Are you drinking enough water?

Water is important. We all know that.

What you might not know though is the actual reason WHY water is important for your health and your results and what are the consequences of not drinking enough water.

The reality is… if you’re not reaching your potential or maximizing the results from all of your hard work if you are not drinking enough water.

It’s interesting that when many people hear they need to drink more water they respond with something along the lines of… “Yea yea, I know I need to drink more water.” Then change nothing…

Sound familiar? Don’t feel too bad… many people are in the same spot, and I was one of them as well for a long time. Not taking my water intake seriously and instead treating it more like an afterthought. But the reality of the situation is that water plays a huge role in our health AND results.

Simply put, most people do not drink enough water in a day.

Now, to fully understand what I am talking about, let me define enough. It will vary from person to person based on multiple factors such as size, age, gender, activity level, lifestyle, training style, and so on… but let’s talk about a good baseline, and starting point.

In this case, 100 to 120 oz of water is my benchmark for “enough.”

It does not matter what your goals are, your body type, your workouts, or any other variables… water is essential to life, and essential to helping you reach your goals. Therefore, you should make drinking 100oz of water, or more, every day a part of your lifestyle.

Benefits of drinking water

Not only does water make up 70% of the human body, but it is considered the second most critical factor in sustaining life. Oxygen is first and we all make sure to get plenty of that a day! Water is involved in thousands of processes every day. For example, your body relies on water to help with:

• Brain Function
• Metabolizing Fat
• Regulating Body Temperature
• Digestion
• Proper Joint Function
• Nutrient Delivery

and the list goes on …

Another point worth making is the fact that if you are not properly hydrated, you are not only missing out on the benefits but you will be living with the negative side effects of dehydration. When you are dehydrated your performance suffers you will get fatigued more quickly and feel weaker than you should.

Plus, you will not be as mentally sharp during the day or your workouts. So if you are someone who feels like you’re in a fog… drained … or thinking your pre-workout isn’t doing enough for you… one simple thing to check before you worry about changing aspects of your plan is to make sure you are well hydrated throughout the day.

What is sad is that many people have been living in a dehydrated state for so long that they don’t know they’re experiencing negative side effects. Instead, they think this weakened state is “normal.”

The water struggle

So, if there are so many benefit to drinking water… and it essential for life… and crucial for earning results…. how come most people don’t drink enough water?

Well… what I have found through working with personal clients, as well as TransPHORMers using the My TransPHORMation App is that in most cases it’s because they are thinking about it the wrong way.

See, drinking water is no different than any other aspect of earning results and actually reaching your goals.

It requires consistency of positive action (drinking enough water) overtime to get the benefits.

And if you’re not currently consistent with drinking enough water, you will have to make some lifestyle adjustments to ensure you do hit your daily water needs.

Just like we both know that if you want to get into shape, you need to work out. If you’re not currently working out, you have to make lifestyle adjustments to have it as part of your plan.

Same thing with meal/food prep. If you’re not already doing that, you have to make lifestyle adjustments to have it as part of your plan.

In both instances, you are going to have to rearrange your day, invest some time in those activities, and get it done.

But it’s not just the actual activity you have to invest time towards… it’s the pre and post-activity requirements as well.

The role of water in your results

What do I mean? Well think of it like this…

When you meal prep… you will have to clean the dishes.

When you workout… you will have to shower and do more laundry.

When you drink more water… you will have to go to the bathroom more.

They’re just three realities of the fitness lifestyle and earning the results you want.

It’s always interesting to me how many people are ok with and accept the first two realities of fitness, but yet push back against the third.

Saying things like “I don’t want to spend the whole day in the bathroom” … or “I’ve tried to drink more water but I end up having to use the restroom more.”

Which guys, that’s the point! Using the restroom is a natural process and how your body rids its self of toxins, waste products, and ultimately improves your health!

So yes, increasing your water consumption will most likely increase your restroom frequency but that’s NOT A BAD THING… it’s actually a good thing.

Therefore look at those extra few minutes in the restroom as an investment in your health.

Similar to taking that hour or two on Sunday to meal prep…

Or making the time to work out a little longer or adding in a whole other workout.

Plus, let’s not even get on the subject of how much time we all waste being inefficient with our day… or going down a youtube rabbit hole … or checking in on social media…

Because the reality is if the “added time” of using the restroom more is your excuse or reasoning as to why you don’t drink more water… it’s invalid and you’re looking at the situation the wrong way.

How to drink more water in the day

I realize that increasing your water intake, may make for a lifestyle change… but water intake will be a very important part of your success and health. I promise!

Now, 100 oz sounds like a lot of water to drink if you are not currently doing so, I get it. Keep in mind though that you’ll be spacing that 100 to 120 oz out over the course of the ENTIRE day.

To make it easy on myself now, I just keep a Shaker Bottle with me throughout the day and fill it up as needed. Then every time I drink a full one, I log it into my profile on the My TransPHORMation App. This way it gives me one less thing to have to remember during the day and I can easily and quickly see how much more I need to drink before hitting 100oz.

But to even get into that habit … I first had to establish the habit of even remembering to drink water. Making it part of my lifestyle. See, I use to really only drink water around my workouts. Which is certainly a good idea for many reasons… but not nearly as beneficial as being hydrated throughout the day.

To help me remember to drink water, I put silent alarms/reminders on my phone. I did silent, because like you, I get a million notifications… texts.. calls… etc every day and the last thing I want is one more chirp, chime, or beep going off! But by having it on silent, the notification will appear while you use your phone or will appear on the lock screen and be there the next time you use it!

In both instances, serving as a little reminder and putting “drink water” back into your conscious level of thinking. Now if you want to get real fancy, you can even put how much water you should have consumed by that point… but for me, I just set alarms for 8 am, 11 am, 2 pm, 6 pm, and 9 pm. This way I was consciously thinking about drinking water at least 5 times a day!

After a few weeks, and making this a habit, I removed the alarms/reminders and have no issue now remembering to drink water throughout the day!

But feel free to find an easy system that works for you. Because once again… when it comes to health, wellness, and earning results… consistency is key! Therefore, the main thing will be figuring out how YOU can drink enough water every day.

Ways to drink more water

If you’d like more ideas on ways to work water into your plan or have any other questions about the best way to get the results you are after, please contact us here at 1st Phorm anytime!

You can call in to 1 800 409 9732 between 6am-10pm CST, Monday thru Friday and talk with one of our NASM Certified Personal Trainers for Free!! Or simply email us at CUSTOMERSERVICE@1STPHORM.COM. Either way, we’re always here for you!

*This post was written by Will Grumke. He is a NASM Certified Personal Trainer, NASM Certified Fitness Nutrition Specialist, NASM Certified Weight Loss Specialist, NASM Certified Behavioral Change Specialist, and CrossFit Level 1 Trainer.