Hydration

We all know that water is important so let’s talk about it. 

Water restores fluids lost from metabolic processes, breathing, sweating, and removal of waste. It keeps us from overheating and lubricates your joints and tissues. It aids in organ function and helps with the transportation of many nutrients. It helps us maintain healthy skin and proper digestion of food.  When we workout consistently, we are consciously increasing our body’s metabolic processes. This spike in metabolism will need proper hydration for you to get the best results from your workout. We want your body to have what it needs to create the adaptations we are looking for, whether that is muscle growth, increased cardio function, weight loss, etc. Your quality of life and all of your goals are impacted by your hydration.

What does proper hydration look like?

Water consumption does depend on your height, gender and current weight. Roughly, males should be consuming a gallon of water a day and females possibly a little less than that according to The U.S. National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. Aside from the amount of water that we should be consuming, is our electrolytes. Electrolytes are used for a ton of different processes in the body, but in relation to water they help your body distribute/absorb the water so it gets to where it needs to be. The main electrolytes are sodium, potassium, chloride, magnesium, and calcium. There are others but those are the main ones that we should be consuming on a daily basis, either through food or hydration drinks. I encourage everyone to look at hydration drinks’ nutrition labels to make sure you are getting an appropriate daily value for electrolytes and that it’s not packed with a ton of sugar. A little bit of sugar is okay because that also helps with absorption of water, but it shouldn’t be excessive. 

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