Water Helps You Get Shredded
We’ve already mentioned that lack of water in your muscles makes your blood more viscous, and slows down the fat burning process. This doesn’t impair only your athletic performances, but also reduces your chances for getting ripped. You see, the unimpaired transport of fatty acids through your bloodstream is extremely important for keeping your endurance up and your body fat percentage down.
That is why smooth blood flow is essential both for your performance and your physique. Water has yet another interesting property that helps reducing the body fat. I has been found that drinking water can boost your energy expenditure, helping you burn 20 calories per every 16 ounces of consumed water. In other words, drinking a gallon of cold water removes 160 calories from your system.
Although this number doesn’t sound like much, just have in mind that you are burning those calories without applying too much effort. And after all, every calorie counts. This calorie burning property of water is a result of its heating in the system, which requires a great amount of energy.
The other reason is the processing of water molecules in your body as they pass through your digestive system that delivers it to the liver, from where it goes into your blood stream that transfers it to the cells and to your kidneys before it is finally excreted. Drinking water before you eat also increases your satiety, making you feel fuller and consume less food.
Just 10 ounces of water before meal can reduce your calorie intake by 10 percent. Because of all that, it becomes clear that water can make a huge difference between being lean and ripped, or just average. After explaining the effects of water on your muscle building process only one question remains unanswered. How much water should we drink?
Recommended Water Intake
If you though that the answer to this question is: “as much as you can”, than you’ve got it wrong. Seriously! Although many people think that there is no risk in overdrinking water, this is far from true. Drinking too much water can lead to water intoxication, which is a fatal condition.
This problem usually hits marathon runners and is rarely discussed in the media because of fear that learning about the potential risk of overdosing with water does little good for promoting this otherwise healthy habit among the average people. However, in the world of fitness the quest for lean muscles mass has been elevated to an obsession.
As a matter of fact, drinking too much water increases the risk of depleting your body of some crucial minerals (potassium and sodium) weakening the heart muscle contraction.
Optimally, you need to consume at least 85 ounces of water every day. Try spreading out this quantity throughout the whole day. This quantity should be increased when it is hot, or you are engaged in activities that make you sweat a lot. When it comes to the source of your consumed liquids, nothing is better than plain water.
Other beverages (like soda)may contain ingredients that are detrimental for your health. If you find plain water blunt, you can substitute it with carbonated water or ice tea without sugar. You can improve its flavor by adding natural ingredients that contain little to now calories. Cucumbers, lemon, watermelon, mint are all good choices.