“How much water should I be drinking?” After completing a seventy-five-minute training session, one of our personal training clients, Ken, asked. “How much do you normally drink each day?” I replied. “Oh, about two of these.” Ken said after holding up a twenty-ounce portable water container.
Before delving in further to a conversation covering advanced lessons on human physiological water requirements, I wanted to know what tactics throughout the day Ken was conducting for drinking water. It was immediately apparent Ken wasn’t staying as hydrated as he needed to. Educating him about minimal guidelines on water consumption would be the low-hanging fruit Ken required to reap the benefits of optimal hydration. Therefore, it was time to put on my exercise physiologist detective badge.
I asked Ken if he drank any water first thing in the morning after waking up. A brief “no” was the answer. My second question was if he can recall what times throughout the day he drank water. His response was “randomly.” Third, I asked what other types of liquid he consumed normally in a day. “Coffee, water, and wine” he replied. Finally, I asked what his top three favorite foods were, he answered: “Oatmeal in the morning, salad and salmon for lunch, and steak and salad for dinner.”
These interview questions shed light on critical moments revealing opportunities to add more water throughout the day. The first moment after waking is usually the most dehydrated period we are throughout the day. We typically don’t consume to much water, after a six-to-eight-hour slumber. If we drink water “here or there,” these random hydration periods are going to elicit a random hydration status. The good thing is that Ken was consuming foods with high water levels. Salad, salmon, and coffee have a high amount of water, contributing to overall daily hydration. I asked these questions because these scenarios can be efficient reminder cues to consume water paired with everyday events.
Most of the time, we wake up and eat throughout the day. So, why not pair a full glass of water with these moments? It’s challenging to meet the recommendations for daily water requirements. For instance, some guidelines suggest consuming your body weight in ounces. Whereas other recommendations say ninety-six ounces, or one liter, is an optimal standard to adhere to. Counting, tracking, and inputting data to ensure we meet our water requirements can get lost in the shuffle with all of the stimuli we endure throughout our everyday lives. Sometimes, a viable tactic to support consuming more water is avoiding tracking things. In fact, focus on pairing a glass of water with a particular recurring moment each day.
We recommend a simple and effective strategy to our personal training clients to consume a full glass of water first thing in the morning and after each meal. This means right after you open your eyes in the morning, grab a bottle of water, a glass of water, or your fancy water tracking bottle and drink it. Additionally, after you eat breakfast, drink a glass of water. After you finish your lunch, drink a full glass of water. Finally, immediately following dinner, drink a glass of water. Before you know it, you’ll be consuming four to five extra glasses of water measuring about twelve ounces each. This could equate to an extra sixty ounces of water every day.
Hydration is critically important to many facets of our overall health, longevity as humans, and functionality in our everyday lives. On average, many of us operate in a dehydrated state. Calculating how dehydrated we are can be a burden to our lives, though. Instead, focusing on improving our hydration status by regularly consuming water throughout the day is a far more attainable tactic to achieve than meticulously tracking things. Let’s face it, tracking metrics can be mind-numbing. Instead, use the method of drinking water first thing in the morning and immediately after each meal as a way to invigorate our days without thinking about meeting a specific requirement. You’ll feel lively, replenished, and ready to perform optimally in your daily life.
Sean McCawley, the founder and owner of Napa Tenacious Fitness in Napa, CA, welcomes questions and comments. Reach him at 707-287-2727, napatenacious@gmail.com or visit the website napatenaciousfitness.com.
