We all know that one should drink a lot of water everyday to enjoy good health and keep dehydration at bay! Depending upon our work style and activity level, we also need to vary our water intake. When you work out, your muscles contract to produce heat. As a result, your body starts sweating to lower its temperature. Do you know if you sweat out even two percent of your total body weight, it causes a bad effect on your metabolism? And, if you don’t drink enough water to match up increased requirement, it can even lead to “dehydration.” A person, who is dehydrated, experiences fatigue, muscle cramps, and reduced coordination.
Staying hydrated is more important if you are an athlete or a sportsperson. During workouts, our body uses stored fat and starts creating waste. Our excretory system carries this wastage into our blood. Our body needs a good amount of water to accelerate the process of elimination. Moreover, appropriate water intake is required for muscle contraction. If your body remains dehydrates, it may even weaken your strength and affect your performance level. A fall of as low as 1% of your body water volume can reduce your performance by more than 10%.
Water also helps you lower the pain and discomfort after an exhaustive workout. When your muscles contract, they release a chemical called as hydroxyproline, which causes inflammation to the nerve endings. It is possible to eliminate this chemical from your blood along with other waste products provided your blood contains sufficient amount of water.
How much water you should have everyday? If you are a professional runner, you should drink at least 6 to 8 ounces of water every half an hour during the workout. But, you may be required to increase your intake during hot weather conditions as you tend to sweat more. If you are spending just half an hour on a tread mill in an air conditioned environment, you need not watch your fluid intake during the workout. But, you should definitely drink water much before you feel thirsty. This will help you live hydrated throughout the day and boost your metabolism too!