Optimize Performance: Hydrate to Prevent Sore Muscles and Joints

It’s summer, which for most of us means grilling, flip flops, outdoor activities and inescapable and constant reminders to “HYDRATE!”. You’ve likely heard it every July and August when the temperatures rise.¹ But has anyone ever really explained to you why hydration is so important? Why do your muscles tend to cramp up more in the summer or why do workplace injuries surge in the warmer months? ²

The reminders to properly hydrate are frequent for many reasons, especially when it comes to our muscle and joint health and potentially preventing injuries. Find out what happens to your muscles and joints when you don’t hydrate and get simple tips you can use to develop an effective hydration action plan. Let’s dive into why it’s important to hydrate to prevent sore muscles and joints.

Why Does Hydration REALLY Matter?

Did you know that over 60% of an adult’s body weight comes from water? But why does that really mean? Let’s put some perspective around it. Say you walk past an average American male who weighs 160 lbs. That means that 96 pounds of his weight are water.³ Think about that… 96 pounds of water. That’s a lot! Your body needs this much water because H₂0 is a critical component of every cell in our body, especially the cells that make up our muscles, brains, heart, and lungs. Our muscles, for instance, are composed of nearly 75% water. If we experience as little as 1-2% water loss, our bodies feel the negative consequences- impaired brain function, headaches, and lack of energy are just a few.⁴

So How Does Dehydration Actually Happen?

We naturally lose water throughout the day from normal body functions including breathing, sweating, urinating and through bowel movements. However, even moderate activity levels in the heat can drastically expedite this normal water loss. This is why it’s vital in the summer months to have a well-thought-out plan for keeping your fluid intake on pace with the amount of water that you are losing.

Electrolytes? What Are Those?

You’ve likely heard a lot about electrolytes, but most people just know them as “the stuff in sports drinks.” Electrolytes are minerals that are electrically charged and play a significant role in the balance of the fluids inside and outside your cells; they help regulate blood pressure, are critical for proper muscle function and essential for nerve signal transmission (just to name a few!).⁵ They are also found both inside and outside cells.

Maintaining a proper balance of these minerals, along with a proper balance of fluid levels throughout your body is critically important. When your body’s optimal electrolyte balance is disrupted by sweating and other forms of water loss, your body pays a serious price. Potential symptoms of electrolyte “imbalance” and excessive water loss include muscle weakness and spasms, joint pain, heart palpitations and anxiety just to name a few. There are four primary electrolytes that are important to “electrolyte balance:” Sodium, Potassium, Magnesium, and Calcium.⁵

Below are just a few of the important roles each of these minerals plays in normal body function.

Sodium: maintains fluids balance
Potassium: prevents muscle cramps
Magnesium: relaxes muscles
Calcium: required for normal muscle functions

Great. But What Does This Have to Do With My Muscle or Joint Pain?

Not only does hydration impact cell and organ function, but it is critical to the health of our muscles, joints, cartilage, and discs of the spine. Joints have something called synovial fluid which lubricates the place where two bones meet. When we are dehydrated, the synovial fluid tends to become sticky and thick and therefore is less efficient at reducing friction between the joints.⁶

Similarly, dehydration affects our cartilage. In a joint, where the ends of the bones come together, there is cartilage that acts as a shock absorber. When we don’t drink sufficient fluids, our body tends to pull water from our body parts that are not essential to survival so that it can devote all water resources to essential organs. Therefore, the cartilage is one of the body tissues that is deprived of water. The result is less shock absorption capability of the cartilage, which can lead to increased wear and tear to joints, cause stiffness and soreness and increase your risk for injury. When it comes to our muscle and joint health, staying properly hydrated is critical.

How Do I Know if I’m Properly Hydrated?

There is no gold standard for assessing proper hydration levels, but there are a few useful ways to assess whether or not you need to consume more liquids:

Original Source: https://health.clevelandclinic.org/what-the-color-of-your-urine-says-about-you-infographic/

Urine Color: Analyzing your urine color is a great way to evaluate your hydration levels.⁷ Typically, your urine should be a very pale yellow color. If it is totally clear, you are definitely well-hydrated and may want to cut back on your fluid consumption or eat foods that contain the minerals listed above. If your urine is a very dark yellowish-orange color, you should immediately increase your fluid intake. If this persists, you should contact your medical doctor for additional evaluation or guidance.

Cramps: Muscle cramps are frequent with dehydration and most common during times of physical activity. If you are exposed to high temperatures, this is usually an early warning sign that you may be moving towards dehydration and heat exhaustion.⁸

Lightheadedness or a headache: These symptoms may not always be caused by dehydration, but when accompanied by the other signs/symptoms mentioned above, dehydration may be a cause. If a headache or dizziness persists, seek medical attention. Sweat Production: When your body becomes moderately to severely dehydrated it STOPS sweating. The skin becomes dry even when exercising in the heat. This is a sign of advanced dehydration and can quickly lead to more severe problems. You’re past the warning sign phase and should immediately replenish fluids and electrolyte balance and rest your body in a cool place. As already mentioned, if these symptoms persist, it is critical that you seek medical advice or evaluation from a qualified healthcare provider.

[bctt tweet=”Making hydration a habit is the key to success. Make sure that a bottle of water is close by so that you have easy access and it serves as a reminder to stay hydrated.” username=”vimocity”]

So How Many Ounces Of Fluid Should I Consume Each Day?

Good question! The general recommendation is about 3L (100Oz) per day for men and 2.2L (75Oz) per day for females.⁹ However, size also matters, so another way to assess your needs is to drink half your body weight in ounces of water (e.g., 160lb individual would need approximately 80Oz of water per day). This is a good rule-of-thumb. However, I can’t emphasize enough, that the recommended daily intake is variable. Some circumstances that would influence the recommended daily intake are an underlying disease (e.g., kidney disease, cardiovascular disease, etc.), breastfeeding, medication usage, age, weight, activity level, etc. When in doubt, make sure to consult with your physician so that you can receive hydration recommendations specific to your needs. A great starting place to determine how much you should be drinking is a Hydration Calculator. Answer a few questions and see the estimate of how much you should be drinking while you are active.