Why is drinking enough Water so important?

By July 30, 2010 Nutrition No Comments

Fluid intake strategies

Each day we need to replace about two liters of fluid to balance general body losses – even before sweat loss during training is taken into account. When the body heats up, production of sweat helps to reduce body temperature. Sweat rates vary between individuals, and increase with harder work loads and hotter environments.
Water in the digestive, respiratory circulatory and excretory systems is required to collect and transport fuel & oxygen to, and metabolic waste products away from the muscle. Water in the muscular and skeletal systems is also required to lubricate moving parts such as muscles, joints, etc. as well as transfer heat away from these parts. Thus the greater the body water content the greater the capacity for exercise the greater the capacity for muscle growth.
Think of your body as a car with a radiator, if you don’t keep the radiator full your car over heats and will break down or run poorly. Same goes for your body, if you don’t stay well hydrated.
There is a gradual reduction in performance, physical and mental, as the degree of dehydration increases.
Look forward to better training when you are better hydrated. Good luck – or even thirst – are not the basis of a good hydration plan, be organized with drinking plenty of fluid over the day.
Strategies to replace fluids over the day
• Make sure that you drink at each meal. Don’t overlook water as a great choice.
• Take extra care in hot, humid weather; you will need to increase your drinking opportunities.
• Keep a supply of fluids on hand during the day. Carry your own water bottle so you can get a drink wherever you are.
• Rehydrate quickly after a session. Remember that you will continue to lose fluid during recovery through urine and continued sweating. You need to drink 1.5 times the amount lost over the next 1-2 hours to achieve good hydration (E.g. If you are 1 kg lighter after a session, you will need to drink 1500ml to rehydrate).
• Get a feel for sweat losses during your activity, and how well you replace these. If you weigh yourself before and after a session, you are measuring fluid losses only.
Every 1 kg of weight lost = 1 liter of fluid.
Try to keep fluid loss to a minimum over a session by drinking as often as practical.

As water is one of the most important mediums to get rid of our waste in our bodies, there is a simple rule if one of your health goals is to lose weight:
NO OR NOT ENOUGH WATER = NO WEIGHT LOSS