Less Joint Pain & Stronger Muscles

  How drinking water helps your joints and muscles and helps fight COVID-19. How drinking water helps lubricate and cushion your joints. The cartilage in your joints is 70 to 80% water. If you don't drink enough water, you become dehydrated and your cartilage dries out causing friction and pain as well as reducing your cartilage's ability to cushion.

  Water is also needed for synovial fluid which helps lubricate and cushion your joints and cartilage. Synovial fluid lubricates your joints to reduce the friction so they can slide easier for less wear.

  When you're dehydrated your body doesn't have enough water to make enough synovial fluid to lubricate your joints. Lack of synovial fluid can cause friction between your bones which causes wear and pain.

  Drinking water helps relieve back and neck pain. There are jelly like disks made mainly of water in between the 24 bones in your back that cushion them. Dehydration dries out these discs which reduces their ability to cushion and can cause back and neck pain. Dehydration also contributes to hip pain.

  Dehydrated joints and cartilage are also more easily damaged and more easily injured. Well hydrated cartilage is wetter so it can slide easier with less friction to wear it down, which can also help it slide instead of tearing. When cartilage is dehydrated, it is dry with increased stiffness, less flexibility and can tear more easily.

  There is more wear and tear with dehydrated, dry cartilage. Your body's survival response to dehydration is to send water to the most important organs first, and so your brain heart, lungs, liver and kidneys and other really important organs get it first and then the areas that aren't as critical to immediate survival end up getting less water.

  This means a little dehydration can have a big impact on your cartilage as they are lower on your body's survival response list. Drinking water is an easy way to help keep your joints and cartilage's healthy.

  How hydration helps muscle strength. Your muscles are 79% water and will be able to work stronger longer if they are well hydrated. Dehydration reduces the flow of blood, nutrients and electrolytes to your muscles, making them weaker.

  When your body is 3% dehydrated, it can reduce your muscle performance by 10%. When you feel thirsty, you're already two to 3% dehydrated so it's easy to become that dehydrated and lose that much muscle performance. Drinking water to hydrate your muscles will also increase your muscles endurance.

  Dehydration can cause muscle fatigue. When muscles are exhausted it is often because they are dehydrated. Your muscles are also more susceptible to injury when they are dehydrated. Dry muscles tear easier.

  Dehydration can also reduce your workout. When working out dehydration decreases the number of repetitions you can do. Dehydrated muscles also have a slower recovery after working out and slower recovery after a muscle injury. If you're dehydrated your muscles cramp and it hurts.

  Not enough water can also contribute to muscle aches. If you're feeling muscle aches or pain, dehydration magnifies that pain. When your brain is dehydrated, it can contribute to headaches as well.

  Drinking water helps your athletic performance. Drinking water to help hydrate your muscles will help you be stronger during competition, as well as having more endurance at the end of the game or competition.

Drinking water to hydrate your muscles and joint cartilage can help you have less severe injuries as well as recover faster. You want to continually hydrate drinking water the days before the competition as well as the date of the competition. You also want to hydrate during the competition if you can.

  Drinking water takes time to get into your system to hydrate your body. If you're a coach and want a winning season, drinking water can give your players an edge by keeping your team hydrated during the season, even during practice.

  The combination of a faster brain, stronger muscles and more endurance by drinking water can help you get more wins.