Hydrate for Health
We all know that it’s important to get eight glasses of water each day in order to ensure that our bodies are properly hydrated and that waste and toxins are flushed out of our systems.
When you engage in intense exercise, a lot of fluids can be lost to through sweat, increasing the need for not only water, but also essential electrolytes that allow your body to retain the life-giving fluids you drink.
While you might not think that pumping iron is as intense as running a marathon or swimming laps, the truth is that lifting weights can make you sweat.
That said, there are other reasons why staying hydrated before, during, and after your weight lifting regimen is important. In case you didn’t know it can have a dramatic effect on the results of your workout, as well as your overall state of health.
Here are just a few reasons why you should definitely strive for optimum hydration.
What you may notice first, aside from the discomfort that arises when you’re dehydrated, is that you’ve lost some weight, despite a diet and exercise routine designed specifically to help you gain. This is mainly due to water weight, but not necessarily the way you might think.
If you drink a ton of water throughout the day, you may assume that it simply passes through your digestive tract, clearing out toxins before it is expelled as waste. This, however, is wrong.
The H2O you consume gets spread throughout your body so that it can hydrate all of your cells. If you’re not ingesting enough, the water stored in your cells will become depleted, leaving you a lot lighter than you were before.
Believe it or not, it is estimated that you could lose as much as 2-5% of your total body weight this way!
But of course, there are even worse ramifications for failing to observe proper levels of hydration. Your body relies on water for survival. It not only keeps your digestive function running smoothly, but it also allows nearly every bodily system to operate.
For example, water is necessary for joint lubrication. A shortage could lead to serious injury.
It also flows through the blood stream, ensuring that when you stress your cardiac system it continues to function appropriately.
Water plays a role in regulating your body temperature. Can you imagine what might happen if you heated up during a workout and then couldn’t cool down?
And of course, when every cell in your body is screaming for life-giving water, you’re going to end up with a doozy of a headache, no doubt, not to mention nausea and increased heart rate.
Don’t despair… it could be even worse.
Did you know that the main cause of kidney stones is not necessarily the crystallized deposits of sodium, calcium, or other substances in your kidneys? It’s actually a lack of hydration since adequate amounts of water will wash away these substances before painful stones can ever form.
Plus, without water to flush away toxins you could experience a buildup of waste products in muscles and other parts of the body, leading to aches, pains, cramping, and swelling that make it a lot more difficult to continue working out.
As every dieter knows, hydration is the key to good health and fitness. So when you’re working to build muscle, don’t forget to drink that H2O – it’s not only necessary for life, but it could drastically improve your performance and results.
Tags: build muscle, gain muscle, h2o, health, healthy, hydrate, hydration, muscle building, muscle gains, nutrition, water
