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Did you know? Water is a Super-nutrient – Part II

drinking-water

So how do you create the need to drink water

In my first part we looked at how water is an important nutrient in our body and why it is important to keep ourselves hydrated. In this second part I will tell you how do you keep yourself hydrated?

The answer is very simple – Keeping a bottle of water handy and sipping on it whenever you look at it. Personally this has worked well for me as I myself was terrible at water intake at one point in time. I could hardly drink even a litre throughout the day. Luckily, I was very well aware of the reason and I decided to overcome this problem.

Before stepping out of the house, I made sure that I have carried my water bottle. I followed this for quite a while and now it’s become a habit. If I deprive myself of water now, I can feel my cells and organs screaming out loud for water! My mouth starts to feel the dryness, ad to that the feeling of dullness and low energy, concentration level dips and my head starts aching if I am not well hydrated. These are some physiological signals that my body sends which compel me to grab a bottle of water immediately. Thus, once you make your body cells habituated to drinking enough water, your body makes sure you drink enough of it by sending you the thirst cues more often, thus creating the need to drink!

Now the question is how much water is enough for you?

There are different recommendations for water intake. A rule of thumb is one should drink about 3 litres (12 glasses) of water per day. However, different people need different amounts of water to stay hydrated. For some people, fewer than 8 glasses may be enough. Those who indulge in lot of physical activities and exercise have higher water requirements. The best way to check if you are well hydrated is to check your urine. If your urine is consistently colorless or light yellow, you are most likely to be optimally hydrated. Many a times, increasing your water intake may also increase your rounds to the washroom.

My answer to this problem is that, one should divide the water intake throughout the day instead of drinking 1 bottle at one shot. It’s always worked if you drink 1 glass of water every hour. This reduces the frequency to visit the washroom often and makes sure you are well hydrated throughout the day.

Let me summarize a few tips for staying hydrated

  • When you are out, consider carrying a reusable water bottle so that it could be re-filled with water once it’s empty. This can also make it easy for you to track how much water you actually drank through the day.
  • If plain water doesn’t fascinate you, try squeezing a lemon to your drink
  • Ensure that you drink water before, during and after your workout.
  • Begin and end your day with a glass of water
  • When you feel hungry, drink water. This will help you find if it’s just the thirst or you are actually hungry. True hunger will not be satisfied by drinking water.
  • Prepare a schedule if you have trouble remembering to drink water. For instance, drink water when you wake up; at breakfast, lunch and dinner; and when you go to bed or as I mentioned before, drink a small glass of water at the top of each hour.
  • Drink water when you go to a restaurant. It not only keeps you hydrated but also keeps you full so that you eat in controlled portions.

Take-away message: Stay well- hydrated, keep glowing and keep fit!

 

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Did you know? Water is a Super-nutrient…Part 1

Girl drinking water

Not many are aware of the fact that ‘Water’ is a super-nutrient. When asked which are the nutrients the common answer is carbohydrates, proteins, and fats. Some manage to include vitamins-minerals too.

Water is an important nutrient for our body and it is abundantly available. It is important from the point of view that if our body is not well hydrated then the other nutrients in our body don’t get metabolized well. Thus, the fate of other nutrients is completely dependent on water.

Water makes up for around 60-70% of our body weight. However, the amount of water contained in different body cells varies. Muscle cells comprise of 70-75% water whereas fat cells contain 10-15% water. Therefore, a muscular person will always have a good percentage of water in his body.

When one doesn’t hydrate himself adequately, his cells start losing water and the adverse effects of dehydration sets in. Dehydration can be a serious condition that can lead to problems ranging from swollen feet or a headache to life-threatening illnesses such as a heat stroke.

It is possible to go without food for a long time, but people cannot live without water for more than a few days. Every cell and organ depends on water to perform innumerable functions. The most essential functions include the following:
• Removal of waste and toxins out of the body
• Regulating the bowels
• Transport of nutrients and oxygen to all the cells
• Helping the heart pump blood efficiently
• Controlling the blood viscosity, blood circulation and thereby the blood pressure
• Regulating the body temperature
• Lubricating the joints
• Protecting the organs and tissues
• Helping in saliva production

Most of us are aware of these essential functions of water, yet many of them fail to drink enough of it on a daily basis. When questioned, a wide variety of reasons follow, “I tend to forget”, “I don’t feel the need to drink it”, “I don’t feel thirsty”…and so on. It’s been observed that many people tend to confuse thirst with hunger as our brain sends similar cues for both. Thus, some people end up grabbing some snacks in response to a thirst cue which could have been satisfied just by sipping water.

