It seems only fitting to take this time to bloooog about water. Right now where I live, it’s hotter than Hades’ attic. We are currently in the season that if you go outside, it’s very easy to dehydrate and water is very important. All I can say is thank goodness for the media…….if it wasn’t for them telling us how hot it is when we go outside, I wouldn’t have realized how hot it was when I went outside. Good job, captain obviously…..So how important is water? What does water do? How much water do we need every day? I want to attempt to answer these questions so that you and I can walk away with a better understanding of H20…..so, here we go:Importance Of Water – Water is very abundant in your body. It makes up somewhere between 55% – 75% of your total body weight. As little as a 10% reduction of water in your body can make you sick, and just a 20% loss of water in your body can result in death. This is why we can live longer without food than we can without water. Food is important for living in that you may last a few weeks without it, but water is more important in that you may last a few days without it. Here are some reasons why drinking water is important:
- Water is involved in every bodily function known to man
- Your blood is involved in transporting nutrients and energy to working muscles and then transporting the waste away from your tissues. What does water have to do with this? Simple: your blood is made up of 90% water. If the water in your blood is reduced, then your blood will become more concentrated. This means your blood will become thicker, and this means your blood will be more susceptible to clotting. Without water, your blood will not be able to deliver oxygen to your brain and muscles. So you can see the idea here. Water is vital in helping your blood to transport things.
- Water is important in controlling your internal temperature regulation. If you do not have enough water, cooling cannot take place. Your body will overheat because you will not be able to perspire…..or should we say “glow.”
- Water helps to lubricate your joints. If you want to take care of your joints, drink water.
- Water helps your digestive system by helping to break down the foods you eat so your body can absorb the nutrients.
- Water helps the kidneys in the metabolism of food. If you do not have enough water, your liver will be called in to help and it will have to focus more of its “concentration” on the breaking down of toxins instead of the kidneys. This will result in other functions of the liver suffering because it’s too busy helping the kidneys.
- Water will help your overall performance levels by aiding in energy storage for your muscles.
- Water helps in weight loss because it is stored alongside glycogen in your muscles. If you do not have enough water, the glucose in your blood will not be stored as glycogen in your muscles, but will instead be stored as fat when it reaches your liver. Make sure you drink your water so that your glucose in the blood goes to your muscles where it should and your body fat can be metabolized as it should.
- I mentioned that your blood is made of 90% water. Your muscles have almost as much….they contain 70% – 80% water. Keeping your muscles fueled with water is also important for performance as it is for your blood.
- Drinking water keeps you from being dehydrated. Dehydration is the loss of water from the body, and the depletion of electrolyte levels. I’ll come back to dehydration and electrolytes in later blooooogs.
- Last but certainly not least, water is the only drink that Bruce Lee recommended. If Bruce Lee’s drink of choice was water, then that’s all the reason that I need to be drinking it too. Remember, This is the only guy who has ever beaten Chuck Norris!
I’ll stop here. It’s easy to see why we should drink water every day. If you have days where you are feeling lethargic or just……bleeehh, then ask yourself, “how much water did I drink today?” A lot of times when we feel “tired” or lethargic, we run to drink coffee or a 5-hour energy drink or a monster energy drink. Instead, consider drinking water because that might be the solution you need to “wake up.”HOW MUCH WATER DO I NEED? – This varies depending on your activity level. I’ll list activity levels below and show you how they factor in:
- sedentary couch potato: .5
- jogger or power walker: .6
- light weight training: .7
- moderate weight training: .8
- heavy weight training: .9
- crazy people who workout twice every day: 1.0
Find which activity level you are for the day and then multiply that number by your body weight:
- For example: my body weight (185) multiplied by my activity level for a day that I’m strength training (.9) would be 166.5 ounces. For a day that I am doing heavy strength training, I need 166.5 ounces of water. Now that is a lot of water and you may think “how in the world am I supposed to drink that much water in a day? Here’s some things to consider: there is water in the food we eat, especially in vegetables. So you’re not going to be drinking all of this water you need. You’ll get it from eating as well. As far as the drinking of the water daily, you can be creative and do things like drink 8 ounces every hour. That makes it easier to handle. Also, drink water at meals. Not only that, but if you drink things like green tea or something that requires water, you can count that towards your daily intake. It’s a lot easier than you think to get your daily water intake.
*SPECIAL NOTE ON THIS* ok……..so, I hesitated to put this chart up because I don’t really buy it. It’s somewhat of a guide, but if you search the internet for daily water intake, you will find all sorts of answers and it will leave you thinking “????????????????” I have a main “guide” that I go to where I know when I have drunk enough water. This guide is a kind of common sense approach, I feel. I’ve searched for this same way of common sense thinking to make sure I’m not crazy, and I found it said by other fitness people who I trust. So I will share it here: my main sign that tells me that I’ve drunk enough water is when I start to pee water. Common sense tells me that If I’m peeing water, then I’m good and can stop drinking water. I can tell you right now that this will happen way before I drink 166.5 ounces. So, use this chart as somewhat as a guide, but let that point where water is coming out of you be the point where you know you drank enough water for the day.I hope this bloooooog helps you understand the importance of water and why you should be drinking it every day. If you have anything to add and/or would like to share how you get your daily water in, please feel free to share in the comment section. Also, if you would click the “‘like” button and would like to “share” this bloooog, that would be appreciated. Until next time,STAY TUNED
LXV fit 