As we age, we tend to not rush to reaching our daily water intake. We tend to go off a basic principle that if we are not thirsty, we are hydrated. Unfortunately, proper hydration is not that simple and poor hydration can negatively affect your performance in and out of the gym.
Most people go through life being mildly dehydrated. It is something most of us don’t even notice. This is mainly because we have all been very dehydrated at some point and we know the affects. Whether this happened to you because of a long hike, during an afternoon of pick-up games, or even a day you were just out in the hot sun at the park to long. It is a pretty awful feeling and it is our bodies way of telling us that we need water ASAP. The problem is that we start to think as long as we do not have these physical signals, we are properly hydrated. This is not necessarily true whatsoever.
Our cells need water to synthesize energy:
Obviously, one of the most important things for our bodies to push through a workout is energy. Our bodies need an energy called ATP, created by our bodies breaking down carbohydrates and fats that our stored during a workout. One of the main elements used in this process is water. If you are not properly hydrated, it makes it harder for your body to produce ATP, which in turn will give you less energy to push through a intense workout.
Poor Hydration affects your heart's ability to pump blood:
Another main function poor hydration can affect is a cardiovascular system. If you are lucky enough to have a trainer, they will preach to you the importance of having your heart rate in the optimal range to get the most out of your workout. If you are not properly hydrated, this will make your heart work harder to pump blood through your system which in turn will make your heart rate rise above that optimal range. This is because fluid is a major component in
having this system run properly.
Poor hydration can easily be shown by your performance in the gym. If you are struggling to get through a workout because you can not concentrate or are tired after a few exercises, chances are you are not properly hydrating.