Home | Supplements | eBooks | DVDs | Articles | Forum
___________________________________________
Truly Huge Fitness Tips
Presented by TrulyHuge.com
___________________________________________
Turn Your Body Into A Fat Burning Furnace With Our
New Ephedra Free Herbal Fat Melter
"Natural herbal extract burns fat faster and more
effectively than many other products. You can burn
a tremendous amount of fat, while preserving your
muscle tissue."
If you're serious about getting YOUR DREAM BODY -
and want to use a shortcut: Click Here for more info
____________________________________________
Fitness Tips For 12/14/2004
____________________________________________
Hydration and Exercise
Water The Body's Most Neglected Nutrient
With a Starbucks on every corner and vending machines in every office
building and school, it seems that coffee and soda is the predominant
source of liquid nourishment in today's society. It is not a surprise then
that the majority of the people in the US don't get enough water. Chances
are, you are dehydrated right now, and you don't even know it! Now put
down your double latte and find out why drinking water is perhaps the
most important element in a healthy lifestyle.
Are you hydrated?
Most people that are dehydrated do not even know it. What are some of
the symptoms of dehydration? Fatigue, moodiness, a "drained" feeling,
and thirst. That's right, if you are thirsty, you are actually dehydrated!
What's even more surprising than that, many people have such a weak
feeling for thirst, that often it not even apparent to them that they are thirsty.
Just how dehydrated do you have to get before you start feeling
deleterious effects? As little as a 1% loss of water can translate to an
increase in core temperature during exercise. A 3-5% loss of water can
put a strain on the cardiovascular system and further impair the ability
of the body to dissipate heat. When the body loses 7% of it's water, the
result is most likely collapse.
Drink Water For Health
45-75% of a human's weight is from water, and the muscles of the body
are 75% water.
How do I get hydrated?
Keeping hydrated is as simple as drinking your daily requirement of
water for the day, but just what is your daily requirement? Well, the
"average" person, in a normally humid environment, without unusual
physical exertion, loses the following amounts of water: Approx. 2 cups
a day from normal perspiration, another 2 cups from breathing, and a
total of 6 cups from the intestines and kidneys. That equals about 10
cups, or 2.5 quarts. Remember, this is all without heavy exercise of
dry environments. If you weigh more than average, exercise, live in
a hot or dry environment, you will definitely use more water.
The good news is, you won't need to down multiple quarts of water just
to replenish what you lose each day. You can get several cups of water
from your food. However, it is recommended that you still take in
around 6-8 cups of water each day. More specifically, your weight
divided by 2 for the number of ounces you should drink each day
(there are eight ounces in a cup, so divide by eight to get the number
of cups).
Stay Hydrated
Most importantly, when I say drink 6-8 cups of water a day, I mean
WATER, not juice or milk or coffee or tea. Only pure water counts
towards your 6-8 cups. The body can distinguish between pure water
and a solution, like Gatorade. Pure water is quickly absorbed and put to
good use. A solution sits in the digestive system and is slowly
assimilated as the solute (the substance dissolved in the solvent, the
solvent usually being water) are broken down and digested. The process
of digesting the solute often requires more water than what is actually
gained from the solvent. This is on top of whatever diuretic (dehydrating)
effect from any caffeine in the drink. It's still OK to drink juice or milk,
but do not count it towards your total water intake.
Now that we know how much to drink and what to drink, we need to know
when to drink it, and how to drink it. First off, the absolute worst thing to
do is to drink a very large amount of water all at once. The body will
respond to a sudden sharp increase in water by releasing diuretic
hormones to excrete as much of the excess water as possible, further
dehydrating you. This can actually be deadly. Hypernatremia is the
condition of drinking an extremely large amount of water in a short
amount of time. The amounts of water needed to induce hypernatremia
is beyond what most people can tolerate, but large spikes of water in
the body are still undesirable. Sip water throughout the day. Bring a
water bottle with you to work to make it easier.
The other big mistake you can make is to drink lots of water with your
meals. This dilutes stomach acid at the time when you need it most,
and keeps your food from digesting properly. Optimally, give yourself
15 minutes before and 30-60 minutes after the meal before you start
drinking water normally. Milk is an acceptable liquid to drink with
meals because the casein (a slow digesting protein) in milk will form
a semi-solid in the stomach, allowing for slower more efficient
digestion than water will.
Hydration Tips
Bring a water bottle with you everywhere, and fill it as often as
necessary. Sip water slowly throughout the day.
Don't judge your need for water by thirst, drink weather you're
thirsty or not.
Drink more when you exercise, when it is hot, or when you are in
a dry, stuffy environment.
Cut back on caffeine containing beverages if possible.
Don't drink water with meals, drink milk instead.
