Can drinking water make you more flexible?

What yogi doesn’t want to improve their flexibility?

Practice, proper breathwork, and technique can go a long way for overall flexibility. There is another factor that can help increase the flexibility of something you EAT. WATER!

Water is probably the most underrated nutrient of all. Not only is it responsible for beautiful skin, it is also responsible for all cell function such as:

• providing cushioning for our tissues, joints, and organs
• transport of oxygen and nutrients
• digestion and waste removal
• regulating body temperature
• blood and lymph circulation
• absorbing heat from the muscles.

Most people drink less pure, unadulterated water than they should for these processes to work optimally. In fact, it is estimated that 75% of Americans run chronically dehydrated. Mild dehydration is reported to slow metabolism, increase hunger, cause daytime fatigue, and make it difficult to concentrate.

What most people don’t know is that chronic dehydration can also affect flexibility, or our ability to adapt to challenging vinyasas and sequences. How is that?

Throughout the body we have connective tissue called fascia. Fascia is a three-dimensional network of tissue that envelops every muscle, tendon, ligament, bone, organ, gland, nerve, and every cell. Our fascia keeps everything where it belongs. Animals have it too. Imagine a raw chicken leg. You may notice the layer of thin, white, stretchy, somewhat slimy film that surrounds the entire leg, but also between the skin and muscle and between segments of the muscle. We have this same transparent fabric and when it’s fully hydrated, it’s stretchy and slippery. When the fascia is dry, it is dry and stiff. Our fascia can be compared to saran wrap. If you try to slide 2 pieces of saran wrap next to each other it won’t work. They will stick to each other. However, if one of them is a little wet, they will slide against each other. Without sticking.

Like saran wrap, when dry, fascia adheres to surrounding tissue making movement freely or easily more difficult or limited.

Your water needs are extremely variable and depend on your general health, activity level, metabolic rate, time of day, and the temperature (including air humidity) where you are. The standard recommendation for daily fluid intake is to drink one-half to one ounce per pound of body weight. So if you weigh 150 pounds, you should be consuming 75 to 150 ounces of fluid per day. If you’ve lost water weight during an exercise session or event, it’s also important to consume fluids to replace that weight. It is recommended that for every pound lost through exercise, an athlete should drink approximately 20 ounces of fluid.

If you now only drink a glass of water a day, don’t start drinking a couple of liters a day thinking it will benefit you. In fact, it’s best to gradually increase your water intake to avoid stress on your kidneys, puffy eyes, swelling around your ankles, or other signs of inflammation. Too much water too soon can even be fatal for someone who is severely dehydrated or has been dehydrated for years.

To gradually increase your water intake, here are some helpful tips:

Add just one glass of water per day to the regular amount of water you’ve already been drinking. If you’re drinking one glass a day, make it 2 glasses a day.

You should feel the need to urinate more. If that’s the case, add another glass of water to your daily water intake.

However, if you don’t have an increased need to urinate, cut back by half a glass and increase your water intake more slowly as you go. Instead of adding one glass at a time, add half a glass or even less until you reach your hydration goals.

As your tissues become more hydrated, your body will begin to get rid of excess salt. Now is a good time to start adding a small pinch of unrefined sea salt, like Celtic Sea Salt, to your water. If you can taste the salt, you have added too much. And don’t worry, this won’t cause water retention like typical table salt. Celtic sea salt tends to do the opposite due to its balanced electrolytes and mineral content. Typical table salt often contains aluminum-based anti-caking agents and other additives that are linked to water retention, kidney problems, and high blood pressure. THIS is the type of salt you should avoid.

If you’ve already been drinking enough “electrolyte-enhanced” water every day, you may be interested in how to improve water absorption to improve flexibility aspects:

In the morning, drink a glass of warm water. This will rehydrate you after several hours without drinking water and help flush out accumulated waste from overnight metabolic processes.

For best absorption, it is recommended that you sip (rather than swallow) water at room temperature throughout the day to ensure that the liquid is absorbed and used efficiently rather than quickly emptied from the stomach.

As a general rule, water should not be consumed too close to meals as it dilutes hydrochloric acid in the stomach, aiding digestion. The water should be consumed 45-30 minutes before each meal and 1-2 hours after each meal.

Ideally, drink your electrolyte/salt water after massage, bodywork (including lather/body rotation), yoga, and other stretching sessions. Your tissues respond better to water absorption after direct manipulation and fascia treatment.

Manage your stress. Both physiological and psychological stress can affect the way we absorb water. Stress can actually make us more dehydrated. So relax, rehydrate and release!