It's time to go back to basics and this time, we're talking nutrition. Let's start with water.

Water accounts for 60% of our body and is essential to every cell! We wanted to highlight some benefits of drinking high-quality H2O including when and how much we should be drinking!

Benefits:

• Water promotes cardiovascular health. Dehydration lowers your blood volume. This means that your heart has to work harder to pump the reduced amount of blood to get enough oxygen to your cells. This is going to make exercising a lot more difficult.
• Water keeps your body cool. Your body releases heat by expanding blood vessels close to the surface of your skin (this is why your face gets red during WODs) resulting in more blood flow and more heat. Drinking water throughout the day can keep your core body temperature nice and cool.
• Water helps muscles and joints work better. When you’re well-hydrated, the water inside and outside the cells of contracting muscles provides adequate nutrients and removes waste efficiently so that you can move and perform better during your workouts.
• Water helps convert food and fuel into energy. Dehydration slows your metabolism, energy, and fat-burning functions.
• Water helps remove waste. Proper hydration helps the liver and kidney remove waste through body fluids.

How much water should I drink?

• Men should drink about 3.7 liters per day
• Women should drink about 2.7 liters per day

When should you drink water?

• If you're feeling thirsty in a workout, that’s a sign of poor preparation and we all know that hydration starts the day before your WOD or exercise.
• There are copious factors to consider when it comes to adequate water intake including conditioning level, nutrition, climate, and the type of workout being performed (sprint WOD verse a 30 min metabolic conditioning).
• It's always important to consult your primary care provider for unique circumstances however, here's a general guideline for water intake: Bodyweight in pounds x 0.5-1.0 = the number of ounces you should be drinking per day.
• When it comes to fitness, drink 15-20 ounces of water about two hours prior to exercise and approximately 10-16 ounces 15-30 mins before exercise.

If you're interested in improving your health & nutrition, water intake is an excellent place to start. Remember that practice makes permanent. Before you turn your whole nutrition game inside and out, identify a single goal and build a strong and sustainable foundation that will last. There are no shortcuts to success. That applies to all areas of life.

Thanks for tuning in. Does anyone feel like watching The Waterboy now? Cue Adam Sandler.