While water is the most important thing (next to air) to stay healthy and… live, water is also extremely beneficial for bodybuilding purposes. Our minds and bodies benefit from water in a lot of ways, and being water-deprived will wreak havoc on your health. We all know that not drinking for long enough may even lead to death. So, regardless if you’re aiming to stay healthy or boost your bodybuilding gains, make sure to drink plenty of water.
Needless to mention water is vital for optimal health, maintaining healthy blood pressure, lubricating our joints, protecting spinal cords and other sensitive tissues, getting rid of wastes, and keeping a normal temperature of the body – all are only some examples of how extremely important water is for your body.
But water has numerous other benefits such as curbing hunger too. Lots of people tend to think it is hunger when they are really just thirsty. Based on all this info, it is easy to understand that water for bodybuilding is crucial. It would help if you drank enough of it during your workout sessions too. You should drink it regardless if you’re bulking or cutting.
Some are making the mistake of avoiding drinking more water during cutting cycles. But if you actually increase your hydration game, this could seriously benefit your cutting cycle. While you may avoid it in order to avoid bloating. But as ironic as it sounds, water helps reduce water retention.
So, believe it or not, but water is a true wonder that we tend to depreciate, so we often simply forget about drinking more. But if you want to up your bodybuilding game, up your water intake. But how can you do it? We’re going to share methods you can follow for it.
Top Tips to Drink More Water
Many people simply do not realize how extremely important water intake is. And a lot of people do not pay much attention to it. That’s a mistake as the body is made up of about 60-75% of water. The body simply can’t be fully functional if you do not supply it. So, due to preference, laziness, or inconvenience, lots of people simply do not drink enough water, and this is a huge mistake, leading to big issues that we do not even realize. And this definitely hinders our bodybuilding results.
So, drinking enough liquids per day is crucial as long as you’re trying to hit your fitness goals, be it cutting down or bulking up. It is actually important simply to maintain your general health.
How much water to drink a day?
The amount of water you should be drinking every day depends on various factors such as your weekly activity level, age, gender, weight, and so on. If you’re exercising regularly, (which I’m pretty sure you do), you’re likely sweating significantly more than other people.
And by this time I assume you know that sweat is not the fat that melts off. Sweat is actually 99% water. Only 1% of it consists of salt and fat. So the amount of fat you sweat is insignificant. But the amount of water you lose through sweating is very significant. The point? Ensure you hydrate yourself even more if you’re sweating often!
In order to determine the amount of water you should be drinking per day you can use an online calculator. Anyway, it is about 15 cups (3.7 liters) of fluids per day for men and about 11 cups (2.7 liters) of fluids a day for women.
While you consume fluids from foods and other drinks, almost most of it comes (or should come) from plain water. We recommend no less than 12 cups up to 19 cups of water, every day. The bare minimum is 8-10 cups a day, and that’s if you’re not active!
- Tip: During hotter seasons, you can add ice to it which adds up more water for better hydration.
How to Increase Water Intake?
Drink before you feel thirsty
By the time you’re thinking that you’re thirsty, your body is already dehydrated. Aim to “never feel thirsty” again. OK, I realize that this is not possible, but I guess you got the point. Try to continue drinking even if you’re not thirsty. If you have dark colored urine (commonly when waking up in the morning) – that’s a sign of dehydration. That’s a sign you should definitely increase your water intake during the day.
Set your daily goals
If you want to increase your daily water intake, you should set goals. As you’re setting goals to gain muscle, lose weight, or whatever else, you should set goals to drink water. The point is that this will keep you accountable and it does actually work. Setting a goal can help you keep on track.
Drink little and often
Similar to food as you shouldn’t attempt eating your entire daily calorie needs in one sitting, you shouldn’t attempt eating your entire daily water needs in one go. Instead, try to sip consistently throughout the day (it comes just perfectly in line with drinking before you’re thirsty). This will keep you away from getting dehydrated and will definitely help you hit your goals easier. You could always keep a reusable bottle nearby, regardless if you’re at home, at work, or whatever else.
