Water...

A topic that is talked to death about in the fitness industry, but yet we hear people all the time say they don't drink enough water. There's a saying that's going around and its 'Education is Motivation' but we must say, we disagree. The topic of "Water" we think definitely proves that saying wrong. We rather the phrase " Its not what you know, its what you do with what you know" - Daniel Davey Water is crucial for so many things. We literally cannot survive without it, yet its something so many people struggle to drink. Lets play on both of the phrases above and share some of the many reasons why you should be drinking more water, and then also lets try and implement some strategies that will help you consume more on a daily basis. - Dehydration - We have all heard of and probably, at some point, have experienced dehydration, however I don't think everyone realises exactly what's going on when you are dehydrated and how quickly it happens. From as little as 0.5% dehydration there is already increased strain on your heart to function properly. 4% dehydration and you will see a big drop in muscular endurance, strength, motor control and be experiencing cramps. 6% Dehydration you can see physical exhaustion, heat stroke, coma 10-20% dehydration - death. Things escalate quickly! No doubt about it. - Fat loss - We spoke about this before on our social media channels that water has an indirect but direct influence on fat loss in the sense that drinking water itself doesn't cause fat loss in isolation, moreover the effects on staying hydrated definitely benefit fat loss behaviours. Being hydrated allows the frontal lobe of the brain to function properly. This is the area of the brain that is responsible for decision making. Staying hydrated makes it easier to make the right choices in terms of food to ensure calories are in check to favour fat loss. Also, as mentioned above with dehydration you see a drop in performance, endurance and muscular strength (among others) but without these, you cannot move or perform to normal standards bringing total daily calorie burn down. We know that fat loss is driven by a calorie deficit so bringing daily calorie burn down directly influences that deficit and how easy or difficult it is to achieve. - Nutrient Absorption - Every response in the body happens in a fluid environment. Water is critical for these chemical reactions to take place. The chemical reactions are the breaking down of food into easily absorbed molecules for your body to use for energy. The phrase ' You are what you eat' is outdated. It needs to be recognised that ' You are what you digest, transport and absorb'. You could have the best diet in the world, but if your body can't use it, its not doing you any favours. - Pain Management - Ok, this could get very technical very quick. So I'm going to do my best to keep this simple. When muscles contract and move they do so in a gliding fashion. They glide over each other. In order to do this well they maintain what's called "the critical fibre distance". When you are dehydrated the critical fibre distance between muscles can't be upheld and muscles can begin to rub off eachother. This causes friction and results in metabolic stress. Muscles can become adhered to each other as a result and this can lead to the formation of trigger points too, but thats for another days conversation.

So, you can see that water is crucial for a well functioning body! Let's dive into some ways you can increase water intake throughout the day then 1: Eat more vegetables - It is estimated that you can consume up to 1L of water per day by consuming vegetables. Think of veg like cucumber, carrots or celery that have lots of juices to them. These will contain the most water. 2: Buy a big bottle of water - We would advise a reusable beaker that you can continually refill to reduce the amount of waste produced. Having a bottle with you all day makes your drink the obvious choice. 3: Add some flavour - It is totally fine to add some dilute to your water if it means it gets you drinking more! We are all for progress and not perfection! Lets start with that if that's what's needed and we can work on it over time. 4: Have time stamps written on your bottle - Decide that you want to consume a certain amount of water from your bottle by a certain time and physically draw the line on the bottle. Having a visual cue with you all day will push you to drink up. 5: Set reminders on your phone - You can even set reminders to alert you to do something when you arrive at a location. Setting up reminders like this takes the pressure of you remembering all of the time. Again, progress, not perfection. Of course we would like to get to a stage where you don't need a reminder and that drinking more water is simply an engrained habit, but you will get there. #THEBODYCONTENT