Are You a Quart Low?
The human body is approximately 60% water. That means that a 200 pound man is about 120 pounds of water, or about 15 gallons worth (water weights 8 lbs per gallon). The water content in muscle is even higher: about 80%.
Do I really need to tell you that water is important for building muscle? No lecturing here but I will tell you why it's absolutely important: Well-hydrated muscle cells synthesize protein better than those that are not so well-hydrated. In other words, if you're low on water your body is using protein at a slower rate and that means that you're not growing muscle efficiently.
What's the first thing you put in your mouth in the morning? Coffee? Diet Coke? Orange Juice? When you wake-up your body has lost water during the night through perspiration, respiration, and urination. Here's a simple test: Weigh yourself before you go to bed and again when you immediately wake up. There will be a difference on the scale. Was it one pound? Maybe two pounds? Lets just say the latter, two pounds. Two pounds of water is a whole quart, 32 ounces, or 4 cups of water! You need to put that back ASAP! And Gatorade and Crystal Lite don't count.
During the past 25 years the first thing I've been drinking is 16 ounces of water every morning. That may be a lot for some folks but I'm a 200+ pound guy and it's not that hard. I recommend staring with at least 8 ounces to get your kidneys going. A common guideline is 8 glasses of water, about 64 ounces, through-out your day. Another good working guideline is to divide your weight by 2.2 and the result is now many ounces of water you should consume (Me: 200 lbs/2.2 = 90.9 ounces of water).
These numbers aren't written in stone. During strenuous activity or if you're in a hot climate you'll probably need even more! Drink up and stay healthy!
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