Water retention can be one of the hidden enemies of a strong, sculpted six-pack – and an unknown opponent is almost impossible to defeat. If you’ve been working relentlessly on your midsection and cutting down body fat, but there’s still no sign of your abs’ true shape and definition, you could be holding extra water that creates a soft, bloated look and stops your hard-earned muscles from showing.
Before we go any further, note that this article is mainly for those who already have a fairly low body fat percentage. If you’re not there yet, don’t rush to blame it all on water weight – it’s much more likely that body fat is what’s hiding your abs. Focus on training harder and eating smarter first.
But if you know you carry very little body fat and you still can’t see your abs, there may be only one last obstacle standing in your way – and luckily, it’s usually simple to fix. Here’s what water weight is, how to tell if you’re holding it, and 10 natural ways to cut water weight and finally reveal your abs. Try them now!
What Is Water Weight?
Water weight, also called water retention, is extra fluid that builds up in your body’s tissues. About 60% of your body is water, and the amount you carry can easily swing by a few pounds from one day to the next. That’s why your scale weight can jump overnight after a salty, carb-heavy meal – it’s water, not fat.
Water retention usually shows up as puffiness and bloating in the abdomen, face, hands, legs and ankles. It isn’t dangerous in most cases, but it can blur your muscle definition and make you look and feel softer than you really are.
Signs You’re Holding Water
- Your weight jumps 1-3 kg (2-6 lbs) in a day or two without any change in your eating habits
- Your stomach looks bloated and your abs look “blurry”, especially in the evening
- Your rings, watch or shoes feel tighter than usual
- Your socks leave deep marks around your ankles
- Your face looks puffy in the morning
When to see a doctor: occasional bloating is normal, but swelling that doesn’t go away, swelling in only one leg, or swelling that comes with shortness of breath or chest pain can be a sign of a heart, kidney or liver problem. If pressing your thumb into your swollen ankle leaves a dent that stays for a few seconds, get it checked.
What Causes Water Retention?
- Too much sodium – the most common cause by far
- Carbs – every gram of stored carbohydrate (glycogen) holds roughly 3 grams of water
- Creatine – it pulls extra water into your muscles
- Not drinking enough water – your body holds on to what it has
- Alcohol
- Sitting or standing for hours – fluid pools in your legs
- Hormones – many women retain more water before their period
- Stress and poor sleep, which raise cortisol
- Some medications, such as certain blood pressure drugs and steroids
10 Ways to Cut Water Weight Naturally
1. Reduce Sodium
A diet high in sodium inevitably leads to water retention. To cut water weight, read the label on everything you buy and avoid high-sodium foods like canned foods, soups, frozen meals, deli meats, sauces and condiments. Most of them are over-processed products you should be steering clear of anyway.
Oh, and take it easy on the table salt. At first your less salty food might taste disgustingly bland, but you’ll get used to it pretty quickly if you stay consistent. Season with herbs, spices, garlic and lemon instead.
2. Drink More Water
If you assumed that drinking less water will reduce water retention, you were terribly wrong. As counterintuitive as it may seem, drinking more water helps you hold less of it. When you’re not properly hydrated, your body tends to hang on to the water it has. Stay well hydrated, and your kidneys can flush out excess sodium and water more easily. Here’s how much water a day you should drink.
3. Eat More Potassium
Potassium works as sodium’s counterbalance – it helps your body get rid of excess sodium and the water that comes with it. Good sources include bananas, potatoes, sweet potatoes, avocados, spinach, beans and yogurt.
4. Eat Hydrating Foods
Water-rich fruits and vegetables help you stay hydrated, and many of them are also high in potassium. Try cucumbers, watermelon, strawberries, lettuce, spinach, cabbage, celery and tomatoes.
5. Manage Your Carbs
Since each gram of stored glycogen holds about 3 grams of water, a big carb-heavy day can easily add a pound or two of water weight. That’s also why people lose weight so fast in the first week of a low-carb diet – most of it is water.
