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Staying hydrated is important for sustaining a healthy life in general, but it is a key element to having a beneficial workout that gets you the best results. As our bodies are composed of roughly 70% water, not staying at optimum hydration levels can greatly affect how your body works and how you feel. Not drinking enough water throughout the day can leave you feeling tired, listless, and lethargic. Our bodies are able to go several days without food, but the same is not true for water. It is a daily necessity. As your body loses water more quickly by sweating during a workout, it is essential to replace it quickly. There are several reasons you shouldn’t neglect water intake during a workout.
Exercise Causes Perspiration
Any time you put your body through an elevated level of activity, your body naturally perspires to prevent your body from overheating. Doing simple activities like climbing stairs going on a neighborhood walk can even cause sweating. But it’s the high=intensity workouts that really cause your body to heat up and start sweating profusely. Sweating during an intense workout can actually add up to several liters, meaning it’s extremely important to drink water throughout the workout to sustain a safe and healthy water level within your body. Sweating also causes a loss of electrolytes, which are important for preventing feelings of unpleasantness or even sickness. It is important to replace those as well during or after a workout. You can do so through sports drinks or supplements.
Loss of Coordination
Most workout routines require a high level of coordination to perform them properly. Proper execution of routines ensures your safety and decrease your chances of sustaining an injury. Not maintaining necessary hydration levels can greatly impact your coordination. Dehydration impacts mental clarity, and if you begin to feel woozy or off-balance while working out, it’s time to sit down for a rest and drink some water. This is especially important when you are lifting weights. Feeling woozy in the middle of a set can lead to horrible accidents. So even if you may not be sweating a lot at the beginning of a workout, it is still important to be drinking water.
Muscle Fatigue
Dehydration during a workout can cause your muscles to fatigue much sooner than when you are properly hydrated. For those who weightlift, this can be extremely detrimental. It may cause safety issues if muscles wear out faster than normal, greatly impacting your lifting ability. Dehydration can even cause muscles cramps during the middle of a set. If you are following a ketogenic diet, it is extremely important to hydrate during workouts because your body does not hold onto water as well with a restricted carbohydrate diet. Staying hydrated will allow your muscles to function much longer throughout your workout, helping you to reach your fitness goals.
Overheating
If your body does not have the necessary hydration, it will not have the water reserves needed for sweat production. As sweating aids in cooling the body down during heightened activity, without having enough water in your system your body will shut down sweat production. This will cause the body to overheat and could lead to illness and discomfort. If you start to feel dizzy, feel a headache coming on, or want to vomit, it is a smart idea to have a rest and drink some water. Working out when feeling the symptoms of being overheated can lead to accidents and injuries.
Preventing Toxic Buildup
Drinking water helps remove toxins from your system, not just while working out but all the time. If you aren’t drinking enough water your body will be unable to rid itself of the toxins, causing a buildup and potentially unsafe consequences. All of your organs function with the help of water, and your blood needs water to help carry oxygen effectively. This is why doctors recommend drinking at least eight 8-oz glasses of water each day. If you exercise frequently, this amount needs to be increased, doubled, or possibly tripled according to the difficulty and exertion of your workout.
Muscle Recovery
Working out causes your muscles to tire, stretch, and grow. Weight training and long distance running really feel the effects of this. Without the proper hydration, recovery from a hard or high-intensity workout can take much longer and can cause increased soreness that can last days longer than normal. Drinking enough water, with electrolyte supplementation, can cause your recovery time to last much less time and decrease the amount of soreness your muscles experience. It is also important to implement rest days to give your muscles plenty of time to heal.
Increased Energy
Drinking the recommended amount of water helps to increase your energy levels. With these increased energy levels, you will be able to work through a longer, more strenuous workout. Drinking a glass of water before working out will provide your body with the kick start it needs to being whatever fitness routine you are training. Staying hydrated through the duration of the workout will provide you with the benefits you need to push through. And it is always important to drink water after a workout to eliminate the depletion your body has suffered from increased sweating. Not enough water can lead you to feel tired and sluggish, and it can keep you from even attempting a workout.
It’s What Your Body Needs
There are many drinks on the market that claim to work wonders for replenishing all the nutrients your body needs while working out. But the most beneficial substance you can ingest is water. Water is what your body loses when perspiring so water is what your body needs in order to replace what has been spent. Post-workout drinks or other sports drinks can be full of sugar as well as sodium, neither of which benefits a healthy lifestyle or aides in hydration. Of course, a drink containing electrolytes is also great for drinking after a high intensity or strenuous workout. But water is what your body needs before, during, and after working out. Be sure to start off each day with a big glass of water shortly after waking up. It will help to start your day off right, with a clear mind and well-functioning body.
Final Words
Working out is an important part of any lifestyle. Spending time working on your body and fitness goals can lead to a long and healthy life. It is important to provide your body with the nutrition it needs when spending extra energy at the gym or doing in-home workouts. Drinking coffee and juice is fine, but it is very important to drink just plain water to keep your body hydrated. If drinking the recommended amount of water is difficult for you, there are several options of water bottles to aid you in this. They have hourly increments marked to indicate how much water you should be drinking. It can also be helpful to set an alarm to remind yourself to drink water. But never forget to bring a bottle or water with when hitting the gym as it is of the utmost importance to stay hydrated.
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