To be contd……..

In our next part we will talk of How do you create the need to drink water?

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How much strength training you should do?

training-2728338_640

In my previous article, I mentioned about how much cardio you should do? In that article, I have mentioned about 3 components of exercise: –

Cardio

Strength training

Flexibility

So, after writing about cardio exercises and how much one should be doing it, the next logical question which comes to the mind is how much strength training you should do?

When we talk about cardio, it becomes a bit easy to answer the question HOW MUCH? Because we can measure it in time but when we apply this question to strength training it becomes a bit tricky.

When people exercise, not everyone does it in the same way. Some people who exercise for 25 minutes are actually working out more than someone who does it for an hour.

When someone tells me that they exercise for 1.5 hours in the gym, my next question to them is – how can you do that?

So, this 1.5 hours includes 30 minutes of the workout, 15 minutes of phone checking session, 10 minutes of MIRROR SELFIES, 10 minutes of water break and some talks here and there.

This isn’t 1.5 hours of gym.

So, if I answer the question saying you can do strength training for 1 hour that won’t be fair.

When we talk about strength training in sports science,

How much? Means total volume per session.

How is this total volume per session calculated?

Number of sets x Number of repetitions x Weight in pounds

For example: –

Number of sets = 3

Number of repetitions= 10

Weight (60kg) = 132 pounds

Let’s put these values in the formula mentioned above: –

3x10x132 = 3960 pounds (1796 kg)

This means that the answer for how much strength training you should do?

Is 1796 kg for that particular workout?

I know, this was extremely technical for you and I don’t even want you to understand that because except the trainer, nobody actually even thinks about it.

So, my whole point is, do not quantify exercises in the terms HOW MUCH. The answer could be as tricky as the example mentioned above!

You should always focus on the following points when you talk about strength training exercises.

(1) What is your goal?

  • Same way as the cardio works, strength training to depends upon your goal. For a person who has to make a record in activities which needs strength will have a different goal as compared to a one who has to run a marathon.

Please note: – Everybody requires all the 3 components of the exercise as mentioned in my previous article and also mentioned in the first paragraph. All the components have to be modified based on the GOAL of the individual.

I don’t want my readers to get bored with these scientific basics so I have tried to put some generic numbers depending upon different goals but it may vary from person to person.

GOAL How many times a week? How many exercises? How many sets? How many reps?
Endurance athlete in sports season  Once 10-12 1-2 3-5
Endurance athlete not in sports season Twice 4-10 2-4 5-15
Fat loss Thrice 3-8 3-7 6-20
Muscle gain 4-5 times 4-8 3-10 3-12
Bone-strengthening 3-4 times 3-7 3-8 5-12
Strength training 3-12 times (2 times a day might also be needed) 2-6 3-10 1-5

 

(2) What is your level?

  • You are a beginner if you have never done any strength training exercises.
  • You are a beginner if you are resuming your strength training exercises after a gap of 6-7 months.
  • You are a beginner if you are doing exercises regularly but yet not reached your desired results (which also means that you are not working out properly)
  • You can do advanced strength training exercises only after 6 months of proper form.

(3) What is your intensity?

  • Higher intensity, less frequency helps you a lot if you are planning to lose weight.
  • Higher intensity strength training exercises less frequently can give you better results than lower intensity strength training exercises every day.

(4) What is your body’s response?

  • This is perhaps the most important part when you exercise. It all depends upon your body’s response. It depends on your age, metabolism.
  • For someone who is exactly same like you, working out like you will have different results as compared to you.
  • All you should do is continue on the right path, trust your body and everything will fall into place.

I always tell,

“Workout for fitness and good health, weight loss will come as a gift to you”

I will soon be out with different strength training exercises for different levels

 

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How much cardio should you do?

 

cardio exercise

 

CARDIO- The only form of exercise which has grabbed everybody’s attention and why not, almost all the common activities are a form of cardiovascular exercise.

Whenever I ask someone about what exercise you do throughout the day- their reply is mostly WALKING. Hours of walking sometimes.

So, what does cardio include?

