How to Avoid Muscle Cramping During Exercise​
May 9, 2017  By Andy Blow

I have a strong personal interest in learning how to avoid muscle cramping during exercise, because I used to be a chronic sufferer of Exercise Associated Muscle Cramping (EAMC) back when I was competing.
Muscle cramps are very common, affecting between 40 and 95 percent of athletes at some point (depending on which survey you read). As a result, they have been widely studied, yet no one really knows the full story about why they occur.

Despite this, over the last decade I seem to have largely managed my issues with cramp by modifying my behavior, diet and expectations of my body. I did this over time through education and experimentation.
Here are some of the things I’ve picked up along the way in case they help you win your own war on cramping:

Why do I get muscle cramping during exercise?

The “Dehydration/Electrolyte Theory”
This theory speculates that a significant disturbance in fluid or electrolyte balance, usually due to a reduction in total body exchangeable sodium stores, causes a contraction of the interstitial fluid compartment around muscles and a misfiring of nerve impulses, leading to cramp.
In simpler terms, if you lose a lot of sodium and don’t replace it (as is common when you sweat a lot), this can cause fluid shifts in the body that in turn cause your muscles to cramp up.

This theory is predominantly based on plenty of case studies, observational data, anecdotes and expert opinion (what scientists call “level 4 and level 5 evidence”).
One example is a classic study on salt depletion that was carried out by a pioneering doctor—R.A McCance—in the 1930s. Essentially what McCance and his co-workers did was subject themselves to an incredibly low salt diet. Along with their salt-free food, the subjects drank plenty of water and took hot baths to increase sweat output and accelerate salt loss. They found that when salt depletion started to kick in it quickly led to:

“… aberrations of flavor, cramps, weakness, lassitude, and severe cardio-respiratory distress on exertion.”
Interestingly, as soon as the test subjects reintroduced salt into their systems (eating bacon and drinking the fat from the pan I might add) their recovery from these symptoms—including the absence of further cramping—was dramatic, with effects being felt within 15 minutes of ingestion of the salty meal.

This experience in particular, cramps disappearing soon after salt ingestion, is completely consistent with my own experiences in very long and hot triathlons when I had become salt depleted due to heavy sweating. As such it definitely struck a chord with me when I first read it.

Another example directly from the sporting world came in 1996 when Dr. Michael Bergeron documented a case study (in the International Journal of Sport Nutrition and Exercise Metabolism) of a tennis player who often suffered with cramps during tournaments. Having ascertained that the player had a high sweat rate and was unlikely able to replace his sodium losses through his normal diet, he was prescribed an increased salt intake. The conclusion of the study was that:

“[The Player] was ultimately able to eliminate heat cramps during competition and training by increasing his daily dietary intake of sodium.”

This tallies with our experience at Precision Hydration. We recently conducted a survey of athletes who had reported suffering with muscle cramps at one time or another. Of the survey respondents (more than 200 mostly endurance athletes) 89 percent said that they had found that supplementing with sodium or salt during exercise had helped them manage or eliminate EAMCs, with just 11 percent reporting that this method had failed to help at all.

Although there’s a decent amount of circumstantial weight behind it, it lacks the more “concrete proof” of data from large scale, randomized controlled trials (RCTs)  that are rightly considered necessary by proponents of evidence-based practice for it to be widely accepted as anything approaching fact.
These days it’s become quite fashionable for commentators seeking to ‘disprove’ the dehydration/electrolyte theory of EAMC to play down this early work in industrial medicine around salt and cramping as dated, flimsy and insignificant. This is especially true for staunch supporters of the neuromuscular theory (detailed below). However, having read (and re-read) most of the work available from the era, I’m far from convinced that it deserves to be so easily dismissed.

The “Neuromuscular Theory”
This theory is more recent and proposes that muscle overload and neuromuscular fatigue are the root causes of EAMC. The hypothesis is that fatigue contributes to an imbalance between excitatory impulses from muscle spindles and inhibitory impulses from Golgi tendon organs and that this results in a localized muscle cramp.
In other words, muscles tend to cramp specifically when they are overworked and fatigued due to electrical misfiring.

One big factor that does appear to support the neuromuscular theory is that stopping and stretching the affected muscles is a pretty universally effective method to fix a cramp when it is actually happening. What stretching does is put the muscle under tension, invoking afferent activity from the Golgi Tendon Organs (part of the muscle responsible for telling it to relax) and causing the cramp to dissipate.

A Quick Word on Pickle Juice
In the last five years or so (and somewhat connected with the rise of the neuromuscular theory) there has been a lot of interest in the use of compounds that can stimulate something in the mouth called “transient receptor potential (TRP) channels” and the possible effects these might have on cramping muscles.
TRP channels connect the mouth into the central nervous system and the hypothesis is that stimulating these receptors somehow causes a ‘jolt’ reaction down the nerves that disrupts the signals that are causing a cramp.
Substances that stimulate TRP channels are things like wasabi, mustard oil and other pungent spices and it’s thought that this is where the idea of using pickle juice to cure muscle cramps (a common practice in the USA in particular) comes from. Pickle juice contains acetic acid and it’s believed to be this (rather than the high levels of sodium in it) that stimulate the TRP receptors and help relieve cramps.

