Four Tips for Drinking More Water

When you think that water accounts for between 55-75% of a person's overall bodyweight and that’s largely due to the fact that water contributes to the make up of all of our vital organs, we should really being all we can to make sure we keep our bodies as hydrated as we can.

Now you may have read our article all around the importance of hydration where we take you on a deep dive into and what this means for your not only your sports performance, but also overall wellbeing. What we find though, is that even when you know the importance of staying well hydrated, some people still find it difficult to drink water, especially in larger amounts before and after training.

We wanted to share our top four tips to help you keep up an adequate intake of fluid and make sure you’re training and feeling your best.

1. Spice things up a little.

Consider placing a wedge of citrus or other fruit in your water. Additionally, you can freeze a small amount of freshly squeezed juice in an ice cube and add these to your water. The subtle flavours can help improve the palatability. Likewise, other drinks such as tea and coffee do contribute to hydration. The caffeine has a mild diuretic effect but the net effect is marginal, just be careful with the sugar as many commercial drinks are packed with it.

2. Keep calm, and carry water with you.

Carry water with you throughout the day. Getting the required amount is much easier if you have a water bottle with you for whenever you feel like a drink. Ideally try to use a refillable bottle.

3. Keep it chilled.

Water that is cold is for easier for some people to drink. It also has the added benefit when exercising of helping to bring down your core body temperature. This helps to reduce sweating which means less water lost.

4. Treat yourself.

Use sports drinks where appropriate. In the importance of hydration we share here how sports drinks have their place in hydration and sometimes your body will crave sodium and other mineral salts. This will make sports drinks containing these electrolytes more palatable. But always try to reach for a glass of water first.