  • Walking (As already mentioned above)
  • Running
  • Swimming
  • Cycling
  • Aqua-aerobics
  • Aerobics
  • Zumba
  • Rowing
  • Boxing

I have seen people concentrating only on cardio exercises for years without any change in their routine. Some people consider themselves to be fit with simply walking.

Fitness is measured by different things and not just your overall structure.

As a part of your fitness routine, these 3 components are very important which is as follows: –

  • Cardiovascular exercises
  • Strength training exercises
  • Flexibility exercises

None of the components can be skipped.

All these 3 components are very important for a proper fitness regime.

The question which I always get is (which also became an idea to write this article) how much cardio should I do?

And my answer is (Always), you should actually ask how much of these 3 components I should do?

Well, I will be covering all these 3 components in 3 separate articles so for now, I will be concentrating on cardio.

So, going back to the question which I always get, I wish I had an answer to that which could be as simple as

Do 60 minutes a day or maybe 150 minutes a week!

But being a healthcare professional, I cannot give a generic answer.

In fact, that question has no specific answer.

The amount of cardio which should be done completely depends upon these 4 factors: – (Ps: – Please read all the factors before you come to a conclusion for yourself)

cardio ex1

(1) It depends on what you are aiming at.

Well, not everybody needs weight loss! Some people might be looking for muscle gain while someone else might need to run a marathon.

So, does that mean all of them will be doing 150 minutes of cardio per week?

Definitely not!

Along with the aim, you also need to know about your metabolism.

Metabolism is the rate at which your body needs calories while resting.

So, for a person who wants to lose weight will probably be needing a lot of cardio but for someone who wants to build muscle- the amount of cardio which you require completely depends on your metabolism. If you have a fast metabolism then you don’t need any cardio but if your metabolism is slow then you need to do some amount of cardio.

Someone who is into different sports like shot put or powerlifting or sprinting might require very little cardio.

Why am I targeting these 2 categories first?

It is because losing weight and gaining muscles are totally different things to talk about. For your body as well, it becomes a very confusing state because the body cannot do 2 things simultaneously. However, with proper training, it does become possible sometimes.

Then, what about fat loss? How much cardio should one do?

If losing weight is your only goal then it is okay to put your focus more on cardio and neglect the muscle gain part.

You just work on not losing muscles while you are losing your fat.

This can be achieved by 2 times a week strength training and adequate proteins in your diet.

What If someone is a marathoner? How much cardio should one do?

It also includes a good amount of cardio and minimum strength training but flexibility here is very important. It can all be divided throughout the week with a focus more on cardio and other endurance sports.

Although I don’t like putting anything in a restricted way I guess I can do with sharing some guidelines about the first factor which I have discussed in brief above so that it becomes easier for everyone to understand.

  • Building muscle + Fast metabolism = No cardio
  • Building muscle + Slow metabolism = 2-4 days per week with about 20-30 minutes every day.
  • Losing fat = 5-6 times per week with about 45-60 minutes every day
  • Marathoner= 4-6 times per week with about 30-60 minutes every day

*This is very generic; the requirement might differ in each person but this can be used as a guideline to work upon.

(2) State of your hormones

Well, the most common problem which most of us are facing is WEIGHT GAIN or UNABLE TO LOSE THE EXISTING WEIGHT which ultimately makes you hit the gym and your trainer will suggest you do cardio. He or she will decide the plan and everyone blindly follows that plan. But, do you think everybody needs exactly the same amount of cardio?

When your weight becomes a problem the hormone which comes into the picture is CORTISOL.

Cortisol is a hormone which is released all the time in the body but most commonly it reaches its peak under extreme stress. When the stress is often short-term like some assignment to complete or some exams to give then the graph of cortisol keeps fluctuating but when the stress becomes long term which goes on for months and years then the gland which produces cortisol is adrenal glands that starts burning out which means there won’t be enough cortisol which is produced. Well, none of this is good. Neither LOW nor HIGH. Everything goes well in balance.

So now that was about the theory, let’s understand how to practically apply it.

Symptoms of cortisol imbalance: –

  • Rapid weight gain
  • Muscle weakness
  • Chronic fatigue
  • Mood swings
  • Anxiety
  • Depression
  • Confusion
  • Insomnia
  • Fluctuating sugar levels

 

How to know about your cortisol imbalance?