You don’t have to cut carbs completely. Just avoid huge carb loads and processed carbs, and choose whole-food sources like oats, rice, potatoes and fruit. If you have a photo shoot or event coming up, reducing your carbs a bit for a few days before can help you look drier.
6. Sweat It Out
What is sweat if not water stored in your body? If you train regularly and intensely, you’re already sweating out some of your stored water – which is replenished as soon as you rehydrate.
So this isn’t a long-term solution, but a quick trick you can use before an upcoming event when you want to look as dry as possible. A hard workout or a sauna session can make a visible difference for a few hours. Just don’t overdo it – dehydration is dangerous.
7. Move More During the Day
Sitting or standing in one position for hours lets fluid pool in your legs and ankles. Get up and walk around every hour, take the stairs, and elevate your legs at the end of the day if they feel swollen.
8. Cut Down on Creatine
Creatine is one of the best-researched supplements, with a reputation built on its proven effectiveness for building muscle. While it works great for adding size to your frame, it also increases water retention in your muscle cells, so a gain of 1-2 kg (2-5 lbs) is normal when you start taking it.
Most of that water is stored inside your muscles, not under your skin, so creatine usually doesn’t blur your abs. But if you’re getting ready for a competition or a photo shoot and want to look as shredded as possible, some lifters stop taking it 1-2 weeks before the event.
9. Stop Drinking Alcohol
If you’ve been part of the fitness community for a while, you’re probably well aware of the detrimental effects of alcohol on your body.
Alcohol dehydrates you at first, and then your body overcompensates by holding on to water – which is why you often look puffy and bloated the morning after a night out. Salty bar food and late-night snacks make it even worse. Anyone who wants better muscle definition needs to cut back on alcohol, or even better, go alcohol-free. Sad but true!
10. Try Natural Diuretics
Some foods and drinks are known as natural diuretics, meaning they may help your body get rid of a little extra water. The research behind most of them is limited, so don’t expect miracles, but they’re safe for most people in normal amounts:
- Asparagus – a mild natural diuretic that’s also high in fiber and vitamins A, C, E and K. Just don’t smother it in salt or salted butter.
- Cranberry juice – choose unsweetened cranberry juice or concentrate, not the sugary “cocktail” version.
- Dandelion – in a small study, dandelion leaf extract increased how often people urinated. You can take it as a tea or a supplement. Dandelion is high in potassium, so check with your doctor first if you take blood pressure medication or diuretics.
- Coffee and green tea – caffeine has a mild diuretic effect, especially if you don’t drink it every day.
What About Water Pills?
Prescription water pills (diuretics) are medications used to treat conditions like high blood pressure and heart failure – not tools for getting shredded. Using them, or over-the-counter water pills, to cut water weight can cause dehydration, dizziness, cramps and dangerous changes in your electrolyte levels. If you think you have a real problem with water retention, see your doctor instead.
What About Cutting Water for a Weigh-In?
Fighters and bodybuilders sometimes use extreme water cuts – manipulating water and sodium and spending time in saunas – to drop weight fast before a weigh-in or a show. These cuts can be dangerous and have caused serious health problems. If you need to make weight for a competition, do it with the help of an experienced coach. For everyone else, the 10 natural tips above are all you need.
Water weight is temporary, and in most cases it’s easy to fix: cut back on sodium, drink more water, eat more potassium, keep your carbs in check, move more and go easy on the alcohol. Within a few days you should look and feel noticeably leaner.
Keep in mind, though, that if your body fat is still relatively high, cutting water won’t make much difference to how your abs look. Get your body fat down first – these are the reasons you might still not be losing belly fat. But if you’re already lean and fighting water retention, these tips can help you finally get the dry, hard, defined abs you’ve been working for!
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Thank you, they were some good tips.
Considering I haveva BMI of like 35 to 40%, I doubt water is my problem. LOL
The BMI is not a precise tool for measuring muscle/fat mass. Most bodybuilders (who actually carry low body fat and dense muscle mass) will have a high BMI index.