Keep a drinking schedule
Then again, this is also in line with all the previous methods I’ve shared. There are apps that can help you keep a drinking schedule. Such as drinking every 30-60 minutes. The apps can remind you to keep on drinking. Again, get the refillable bottle nearby, because lots of people get the notification but they ignore it simply because the “water is too far away”.
Eat foods high in water
Most of your liquid intake comes from water. Or it should come from it. Not from juices, sports drinking, or whatever else. But a good amount of it comes from food. There are foods that barely have any water content, but there are those that are high in it. As you can guess, fruits and vegetables are incredibly high in water, but they are also incredibly high in nutrients which help support your bodybuilding goals.
Add a bit of flavor to your water
Some people simply do not drink enough water per day because ‘it is boring’. Well, not anymore. You can add some lemon or lime or something similar (you can always test with new fruits) to it. This can add some nutrients and some flavor so you can up your hydration game.
Order water when dining out
The first thing that you should always order when dining out is water. It can help you save money and reduce some calories (on top of keeping you hydrated). It saves you money by reducing your hunger (as said, people often mistake hunger for thirst) which makes you order less food. This is how it saves you calories as well.
Drink before you eat
As I just said, some people think they are hungry, but they are actually thirsty. In order to differentiate it, and to determine how really hungry you are – drink some water before you eat. It helps you eat fewer calories. As long as you keep a drinking schedule, you’re likely to notice you’re less hungry, and eating less. Say goodbye to those love handles.
Drink more water to aid cutting goals
As counterintuitive as it might be, drinking water can actually reduce water weight. Dehydration is what can make your body hold on to extra water to make up for the lack of incoming water. As said, if you drink enough, you’re also very likely to eat less, which also helps your weight loss and cutting goals. The point is that if you’re going to hydrate better, you’re going to seriously boost your weight loss process. Not to mention that extra hydration can provide extra energy during the workout (which you may lack during a cutting cycle), pushing harder and ultimately burning more calories. What’s not to love?
Replace soda and other drinks with water
Lots of people assume that sports drinks are helpful, but in most cases, they do more harm than benefit. There are only specific cases in which sports drinks are actually beneficial, but in most cases, they are not. That’s because they are packed with somewhat “hidden” sugars that add to our daily calories, without even realizing. If you give up on any liquids, you’ll increase your water intake, and you’ll reduce sugars and calories. This will significantly help with your fitness goals. The calories you take from those beverages are usually empty calories that won’t benefit your bulking goals either. Sugarless tea or coffee (in moderation) are the only ones I would recommend. The rest – in extremely rare and specific cases.
Go for a reusable bottle
While you may think that it is ineffective – it is actually helpful. Grab yourself a reusable bottle that you can easily carry around with you, regardless if you’re at home, hitting the gym, working, or traveling. Water is at your disposal, making you more likely to drink it, simply because you see it (great reminder) and because it is easier to grab it. Moreover, a reusable bottle is more environmentally friendly than single-use plastics.
Conclusion
In the end, you should get into the habit of drinking more water. Then again, regardless of what your goals are. Getting into the habit of drinking more water could be the hardest part, but once you get that habit, it will get easier. Moreover, your body will get used to the increased amount, making it all easier. In the beginning, you may need reminders, using apps, a smartwatch, an alarm on your phone, or whatever. It may seem harder to drink too. But it will get significantly easier with time.
As you can see in this post, water can benefit you in a lot of different ways. So, drinking more of the essential h2O will surely help you achieve your goals, regardless if we’re talking about remaining healthy, or especially about bodybuilding goals, be it cutting or bulking.
In short, drinking more liquid can benefit your mind and body in LOTS of different ways. While it could be hard at first, once you make drinking more of it a new habit, you’ll quickly get lots of benefits with little effort, especially if you follow our tips here.
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