Got Water?

Approximately 40-60% of our body weight is water, and muscle is composed of around 72% by weight. Your body loses around 10-12 cups of water per day just through your skin, lungs, kidneys, and intestines; and this does not even include exercise!

Water seems to-good-to-be-true when it comes to fat loss and muscle building. As I mentioned before, your muscles are made up of 72% water by weight, whereas fat is only 25%. This means that when you drink water, you increase your muscle weight, and the more muscle you have the more fat you burn up through the resulting rise in your metabolism.

On the other hand, this also means that diets that result in excessive fluid loss will result in a decrease in muscle size. Another factor of excessive fluid loss is dehydration. When you are dehydrated, the body begins to retain every last drop of water you have.

Your kidneys are responsible for filtering out waste products in the water within your system, and without sufficient water, they cannot do this properly. This causes the liver to assist in the filtering process. This is definitely not a good thing because one of the liver's main functions is to metabolize stored fat for energy.

So when the liver can't focus on its own job, it greatly slows down the amount of fat you burn. However, this retained water is still not out of the picture. Most of this water is stored under the skin which will make your hard-earned muscular definition smooth-looking.

Water is used by the body as a building material, lubricant, solvent, and helps regulate your body temperature. It is used by the body as a solvent and after digestion, water and blood are the means by which nutrients are carried to your cells and wastes are removed.

Believe it or not water serves as a building material in every cell and muscle cells happen to be one of the cells with the highest water content... about 70 percent! Water also serves as a lubricant in your joints. This is especially helpful to those lifting extreme amounts of weight, jogging, or any high impact exercise.

Water also plays a vital role of removing heat from the body. This will definitely lead to less fatigue in any intense strength and cardiovascular program. Water also plays an important role when dieting to lose that unwanted fat. To lose fat efficiently, you must drink copious amounts of water. Restricting water can lead to a few problems to the functions and appearance of your physique and health. Restricting your water intake causes your body to retain more water. This can play havoc on a dieter's mind mistaking the extra fluid retention for fat.

Studies have also shown restriction of water promotes fat retention. Due to its role in the removal of waste and transportation of nutrients, your body will perceive the lack of water as a major stress. One of the defense mechanisms of the body during major stress situations is to preserve fat and water.

Other benefits of water:

• Constipation can occur. Water can relieve this condition.
• Water maintains proper muscle tone by giving muscles their ability to contract by preventing dehydration.
• Water naturally suppresses the appetite and helps the body metabolize stored fat. Decreases in water consumption will actually increase fat deposits and an increase in water will decrease fat deposits. The kidneys cannot properly function without water, and, when they don't function, their load is dumped back into the liver. This causes fatigue and liver toxicity.
• Cold water also has the added benefit of further increasing metabolic rates, as it requires the additional expenditure of calories  in order for the body to warm it up.  

How Much?

For people who are not used to drinking a lot of water should first start out with drinking a half to one gallon a day. It sounds like a lot but if you keep on sipping all-day it will be gone in no time. You should drink most of your fluids before, during, and after a workout.