Water is important and helps your body function at it’s best, it is necessary for all digestive, absorption, circulatory, and excretory functions. Water also helps maintain proper body temperature.

I recommend you drink about 250 - 400 ml for every 10kg’s of body weight, although your exact needs will change depending on the temperature and your activity levels, on a workout day in summer you should be drinking close to the upper level of this guide. If you can imagine losing 250 mls of water through breathing on a normal day imagine what you could lose whilst puffing during exercise. During the day, particularly while you exercise, you lose water through sweat and breathing, Just by losing 2% of your body weight in fluid, you can decrease your performance by 25%, so it is super important to replace the water you’ve lost.

For peak performance try to consume about ½ a litre of water 2-3 hours before your warmup. Sip water throughout your workout when practical, to avoid cramping and remain hydrated. I recommend you drink at least 1 litre of water within 1 hour of finishing your session. As this will help hydrate your body again.

Drinking a glass of water before every meal can help those trying to lose weight, one study found that participants that were asked to follow this advice ate an average of 75 fewer calories a meal (Assuming 3 meals a day that’s over 82125 calories a year, more than some people eat in a week).

Dehydration can be a common cause of a range of sleep problems. A regular good night’s sleep is a great way to reduce stress, and feeling well rested and energetic is an important part of sticking to an exercise plan and making sensible nutrition choices. Poor sleep patterns a closing matched with a range of serious health problems and depression.

You may have come across the term Water Retention or Water Weight, this does not occur by drinking too much water.

Water Retention

Find out what this is, how to prevent it, and how to combat it.

I’m sure during your fitness journey, you have come across the term water weight or water retention.

Water Retention is when fluid ( mainly water) begins to build up in our body tissue, sometimes this can affect certain body parts or in other cases the entire body.

When we first begin to workout or start a new meal plan, we sometimes can’t tell if we are losing body fat, or some other factor is affecting our weight. Water retention may be the cause. This can be very frustrating because our weight can fluctuate in confusing ways. Whilst extra water weight can affect everyone differently here are the facts you need to keep in mind:

Some Common Symptoms include

• Swollen/ puffy ankles, feet, hands and wrists
• Aching and stiffness in any of the above areas
• Unexplained fast weight gain in small amount of time

Current lifestyle choices that may be contributing to water retention

• Sitting for long periods of time
• Standing in one place for long periods of time
• Consuming too much salt or glycogen

Hormonal changes and genetics can play a significant role as well.

Ways to Prevent Water Retention

• Although it may sound contrary, drinking water throughout the day is essential for good health and can reduce water retention in the long term.
• If you sit or stand for long periods of time, try go for a walk at least every 2 hours
• At the end of your day for at least 30 minutes put your feet up, rest on a stool higher than your bum
• Eat more whole foods, reduce salt intake

Water retention can be a symptom of more serious problems, if you struggle with any of the above please consult a doctor.