Drink to your Body's Health: The Importance of Water

Fitness Anywhere — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 21:14:00 GMT

by Nathan McGee

DRINK WATER!

Up until a couple of weeks ago, my poison of choice (and I do mean poison) was diet soda. It wasn't until I really started working out consistantly with the company's boot camp and trying to loose those a few extra pounds (ok... more than a few) that I started to really look at everything I was putting into my body. One thing I found out, I was not hydrating enough and the soda I was drinking was actually having the reverse affect!

Your Body Needs Water!

It doesn't need caffeine, it doesn't need high fructose corn syrup, it doesn't need aspartame... it needs water! About 85% of your brain, 80% of your blood and 70% of your muscles are made from water. Water helps in flushing our system out of all the toxins we take in from eating, breathing and just living. It helps regulate your body temperature and it creates a cushion for your joint, which is especially important when you are working out. Being properly hydrated, before, during, and after your work out can increase your performance level and prevent serious muscle soreness. There are so many "performance enhancing" drinks out there which can be helpful when you are working out or doing a lot of physical activity, but the rest of the time, your body does not need all the sugar and "enhancing" chemical that it needs during the activity. What your body wants and needs is water. Clear, crisp, refreshing water.

I'm Not Drinking Enough!

Dehydration can cause a lot of problems. Head aches, tiredness, joint pains, muscle pains, hunger, impeded concentration, decrease in coordination, decrease in reflexes, loss of strength and DEATH! Ok, you are probably getting enough water in your coffee, soda and other beverages to ward off the grim reaper, but the other symptoms might seem familiar. It has been suggested that a lack of hydration makes our bodies more susceptible to illness and that being properly hydrated will help in losing weight and boost our immune system.

So How Much Should I Drink?

You've heard the classic, "8 glasses of water a day." If a glass is one cup, and a cup is 16 8 oz. then you end up drinking about 128 64 oz. of water a day. As a general rule, a physically active person should drink about ½ to 1 ounce of water per pound of body weight per day. I'm 175lbs (depending on the day) and pretty active so I would need at least 87 oz of water, which is only about 2.5 more glasses of water.

But I have to Pee!

When I started to drink more water, it seemed like I had to pee all the time. One of the reasons for this, I was drinking large amounts of water all at once. Drinking water follows the same concept of eating food... you don't eat all your food at one time, the best way is to break it up into smaller meals through out the day. If you drink 2 glasses of water at breakfast, sip on 2 glasses of water during your morning at work, a glass of water at lunch, 2 glasses of water during the afternoon, 2 glasses of water at dinner and a glass in the evening. You will still need to relieve yourself throughout the day (um, there's no stopping that) but you won't feel like you live in the bathroom.

Writing all this about water has made me thirsty, looks like it is time to fill up my eco friendly trx bottle. Drink up and enjoy!

UPDATE: My original math was off as I had miss calculated a cup to be 16 oz. and I've adjusted it to the correct cup size which is 8 oz. Thanks to those who have a keen eye and let me know.

Re: TRX at Pool Side

Kari Woodall — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 20:52:28 GMT

Paul,

You're right. It can definitely be used pool side. I write programs for many swimmers, and once the coaching staffs understand how portable the TRX is, they love it. Most of the teams I work with have pull-up bars on deck, so that is the obvious first choice. Another great option you stated is to anchor them to the ladders for the diving boards. If there are 3 meter boards on deck, or platforms, then this is a great option as well. Additionally, many pools have spectator balconies one level up. So, anchor the TRX's to the railing and use them on deck. I've done this too. The main issue seems to be trying to keep a dry space. It's easy to use them before a workout, but that's assuming the deck is dry to begin with. I really see the TRX as a useful cross-training tool to use within a swimming workout. So, since I want to circuit in & out of the pool, I'll take any suggestions to reduce slipping possibilities. The Shammies that divers use take water off quickly, so that is my idea. Let me know if you can think of something better!

Kari Woodall

www.WoodallTraining.com

Re: Is the TRX waterproof?

hhardcastle — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 23:24:49 GMT

Actually this could be quite interesting if you were using the TRX completely underwater, with scuba gear. Working out underwater would increase the amount of resistance because water is 1,000 times more dense than air and moving through it it more difficult and requires much more efficiency than moving on land.

With the proper gear, one could do a TRX workout underwater.

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Drink to your Body's Health: The Importance of Water

Re: TRX at Pool Side

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