  • It is important to do a stress test first and then go for the lab reports and get your 8 am cortisol checked.
  • Visit an endocrinologist with your reports.

 How much cardio should you do if your cortisol levels are not up to the mark?

  • Under 60% of your maximal heart rate.

How to calculate your maximal heart rate?

  • 220 – your age= maximal heart rate

For example: –

Person who is 40 years of age,

220-40= 180 (Maximal heart rate)

60% of 180 = 108 beats per minute.

  • You should not cross 108 beats per minute while doing cardio in any case.
  • You must strictly monitor it and get yourself a personal trainer/coach who can help you understand this.

Why are we discussing cortisol imbalance and what is the reason behind reducing your cardio activities in such cases?

treadmill-2581437_640

  • All the exercise puts the body into some stress. This stress can affect stimulation of different hormones.
  • When you do steady cardio like a treadmill or cycling your body increases cortisol and reduces other hormones like growth hormone.
  • When you do interval training your body increases cortisol and growth hormone
  • When you do strength training with moderate repetition and sets your body increases growth hormone and cortisol by a small margin.
  • When you do strength training with heavy repetition and sets your body increases testosterone (Which is mostly seen in bodybuilders)

I have given you an in-depth reason here so that you can understand that doing cardio under any stress will increase the complication even more and will do no good to your body.

So before getting into intense workouts, check your cortisol levels.

If everything is okay then you can do the cardio as discussed above.

(3) Depends on your intensity

Whenever I try getting the history about exercises, I get to hear this very often: –

” I do cardio for about 1 and half hours in the gym but I am not getting any results “

” I walk for about 2 hours a day, one hour in the morning and one hour in the evening but I don’t think it is helping”

Well, the basic point to this is,

YOUR DURATION DOESN’T MATTER.

WHAT MATTERS IS- YOUR INTENSITY.

You can work out for just like 15 minutes and still get the same effect as you might get it from longer duration.

Since a couple of months, I often see people talking about high-intensity workouts, low-intensity workouts. I was actually very curious to know their definition of these workouts. I was actually very surprised to know that out of 10 people not even 2 of them knew what exactly it is. They were talking about it because they read it on the internet or their trainer told or something else. You don’t need to be a doctor or personal trainer or a certified health expert. You as a common man to have the rights to know, after all, you are the one who is actually, going to follow that advice. Well, writing this article in this depth is just for everyone to understand the basics behind all the theories which are coming up.

So, coming back to the theory behind intensity.

What is a low-intensity workout?

  • Under 60% of your maximal heart rate (How to calculate it is mentioned above) is a low-intensity workout.
  • These intensity workouts will not increase the endurance but do have relaxation benefits.

What is moderate intensity workout?

  • In between 60-85% of your maximal heart rate is moderate intensity workout.
  • This is a basic workout if your goal is to lose fats.
  • Start with 3-4 times per week and for 30-45 minutes
  • This is just about cardio however in this routine strength training is also required which will be covered in the upcoming article.

What is a high-intensity workout?

  • Anything above 85% of your maximal heart rate is high-intensity workout
  • This can be maintained only for about 1-4 minutes before your speed drops and then gradually goes ahead.
  • Start with 2-3 times per week for about 20 minutes.
  • This course will include proper strength training also which will be covered in upcoming article

Note: – High-intensity workout is not suggested for anybody who has not done any cardio exercises for past 4 months, for someone who has serious cardiac issues. Please consult your doctor before getting into these kinds of workout. Inform your coach and coaches too can take this as a basic part of history taking.

(4) Depends upon how well your response to cardio exercises.

  • As I mentioned in the beginning of the article, every individual is different and there is no same answer to HOW MUCH CARDIO YOU SHOULD DO?
  • It all depends on your responses which can vary from person to person
  • I can simply guess that maybe you require this much workout but I am never sure about it unless I check the response for minimum 15 days.

My players always ask me that why do I give the workouts for 15 days and then think so much for the next set of workouts. Sometimes it so happens that I refuse to change the workout and make then repeat it for 15 days. I know it’s annoying, like very annoying but it is better than any serious injury. Unless I am sure about the responses and progress I do not go ahead in case of workouts.

This article only gives you insights about CARDIO but your workout routine is incomplete with strength training and flexibility.

My next blog is HOW MUCH STRENGTH TRAINING YOU NEED TO DO?.

 

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