Water. If we think about it for a second, water is the quintessence of life! It is a vital element for both body and mind. Needless to mention water plays a huge role in a healthy life. It has a lot of important benefits, crucial for lots of processes. Maintaining healthy blood pressure, lubricating our joints, curbing what we believe is hunger (when in reality we’re just thirsty), and almost endless others – water intake is crucial for optimal health.
While some of us do not have any issues drinking water, others may find it difficult to increase their water intake, despite the fact they know they might need to drink more liquids. The problem is that it is not always easy to start drinking more water. As simple as it sounds, deciding just to “drink more water” it’s not always enough.
Others make the mistake of avoiding drinking water while cutting. While pro bodybuilders avoid drinking liquids before a show or a competition, that’s usually just one day in order to bring out the definition and avoid being bloated. However, increasing your intake, even if talking about a cutting cycle, can seriously benefit you.
Yet, how could you increase your water intake? And how much of it should you drink per day? Below you’ll find top tips on how to drink more water.
How To Increase Water Intake?
Despite the fact that our bodies are about 70% made of water, and despite the fact that we need it in order for the body to properly function, lots of people do not drink enough water. It could be due to inconvenience, preference, laziness, or simply because we forget about it.
Nonetheless, drinking enough of it a day is crucial. Not only for bulking up, and cutting down, but for your overall fitness goals and even maintaining your general health! This means that regardless of your goal, you should make sure you drink enough water a day.
How Much OF It To Drink A Day?
How much water should you drink per day? It is best to aim for a minimum of 8 to 10 cups every day. However, if you are pretty active, you need to increase this number to a minimum of 10 to 12 cups each day.
Nonetheless, you need to remember that this is just the minimum amount of it that you should be drinking every day. If you are exercising regularly (but I assume you do, since you’re now reading this here), you are going to be sweating too. Therefore, you need to drink it because when we sweat, we’re actually losing water that we should be replenishing.
The exact amount of liquids you should drink a day depends on your height, weight, age, and activity level, mostly.
Drink Before You Feel Thirsty
A lot of people do not drink enough liquids. And even when we do drink water, we only do it because we realize that we’re thirsty. But the body sends you signals that it is already dehydrated when you feel thirsty. In short, if you think “I’m thirsty”, it means that your body already does not receive enough water.
You may have noticed that when you just wake up and head for a pee first thing in the morning, you have dark colored urine. The dark color is a sign of dehydration. However, you could quickly improve this by drinking liquids throughout the day.
Set Daily Goals
Whether it is related to health or fitness, weight loss, or muscle gain, setting goals of how much of it to drink can help you stay on track. For example, the simple act of setting a goal could make you feel like you’re holding yourself accountable when it comes to drinking more water. You should try to set a consumption goal a day.
You could start with about 32 ounces (960 ml) a day. Then work your way up. During warm seasons, it is easier to hydrate yourself. But that’s simply because you tend to lose even more of it.
Drink A Little But Often
Similar to food, some people may find it more difficult to drink it than other people would. When you drink, instead of taking huge glugs, I would recommend sipping liquids consistently throughout the day.
Drinking continuously will help hit your goals and keep you from getting dehydrated. You could use a reusable bottle nearby. This way, regardless if you’re at home or at work, you should always remember that you need to drink throughout the day. There are even various apps that can help with that.
Keep a Drinking Schedule
Even if you’re already drinking throughout the day, setting a schedule could help keep you moving and hydrated. A lot of us are sitting at desks for like 8 hours every day. Hopping up to refill your water bottle could come with multiple benefits! If you’re working by the desk, I would recommend drinking it by the hour. You could add an average of 8 cups a day!
Eat Foods That Are High In Water
Eating can still help get increased liquid intake! So, food can be another way to help get more of it into your body. Fruits and vegetables are very high in water. Therefore, if you’re eating a salad, it could both benefit you due to its nutrients and water intake! Here are examples of foods high in water:
- Cucumber – 95%
- Lettuce – 95%
- Zucchini – 95%
- Celery – 95%
- Apple – 85%
- Watermelon – 92%.
Get The Habit Of Drinking Water
Drinking water should be a habit! I would recommend setting reminders for yourself. Getting the habit of drinking more is the hardest part to crack. So, use an app, a smartmatch, or just have an alarm set on your phone – do anything that reminds and encourages you to drink more.
Reusable Bottle
We tend to drink water when it is easy to do it. For this reason, I always would recommend a reusable bottle that is easy to carry around with you and always has it handy. Regardless if you’re at the gym, at home, working, or traveling – if you have a bottle near you, you’re likely to drink water. Not only that but if you fill up your own bottle – that’ll be more environmentally friendly than using single-use plastics.
Add Some Flavor To Your Water
Some may not drink water simply because it is “boring” and/or “tasteless”. You could help this by adding a slice of lemon or lime to your water bottle. This will add a bit of flavor, encouraging you to drink more. Moreover, you can experiment with other fruits too. It will help add some flavor and add a few nutrients as well!
Replace Soda and Caffeine with Water
While sports drinks have their place, water is actually better and healthier for your daily needs and for your workouts. Sports drinks can offer that extra boost for your workouts, but the problem is that you are increasing your calories through them, without even realizing it. Soda, caffeinated drinks, and smoothies all add up calories and sugars!
Remaining hydrated will still help you feel focused and alert, allowing you to smash the next workout and achieve your fitness goals by reducing the sugar intake. Replacing other drinks with water is going to make a huge difference in the long run!
Order It Whenever Dining Out
Why? Simply because you will drink more water. What will it be helpful for? Help you keep hydrated, reduce the amount of foods you eat, save you money (as you won’t order too much), and reduce the calories you’re going to eat!
Drink Water Before A Meal
As said, it can help you save money and calories. Simply because, often, we may think that we’re hungry, but we’re actually thirsty. So, if you drink a glass of water before you eat, it will help your water intake, but will also help you determine how hungry you really are. In fact, studies prove that drinking water before a meal helps you reduce the amount of food you eat. That’s one of the reasons why I said that avoiding drinking water during a cutting cycle is a huge mistake. You should actually increase your water intake!
Water During Cutting Cycles
Yes, it can make your body look a bit bloated as it is the opposite of “dry”. However, it has a lot of benefits that you need! That’s why, if you want a successful cutting cycle, consider upping your liquid intake.
Additional hydration is going to add extra energy during workouts, this way, you’ll be able to push a bit harder for burning extra calories. Water will help reduce the amount of food you eat too. Plus, water instead of soda or energy drinks means that you get a much lower calorie intake.
In The End
It is important to realize that drinking more of it can benefit your mind and body in lots of different ways. It could feel a bit difficult at first to drink more. However, once you make drinking liquids a new habit, you’re going to notice it comes with numerous benefits!
Moreover, if you’re really into smashing your fitness goals, I recommend you check the anabolic steroids you can buy at Iron-Daddy.to. They are definitely not as vital as water is. But they are definitely highly effective! It’s important to buy the highest quality anabolic steroids to reap the best benefits and keep side effects at bay. The Iron Daddy team can help with that. We can also help determine which ones are best for your goals, and how to correctly use them to keep them safe and effective.
By the way, increasing its intake will greatly help improve the efficacy of your steroids and reduce the likelihood of side effects. On the other hand, by adding anabolic steroids, you may notice that you could increase your water intake easily, because of the way these compounds work.
