DRINK WATER, AND DRINK MORE OF IT
This is an easy one. DRINK MORE WATER.
If you want to increase your overall performance, get hydrated! According to the Journal of American Dietetics Association (Volume 99, number 2, pages 200-206, 1999), “Dehydration of as little as 2% loss of bodyweight results in impaired physiological and performance responses.”
Research has also shown that dehydration can have a negative affect upon mood, mental acuity, strength, endurance, and overall athletic ability.
If the previously mentioned characteristics are sub-par, you can’t expect to perform at your best.
No matter how you look at this issue, whether it is from an attempt to improve overall health and well-being, or simply from the perspective of performance improvement, YOU NEED TO DRINK WATER, and maintain adequate hydration.
Johnny Bowden, author of The 150 Healthiest Food on Earth puts forth these following stats.
- YOUR BODY – 83% WATER
- MUSCLES – 75% WATER
- YOUR BRAIN – 74% WATER
- YOUR BONES – 22% WATER
After seeing those percentages, do you honestly think that if you’re not putting quality water into your body, it can perform at it’s best? Absolutely not!
Processes within your body will suffer, and when those processes, such as metabolism, digestion, absorption of nutrients, and detoxification, begin to fail, your body will begin to fail.
A few more reasons to drink some more water:
- water helps to cushion and lubricate joints – stiff dried out knees don’t make for good shock absorbers
- dehydration places an unnecessary strain on the cardiovascular system – as a surfer you need vast amounts of endurance, and to maintain that endurance you need a strong cardiovascular system to keep your muscles adequately fueled
- it helps to detoxify the body! In today’s modern age, we are exposed to numerous toxic chemicals and substances, from food preservatives, pharmaceuticals, to the fertilizer you’re spraying on your lawn. You don’t want these substances in your body, so keep that detoxification working by keeping it hydrated.
So How Much?
A basic tenet of many health practitioners is this: Drink half of your bodyweight, in ounces of water per day. For example, a 180lb. man should be consuming 90 ounces of water per day.
If this person were to take part in some sweat inducing activities, he would want to increase his intake to make up for water lost. That is where we as surfers need to make sure we are staying hydrated.
You don’t realize you’re sweating while you are out in the water, so rest assured, if you’ve been out in the surf make sure to re-hydrate.
Which brings me to another quick point, Drink Water, NOT sports drinks and juices. You’re body is designed to hydrate with water, not some sugars, artificial flavoring, or artificial coloring and dyes.
If you want to play the electrolyte card, then just put a pinch of Celtic Sea Salt in your water. And some fresh lemon juice. Or another option is sliced cucumber and mint in your water for a different taste.
IF YOU WANT TO IMPROVE YOUR SURF PERFORMANCE, AND POSITIVELY INFLUENCE YOUR OVERALL HEALTH, THEN DRINK GOOD CLEAN WATER!
Do you people have a facebook fan page? I sought out one on twitter but tend to not discover one”
@ KAROL: there is a Facebook fan page: same name, Surf Strength Coach
http://www.facebook.com/surfstrengthcoach. thanks for checking us out
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Good post on a very “easy fix” for most people.. I’ve been trying to up my water intake and I have noticed less “water dehydration” crashes – which I used to get after “forgetting” to drink for hours… Even without the surfing. However, I believe the use of sports drink (AFTER surfing) could be beneficial to replenish energy stores as well as provide energy for protein synthesis/muscle re-building. Source: Nutrient Timing book See this page for a quick overview: http://fellrnr.com/wiki/Nutrient_Timing Of course, the “artificial nasties” are better avoided.. I’ve been trying to tweak and work out my nutrition as well as training and surf routines in the last few months and while I cannot draw any conclusions, I’ve been taking in a fair amount of glucose + more complex carbs (oats, milk) after surf and/or training and it’s been working ok so far (although I otherwise try to be low-slow-carbish and also count calories so it’s easier not to over-do it on the sugar front…). Thinking of consulting with you at some point Cris… Need to get some of my “experiments” further down the line beforehand though… or maybe not! Thanks for the awesome info anyway!
I totally agree with you about the need for glucose re-fueling after a long session… however I’m still not sold on sports drinks because of the exact reasons you cited. There’s so much garbage in them, that you’d be better off with some water, honey, a bit of salt, and maybe some time of squeezed citrus to replenish. I’m also totally supportive of using milk to refuel as long as there are no casein or lactose issues. Milk is damn near a complete food source in regards to carbs, fats, and protein. Just like you said, experimenting is the best way to go about nutrition. Don’t be dogmatic, listen to your body, and try/see what works!
@JezzaNZ
I totally agree with you about the need for glucose re-fueling after a long session… however I’m still not sold on sports drinks because of the exact reasons you cited. There’s so much garbage in them, that you’d be better off with some water, honey, a bit of salt, and maybe some time of squeezed citrus to replenish. I’m also totally supportive of using milk to refuel as long as there are no casein or lactose issues. Milk is damn near a complete food source in regards to carbs, fats, and protein. Just like you said, experimenting is the best way to go about nutrition. Don’t be dogmatic, listen to your body, and try/see what works!