Day 2 of 21: Drink Up!
Aside from exercise, nutrition, lifestyle and many more, water is one important factor to fitness. It is not uncommon that doctors and other health experts over emphasize the important of water for optimal health. Unfortunately due to different reasons, many of us fail to drink enough water.
Water is not only important to athletes, but also to everyone. It has several functions in our body including digestion, regulation of body temperature, energy, body cleansing and many more. We all know that the human body is composed of mainly water.
There are many information all over with the importance of water. Despite that this is a common knowledge, many still underestimate it's essence. Thus, later on, it causes headache and other disease, which we treat with medicine, while, the main reason for this is not drinking enough water.
When it comes to fitness, whether you are looking into losing weight, gaining weight, getting stronger, maintenance or whatever ever it is, water is a key factor. If you are losing weight, not drinking enough water will help. Being dehydrated will cause your body to store as much water as it can in the form of fats (future blog about this will be posted). Not having enough water will cause your body produce more cortisol which is also known as the "stress hormone".
While this is not true for all body types, for example, for hard gainers (people having a hard time gaining weight. Hard gainers usually have a goal of gaining more weight or muscle mass. Usually, resistance, strength or weight training is recommended for them with a surplus calorie diet. There are many factors into gaining weight but one foundation is water intake. Water aids in general recovery. It also helps in distributing nutrition to our muscles. It also plays a role in producing healthy hormones needed for an excellent health.
How much water is needed?
The most familiar answer is 8 glasses (a glass is about 350 mL). There are other recommendations upto 13 glasses a day. It seems that 8 glasses to be the most reasonable goal to follow.
Tips on staying hydrated
* Monitor your water intake until you get into the habit of drinking regulary
* Put bottles of water all over your house so you have easy access to it
* Set an alarm
* Include carrying water wherever you go
* Drink a glass water soon as you wake up in the morning
Water and Pee
Other people also use their pee color as a guideline on their hydration status.
Conclusion
There are numerous studies and information about the importance of drinking enough water. My goal in this article is to remind you its importance. If you are feeling guilty of not providing your body with enough water, its not too late. Go grab a glass of water.
Drink up!