BENEFITS OF WATER ON EXERCISE!
Why water? Well I'm sure I don't need to bore you on everything to do with water but it is well worth it to understand the benefits and reasons why you should drink water before during and after exercise! This is your beginners guide to the pros of H2O.
Water will no doubt improve your training and sporting performance as you have probably been told before as I have many times. So I'm going to share some of my knowledge and a bit more background into the body altering affects water has.
Water is obviously essential for life, so it won't shock you that water increases both physical and mental efficiency and performance, which are both equally important throughout sport and exercise! As an athlete myself I have come to recognise the real benefit of water in everything I do!
One of the main benefits of water is temperature regulation! This is so essential in preventing dehydration. Dehydration reduces physical and mental performance and can lead to more serious illness if it not addressed (dehydration greater than 2%). Water helps carry oxygen in the blood so a decrease in water increases blood viscosity (thickness), decreasing oxygen flow to working muscles. Dehydration also forces your heart to work harder than normal and your heart rate increases! These both cause a drop in performance as you are limited to the intensity your body can work at!
Muscle fatigue can be a problem caused by low water levels, especially for high intensity activity! It can disrupt the removal of metabolic waste and lactic acid can build up, contributing to the fatigue. Fatigue will hurt any athlete and if you train hard enough I'm sure most of you won't be fatigue virgins.
Water also balances electrolytes and helps prevent fatigue developing in working muscles. This means you can work harder for longer! If water levels are not sufficient, it can slow nerve impulses, therefore slowing reaction time and decision making.
Water is probably the biggest and most effective change you can make to your performing or training, as its completely free and pretty inexhaustible.
Now you have read some of the main benefits of water to your body, you should definitely consider drinking more! I won't got into too much depth about the optimum time to drink water before exercise is in this post, but make sure to comment if you want to see that!
I'll leave you with one word of advice I learned from a young age - if you're thirsty, it's too late. Make sure to get that liquid on early.
