It’s crazy to think about how much water truly affects how we feel and look. Interestingly, up to 60% of the entire human adult body is water. The brain and heart are composed of about 73% water. The lungs have one of the highest water containment counts at about 83%. The skin, muscles, and kidneys, contain 64% and 79% water, respectively. Even your bones contain water too!
Water also has a massive impact on the way you look. The less water you drink throughout the day, the more water your body will hold. This is the dreaded “water weight” that you typically lose first when you start to work out consistently. If you want your body to look the best that it can drink more water! Your muscles will look fuller and tighter while staying healthy and hydrated. As a personal trainer in Rhode Island, I know it’s important to remember that the key to staying healthy is to be consistent, and you should too!
How Much Water Should You Drink While Working Out?
While exercising, it’s important to stay hydrated so you can get the most out of your workout. We recommend drinking between 17 and 20 ounces of fluid, mainly water, roughly 2 to 3 hours before working out. Then, it’s important to drink another 8 ounces roughly 20 to 30 minutes before starting. You also need to stay hydrated while working out too, so make sure you have plenty of water nearby! You should drink about 7 to 10 ounces of water every 10 to 20 minutes while exercising.
How Much Water Should You Drink During the Day?
Drinking a gallon of water per day may work for some people, but could be extremely harmful to others. Although rare, drinking too much water at a fast pace can cause sodium levels in your blood to drop dangerously low. This causes an extremely dangerous condition called hyponatremia.
Some symptoms of hyponatremia are nausea, headache, confusion, and fatigue. As a personal trainer in Rhode Island, it’s important to know the side effects of this condition and be on the lookout for people who may have symptoms. To keep yourself safe, it’s also good for you to keep an eye on your water intake habits and adjust them accordingly.
Being a personal trainer, I’ve seen many people with different water intake habits. From my experience, I recommend you drink somewhere between half a gallon to a full gallon of water every single day.
How Can You Drink More Water?
This is actually a lot easier than people assume. As a personal trainer in Rhode Island, I recommend you add Branched-Chain Amino Acids into your water. There are 20 different kinds of amino acids that make up all the proteins within your body. Nine of these are essential, but your body cannot make them naturally. Of these nine, three are branched-chain amino acids. These can be found in protein-rich foods like meats, eggs, and other dairy products, but they are also found in dietary powder supplements.
Adding these powders with the branched-chain amino acids helps to promote muscle growth, decrease muscle soreness, and reduce fatigue. Additionally, they also can add a nice flavor to your water! This added flavor will help you take more in while also consistently feeding your muscles and helping them thrive.
As a personal trainer in Rhode Island, I also recommend trying to set an alarm on your phone to remind yourself to drink, roughly about once an hour. We all have busy lives and it’s easy to get distracted, so this added flavor and alarm will help you take in the recommended amount of water every day.
How Can Water Help You With Weight Loss?
The amount of water you drink certainly matters when it comes to water retention and feeling bloated. As I mentioned before, drinking water helps to not retain as much water in your body. So, when you start to work out, the drastic drop in weight at the start is more likely to be actual fat rather than water weight. Drinking lots of water periodically throughout the day helps you feel better and will make it easier for you to lose weight.
A great tip I give to all my clients looking to lose weight is to try to drink a bottle of water before eating something that isn’t healthy. The moment that you start to crave something that you know wouldn’t be as healthy for you, grab a glass of water, and make yourself drink it before eating. As a Rhode Island personal trainer, I’ve noticed that often my clients will start drinking that bottle of water and completely forget about the food item they were originally craving. This helps to keep you eating the right amount of calories in a day as well as keeping water retention at bay.
Drink a Bottle of Water Right When You Wake Up
When we first wake up in the morning, our body is dehydrated. Being dehydrated can cause a decrease in alertness, concentration, and physical performance. Getting some water into your system will help rehydrate you so you can start your day off strong.
Personally, I leave a bottle of water next to my bed to remind myself to drink it as soon as I wake up. This will help you to jumpstart your day and feel a lot better than the dry, groggy feeling you get in your mouth as soon as you wake up. The good news is also that you’re already well on your way to getting to your daily goal of half a gallon to a full gallon of water a day!
Looking to get healthy and become the best version of you? Revival Fitness has many personal trainers in Rhode Island that will help you by creating personalized training programs!
