Wednesday, May 16, 2007

3 Of 8 Things You Must Do To Build Maximum Muscle Mass


#3 - Increase your water intake.

Water is an absolutely critical component to the muscle-building process and to overall body health in general. Failing to keep yourself properly hydrated throughout the day will have a negative impact on literally every single process within your entire body!

Most people know that they should be drinking "plenty" of water throughout the day, but how many actually do?

If you really paid close attention to your water intake you'd probably be surprised at how little you actually consume.

What makes proper water intake so amazingly important?

Well for starters, it’s the most abundant element in your body. It is ranked only 2nd to oxygen as being essential to life.

Your body can survive for weeks without food, but without water you'd be dead in about 3 days.

Roughly 80% of your body is made up of water; the brain is 85% water and lean muscle tissue is 70% water.

Research has shown that being even slightly dehydrated can decrease strength and physical performance significantly. In fact, merely a 3-4% drop in your body's water levels will lead to a 10-20% decrease in muscle contractions.

Not only will water increase your strength, but it also plays a large role in preventing injuries in the gym. Highly intensive training over a long period of time can put unwanted stress on your joints and connective tissue, and water helps to fight against this stress by lubricating the joints and forming a protective "cushion" around them.

Along with protecting your joints, water is vital in the process of digestion. Anytime you consume a macromolecule, such as protein, your body must break this large molecule down into smaller pieces for absorption.

In the case of protein, you will be breaking it down into amino acids. Your body can only break down the protein into amino acids if water is present. So, in order to ensure that your body is utilizing all of the nutrients you consume, you must make sure that your water intake is high.

So, just how much water is enough?

To find out how many ounces of water you should be consuming every day, multiply your bodyweight by 0.6. So if you weigh 150 pounds, you should be consuming around 90 ounces of water every day.

150 x 0.6 = 90

I know it sounds like a lot, but if you plan your day out properly it shouldn't be a problem. Keep a water bottle with you at all times and sip from it periodically. Keep water in the places where you spend most of your time: in your car, at work, on your nightstand.

Another good method to ensure that you drink enough water is to pre-fill a few 16 ounce bottles at the beginning of the day. This way you can have a visual representation of where your water consumption is at any point in the day.

For the first few days you'll probably find yourself running to the bathroom quite frequently, but your body will soon adapt to the increased water volume and this will no longer be a problem.

MuscleGainTruth.com

Best regards,

Sean Nalewanyj

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