We hear it time and time again. You need to make sure you’re drinking enough water. There are countless benefits with getting the daily recommended amount of water in your system. One of the most vital stages we need water, and when our body craves it the most, is during a workout. But what happens when we neglect to fuel our body with H2O? It may be more disastrous than you think.
Read these 8 tips to learn what could happen if you don’t get an adequate amount of water during your workout:
1. Eating more
Of all the antidotes for a big appetite, drinking lots of water may be the best one. First, it makes you feel fuller – and for longer. When you get home from a sweaty workout session, you’ll be less likely to divulge into your sweetest unhealthy cravings.
Second, it enables the transportation of nutrients, including fiber and protein. Fiber and protein may be the best for promoting fullness and lessening hunger. While you may not feel the hunger pains during your workout, you may feel them afterwards if you don’t drink enough water.
2. Swelling up
While low water intake and swelling may sound contradictory, it isn’t. If the body detects any type of fluid imbalance, a condition called edema may result. Edema causes fluid to accumulate in the skin and tissues, producing a swollen appearance.
3. Feeling aches and pains
Our muscles require constriction and expansion. Water is the ultimate catalyst for this when you’re in the gym. Cramping is often the body’s way of telling you to get water.
4. Less energy
Water is essential in producing the energy you need to get the intense workout you’re looking for. The body expends this energy very quickly during periods of physical exertion. This physical relationship helps to explain why drinking H2O during a workout is also essential.
5. Losing focus
When you come to the gym with a specific goal in mind, you don’t want you mind to wander. You want to stay concentrated on why you came to the gym and what you’re trying to accomplish. Your brain demands adequate hydration to function properly. When you’re dehydrated the activity of your neurotransmitters is severely impaired, causing short-term memory loss and loss of concentration.
6. Toxins stick around
Intense exercise causing us to sweat profusely, and this is great for eliminating bad toxins within our body. Drinking water exacerbates perspiration, resulting in the elimination of more toxins than when we’re dehydrated. Keep up on your water intake if you want to leave feeling toxic-free.
7. Risk your life
Dehydration can lead to death. Many people try to downplay this, thinking that they’ve been hydrated before and made it through. However, circumstances can change and so can your body. It is absolutely necessary to drink water before, during and after a workout.
Assistance needed?
If you'd like to stop stressing over the details of hydration and nutrition and get help with living a healthier lifestyle, check us out at Power 3 Fitness Coaching.