by Personal Training SF
getting ready for this Ramadan,Insh'allah all of you are doing well here some information about the importance of water in our life, and with Ramadan coming is better to be informed and ready for our fasting,here in Egypt will be fasting for more than 16 hours ,I wish to all of you muslims living in non muslim countries to Allah make fasting easy for you,Amen.
We cannot function physically, mentally or survive without water. The body is made up of 60% water, which means it needs a regular supply to survive. A fluid loss of even 1% body weight (just when you're licking your lips) will affect your circulatory functions (raise in heart rate, increased ‘stickiness’ of the blood), mental function, energy metabolism, digestion, muscle contraction and decrease you performance by 12%.
The amount of water you need varies depending on many factors such as any medical condition, physical activity level, and your environment. The rule of thumb is to drink half your body weight in ounces. So a 200lb man should consume 100 ounces of water under ideal weather conditions (72 degree's). Add half a liter if you're active. The body dehydrates pretty quickly during exercise, even in cool temperatures.
In order to facilitate optimal physiological functioning, the body's water and electrolyte content should remain relatively constant.
Dehydration has been shown to:
■Reduce blood and plasma volume, this results in a decrease in the amount of blood pumped out by the heart, consequently the heart has to work harder in an attempt to maintain an adequate blood (oxygen) supply to the working muscles
■Decrease testosterone levels
■Increase blood lactate accumulation
■Impair the body's ability to sweat, resulting is an increased risk of overheating.
■Dehydration results in reduced muscle blood flow, waste removal, and heat dissipation, all of which are necessary for sustained, high power muscle action in events such as boxing, wrestling, judo and jiu-jitsu
■Taken to the extreme, rapid weight loss when achieved through dehydration can be fatal. Excessive dehydration can harm bodily functions, leading to kidney failure, heat stroke or heart attack, within a period of thirty-three days, three young American wrestlers tragically died whilst trying to 'make their weight'
Does re-hydration work?
After completing the weigh-in, fighters typically try to rapidly replace lost body fluids in an attempt to return to a normal state of hydration. However, the fighter is unlikely to eat and drink sufficiently because of the negative effects of fighting on a full stomach. In many cases the time between the weigh-in and first contest is usually insufficient for fluid and electrolyte balance to be fully re-established in muscles, or for the rehydration and replenishment of muscle and liver glycogen
The period between the weigh-in and competition is probably not enough time for wrestlers, boxers, judo and jiu-jitsu athletes to replace muscle glycogen.
The body takes from 4 to 48 hours to fully recover from moderate dehydration, which means there isn't enough time between weigh-in and the match to ensure peak performance and health.