Water is vital- not just for our health, but for our physical performance.
By staying hydrated during physical effort, our body is able to maintain its optimum temperature. When our muscles contract, they give off heat (like an engine) which causes a loss water which is used to cool down the body.
Sweat is the technique used by our system to cool the body down and maintain it as close to its normal temperature as possible. During physical effort, our heart is going to focus on pumping to muscles that need it the most. Without proper hydration, our muscles don’t get the attention they need, and we will feel tired faster.
FYI: a loss of 2% in body weight of water leads to a drop in physical performance of 20%.
After any physical performance, it is important to drink throughout the day to minimise muscle pain and to get rid of the toxins released during the effort.
But… how much water is enough?
There is a simple rule: our body needs 0.041 litres per kilo. To know how much water you need to drink per day, just divide your weight in kilos by 24. For example, someone weighing:
- 50 kg needs 50/24= 2.1 litres of water per day
- 60 kg/24 = 2.5 litres/day
- 65 kg/24 = 2.7 litres/day
- 75 kg/24 = 3.1 litres/day
Hydration Calendar: this links you to a site which is a fantastic tool to workout your daily intake according to your general lifestyle. Its also full of great advice!
Water + Spinning
When you carry out sport, you need to drink even more! Because when we do sport, our breathing increases.
If you take a spinning class, you need to drink an extra 1.1 litres of water during the day.
FYI, coffee and juices high in sugar content will dehydrate you. On top of that, our body will create insulin when we drink sugar drinks- which obviously does not help our body when it comes time to burn fat.
If your objective is to lose weight, weigh yourself before and after your physical exercise. Your weight should be similar because you should be drinking the equivalent of what you sweated out. Weight loss during physical effort is temporary, What matter the most is that your body continues to burn fat after the effort- which is how you will really lose weight consistently.
[x_blockquote type=”center”]Think: water is the only nutrient that your body needs to replace after a sports session![/x_blockquote]
Don’t wait to feel thirsty to drink… Thirst is an indicator that your body is already dehydrated…!
Cheers!
