Hydrate - Before you splash the cash
'A recent study showed in a full body resistance gym session a 3% dehydration caused almost 25% less repetitions completed.'
In my years of coaching clients it’s always surprised me how little water people consume on a daily basis. But then lockdown happened and I was based at home, often spending my entire day on my laptop and considerably more stationary. I’d pour a pint of water and next thing I knew that glass was untouched 3 hours later while my eyes have been glued to my screen. Suddenly I was doing exactly what I found so inexcusable previously. Since then I’ve made a point of drinking a pint before I even look at the laptop in the morning and then aiming to drink another pint at different points throughout the day. But why is it so important? I’ve looked into it a little further so that you can understand how a little more water can do a lot for you.
Often clients come to a personal trainer looking to improve their physique. The two leading desires are to lose body fat or add lean muscle. Both are effected by hypohydration and each in an uncomplicated way. An early indicator of being dehydrated is to experience the feeling of hunger. Often people will mistake being hungry for actually just needing to consume more liquids. Therefore it’s easy for people to consume more calories through food thinking their hungry when sufficient and regular consumption of water will prevent this. On this note please don’t swap food for water! A recent study has shown that water consumption does not effect your metabolic rate.
With regards to muscle growth it’s as simple as this. When you exercise you lose water and your cells need intercellular water to produce new muscle proteins. A lack of water means a lack of additional lean mass. Continuing on the note of hypertrophy, you have to work your muscles to a certain intensity level to achieve this. This would also be the case when attempting to improve your fitness levels and hydration plays a big part in performance. A recent study showed that a group training a full body resistance gym session with sufficient hydration levels against a group that were 3% dehydrated managed to complete nearly 25% more repetition. Insulin sensitivity during exercise has also shown to be effected when dehydrated by 5%.
The effects of hydration aren’t just seen in body composition and athletic tests. A lower quantity of water in the body can mean that the body quantity is therefore lowered meaning that the heart has to work harder hence your resting heart rate is higher and blood pressure. While much believed that it aids the kidneys in flushing out the unwanted toxins from the body the amount of water doesn’t effect this but more the sodium levels when dehydrated so electrolytes may not be a bad idea when doing endurance exercises. On the matter of headaches, studies have shown that it is still inconclusive regarding prevention but water consumption does appear to reduce this. Also studies have shown effects of dehydration on a cognitive level with mood swings, fatigue, confusion, anger and vigour.
The question is then, how much water should I be consuming. The exact number can be a difficult one to determine as there are many factors. Your age, size/weight and activity levels. If you’re a sedentary small people compared to a large 55 year old endurance athlete for example. At the link below you can go to ‘Table 5’ and it was give you a closer exact figure but as an adult you should probably be consuming at least 2.5-3 litres a day as a rough guideline. Tea, coffee or fruit/greens drink all counts towards this daily amount not just water. If you want another indication of whether you’re hydrated then search online for a ‘hydration pee colour chart’ and you’ll be able to assess when your next going to the toilet.
What I’m trying to tell you is, before you go splashing your hard earned money on the latest supplement in an attempt to improve your wellbeing, body composition or athletic performance, make this little change. Drink more water! Best of all, it’s free and your body will even tell you when you’re not doing enough of it. If you keep forgetting, have a large glass with each meal and set an alarm to remind you at other points in the day. The mass of benefits listed above are more than any supplement will ever do for you.