symptoms; however, it can cause pain just above the front region of your hip. This can hinder your performance.
In cases where hematuria lasts longer than 72 hours or recurs with strenuous exercise, you may have to halt athletic activity and receive medical attention.
Urine test strips measure these levels to ensure you have no blood in your urine.
Leukocytes
Strenuous exercise leads to increased leukocytes — white blood cells that fight infection — in urine. Therefore, intense or acute exercise can be related to infections of the urinary tract.
Urinary infections can lead to incorrect hydration and blood filtration rates, which cause decreased energy and endurance as well as reduced muscle strength and physical performance.
In addition, you may experience pain, inflammation, diarrhea, and fever, all of which can significantly reduce your athletic performance. Furthermore, excess leukocytes can accumulate in muscles, which can lead to impairment of the flow of oxygen and other nutrients to those muscles.
Increased leukocytes in urine signify inflammation in the body and could indicate that your body has not recovered from the previous training session.
Optimize Your Athletic Performance With Urine Test Strips
Urinalysis test strips enable you to learn and track important parameters that indicate your physical condition. By doing so, you can optimize your training and diet regimen to achieve your best athletic performance.
Diagnox offers Urinox-10, an affordable 10-parameter urine dipstick test (UA test) that allows you to keep track of your health condition. These FDA-cleared and CLIA-waived test trips provide fast and accurate results in just 2 minutes for easy testing wherever you are.
