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Importance of Water to Your Fitness Lifestyle
Water is the most important element that your body needs. Your
body could survive almost a month if it did not have food, but it
can only survive a couple of days without water. Water helps with
the digesting of food, moisturizing of skin (from the inside-out),
and releasing of heat through sweating; and for you, Body Energy
fitness enthusiasts, water helps with recovery. That's right! It
helps with recovery!
According to Nutrition for Health, Fitness and Sport (1999),
your total body weight is at least 60% water. That's quite a bit
of water! And the muscles we, fitness buffs, like to work are 70%
water. What does all this mean? Well, if you have a 2% total loss
of water in your body, you have a 10 pound strength loss! You should
maintain the recommended water intake indicated below to avoid this
loss in strength; clearly, loss in strength is not coducive to helping
you reach your fitness goals. Now, unless you have a heart or kidney
problem (if so, have a physician determine how much you can drink),
drinking lots of water will not hurt you.
Below are the formulas to help you determine how much water you
should drink.
If you live a sedentary lifestyle:
- Body weight (lbs.) x .55 = ounces of daily water intake
If you live an active lifestyle:
- Body weight (lbs.) x .66 = ounces of daily water intake
Also, keep in mind that soft drinks, coffee, and alcohol are not
substitutes for water. If you drink 12 ounces of soda, you need
to drink another 12 ounces of water. This is because caffine and
alcohol are diuretics. That means they take water away water you
are trying to put into your body.
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