Water Water Everywhere
This Christmas (2010) we find ourselves here in Brisbane overwhelmed with water, while it is the typical storm season for this time of year, what we have been on the receiving end has been nothing short of record breaking with more water to come. On the flip side however, it seems everyone has forgotten that just a year or two ago this part of the country was dealing with the worst drought in history. My point is, people in general take water for granted, without it, life would not be to be sustained nor would anything on earth exist.
Where am I going with this?
In general, we do not drink enough water, people are extremely unwilling to release their grasp on their soft drinks, coffee, tea, diet drinks and most of all alcohol. While everyone's water intake requirements differ due to body weight, body size, genetics, how active you are etc the average persons water intake is still inadequate.
We have all heard of the 8 glasses per day of water, this is a considerable amount of water to drink everyday, and can take a while to get used too. You must keep in mind there are some medical conditions which can be aggravated by consuming more water everyday so it is always best to check with your doctor / healthcare professional before increasing any intake on a large scale.
Increasing water intake, can also help lead to weight loss. While the body's initial reaction to the increased water intake, will be water retention, once your body has achieved proper hydration your systems work so efficiently, that healthy weight loss will occur with very little extra effort required to be put in.
More often than not, people confuse "thirst" for hunger, the human brain has no way to decipher of which it actually requires, they are the same signal sent to the brain, due to this, rule of thumb is, if you feel hungry, drink a glass of water, this actually acts as a mild appetite suppressant. Once you have done this if you still have that feeling of hunger 10-15mins later, its time to get some food into you.
One last thing to keep in mind is, hydration is one of the greatest determinations of strength, a drop of 1.5% in your water levels translates in a drop of 10% of your maximal strength! The Leaner you are, the worse it is, you should try make sure you weigh the same at the end of your workout as at the beginning.
How much you should drink :
0.6-0.7 ounces per pound of bodyweight
or
39 ml per kg of bodyweight.
Therefore, 120 to 140 ounces for a 200 lbs man.
or
3.55 to 4.14 liters for a 91 kg man.
Train Smart, Train Hard, SMASH IT !!
Mario Zuppini
