Water Working Out
Water makes up a majority of your body weight and is involved in many important functions, including flushing out waste from your body, regulating body temperature, and helping your brain function.
When it comes to working out, water optimizes your workout in a few key ways.
Water helps you maintain a normal body temperature. Your body loses water through sweat during physical activity and in hot environments. Your sweat keeps your body cool, but your body temperature will rise if you don’t replenish the water you lose. That’s because your body loses electrolytes and plasma when it’s dehydrated.
Water consumption helps lubricate and cushion your joints, spinal cord, and tissues. This will help you enjoy physical activity and lessen discomfort caused by conditions like arthritis.
Drinking water can prevent dehydration, a condition that can cause unclear thinking, result in mood change, cause your body to overheat, and lead to constipation and kidney stones.
“Athletes may perspire up to 10% of body weight during physical activity. ”
Drinking plenty of water during physical activity is essential. Hydration affects your strength, power, and endurance. Negative effects of exercise without enough water can include serious medical conditions, like decreased blood pressure. Any type of water is good for you, but there are some “optimized” waters on the market that are have a specific balance to support workouts. I did a taste test of pH balanced bottled waters that are optimized with alkaline or antioxidants, which can provide increased hydrogen for greater hydration during and after workouts. From this taste test, my two favorites are: Essentia and Life WTR.
Review: Essentia Overachieving H2O
Score: 9 out of 10
Essential H2O tastes good, which is the most important factor to me. It is extremely refreshing whether you drink it cold or at room temperature. It promotes that it offers Ionized Hydration and the water is 9.5 pH or higher. The alkalinity does not impact the taste. It’s about $2 per liter, which is a good price. A nice benefit is that the plastic used for bottling is very thick, so you can recycle and refill this bottle over and over again with regular water as well.
Review: Life WTR
Score: 8 out of 10
Life WTR tastes very clean and smooth. It is purified, pH balanced, and has electrolytes, which means that it could be a helpful alternative to gatorade when sick. The water quenches my thirst during and after a workout. The bottle is large and sturdy too, which makes it great for recycling and reuse. Also, the price is great at less than $1 per bottle if you buy in bulk!
Stay tuned for more information on the importance of water in future blog posts! And if you joined our Water Challenge, keep up the good work. You got this!
