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[…] your water! You know you need to be hydrated to be healthy but did you know being dehydrated can hugely affect your performance? Your body needs […]
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Aside from building strength and endurance, working out has several important health benefits. They include lowering your risk for a stroke, heart attack, diabetes, and high blood pressure. In addition, it helps those who suffer from depression, weight problems, and can reduce your risk of developing a chronic disease. Yet with all, if you work out and don’t stay hydrated, you could be doing more harm than good.
Staying hydrated during a workout is essential to your overall health. It keeps your body temperature regulated and keeps joints lubricated. Hydration also helps your body move nutrients that keep you energized during your workout. When you work out and sweat, hydration replaces the fluids that you lose through sweating.
Although tempting, it is not practical to hold a water bottle while working out. Imagine trying to do a downward-facing dog in yoga class holding a water bottle. Finding ways to stay hydrated while exercising, though necessary, can be quite challenging.
Some ways to overcome challenges and stay hydrated while exercising are:
Drink water throughout the day.
Drinking plenty of water throughout the day should be a given, especially for those who exercise regularly. Dehydration can cause constipation, dark-colored urine, and unhealthy-looking skin. In the person who exercises, it can also cause headaches, excessive sweating, and body aches. Drinking water will help you avoid some of those problems.
Listen to your body.
Dry mouth, muscle cramps, and dizziness are all signs of dehydration when working out and need to be addressed as soon as you begin to feel them. A dry mouth is one of the first signs of dehydration. If you have a dry mouth before you work out, then you need to up your water intake.
Muscle cramps during workouts or after are another sign of not being hydrated. When you feel a cramp coming, stop working out and get water. It is suggested that you take sips of water and not guzzle to give your muscles a chance to adjust to the fluids.
Dizziness can lead to a serious injury. As soon as you start to feel dizzy you should sit and sip water until the feeling subsides. Even then, be careful because dizziness can be an indication of something else.
Break time.
When working out, take a break to hydrate every 20 minutes or so. Carrying or strapping on a water bottle if you jog or work out in a park with a group of people is smart. Add water purification drops to your gym bag for water that you have no way to ensure is free of bacteria. They will enhance the taste and purity of water and give you the security of refilling your water bottle during your workout.
More than water.
Working out causes our bodies to lose more than water, we also lose electrolytes. Therefore, sports drinks and coconut water can give the body more than plain water can since they contain electrolytes. Many of them contain electrolytes and will replenish what we lost. The benefits of drinks with electrolytes are:
- They rebuild tissue damaged during your workout.
- They move waste through your cells.
- They balance your pH level.
- They move nutrients and minerals through your body.
Hydrate after working out.
Your drenched body, clothes, and towels after a workout are indicative of how much water your body lost. Therefore, be sure to hydrate with at least eight ounces of water or a sports drink after your workout. In addition to drinking, eating foods that hold a lot of water will also add water and sugar to your body. Foods like watermelon, tomatoes, pineapple, cherries, bell peppers, and celery will hydrate your body.
Working out has several important health benefits. Yet with all its good, if you work out and don’t stay hydrated, you could be doing more harm than good. Staying hydrated during a workout is essential to your overall health. It keeps your body temperature regulated, keeps your joints lubricated, helps your body move nutrients that keep you energized during your workout
Some ways to stay hydrated while exercising are to drink water throughout the day, listen to your body while working out, take breaks, drink more than just water, and hydrate after working out.