This would explain why cramps have sometimes been shown to be relieved almost instantly when pickle juice is ingested (the nerve stimulation happens almost instantly, whereas the sodium in it takes several minutes to travel to the gut and to be absorbed into the blood). It’s also consistent with the the general idea that the root cause of some cramp is found in the nervous system rather than solely an electrolyte imbalance.

One Theory Doesn’t Rule Them All
At this point it’s important to steer your thinking away from this being a binary “one or the other” argument between two competing ideas, even though this is how the topic of cramping is commonly presented in both the scientific world and through mass media.

The bottom line appears to be that muscle cramps are likely to have multiple causes including, but not limited to, electrolyte imbalances and neuromuscular fatigue and that, as a result, it’s likely that multiple interventions are likely to be needed to try to eliminate these different types of cramp. In our survey of hundreds of athletes who reported suffering from cramp, 97 percent of them had tried more than one method in an attempt to alleviate the issue.

So, How do I Avoid Muscle Cramping During Exercise?

There’s no “magic bullet” available to kill off muscle cramping at the moment and it doesn’t look like there will be one coming anytime soon.

However, if you’re not inclined to sit around twiddling your thumbs waiting for science to deliver in it’s own sweet time, there are a few things you might want to try if you suffer from EAMC.

1. Try reducing fatigue
Because it seems highly likely that fatigue is also implicated in muscle cramping during exercise, finding ways to minimize this is also logical. As obvious as many of them may sound, try to make sure you tick all of the following boxes to ensure you’re not overloading your body excessively:

• Train specifically for the event(s) that tend to induce cramps, i.e. with the right mix of volume and intensity to prepare your muscles for what is going to be asked of them.
• Pace yourself appropriately based on fitness levels and environmental conditions to avoid overloading muscles prematurely.
• Taper into events so that you are fresh and well rested when you start.
• Make sure you’re adequately fueled with plenty of carbohydrates on board before you start events and that you fuel adequately during activity to avoid becoming glycogen depleted (which can contribute to premature fatigue).

2. Try consuming additional sodium
This is definitely a good idea if your cramps tend to occur during or after periods of heavy sweating, in hot weather, later on during longer activities, or if you generally eat a low sodium (or low carb) diet.

One note of caution: if you do take on additional sodium, especially in the form of electrolyte drinks, make sure they are strong enough to make a real difference. Most sports drinks are extremely light on electrolytes (despite the claims they make on their labels), containing only about 300 to 500 mg sodium per liter (32oz).
Human sweat, on average, comes in at over 900 mg of sodium per liter (32oz), and at Precision Hydration we often measure athletes losing over 1,500mg per liter (including myself) through our Advanced Sweat Test. It’s therefore a good idea to look for upward of 1000mg sodium per liter in a drink and over 1,500mg per liter if you suspect you are a particularly salty sweater. A good way to see where this should fit into the rest of your hydration strategy is by taking this free online Sweat Test.

If you’re consuming salt or sodium separate to your fluids, in foods or capsule form, aim for a similar ratio (i.e. 1,000-1,500mg sodium along with each liter of water you drink) and remember that table salt (NaCl) is only 39 percent sodium (the other 61 percent is chloride), so you need about 3g of salt to give you about 1,170mg of sodium.

Take the extra sodium in the hours immediately before and during activities that normally result in cramping and see how you get on. You’ll know pretty quickly if this is effective or not, and can fine tune your dosage to balance cramp prevention with keeping your stomach happy over time (really excessive salt or sodium intake can cause nausea).

When I first started taking in additional sodium before and during long, hot triathlon races the effect was immediate and dramatic. I went from cramping up almost every time, to almost never having problems again. I ended up settling on a regime of consuming around 1,000 to 1,500mg of sodium per hour during long races (I lose a lot of salt in my sweat, 1,842mg/l in fact) and I also found that taking this amount eliminated post-race cramping almost entirely as well.

Other strategies

Other strategies that are far from proven, but that either make intuitive sense or have been used by athletes in the war on cramp include:

• Sports massage and stretching of the affected muscles.
• Acupuncture
• Thorough warm-ups prior to cramp-inducing activities.
• Mental relaxation techniques.

Although none of these are likely to offer a complete solution, they are generally accessible, inexpensive and may even benefit performance in other ways, so there would seem to be little downside to giving them a try.
Hopefully this overview of the major theories on what causes Exercise Associated Muscle Cramp have left you feeling better equipped to fight your own war on cramp.


About the AuthorAndy Blow lives in the U.K. and is one of the founders of Precision Hydration. He is an ex-elite level triathlete with an Xterra World Age Group title and several top 10 Ironman and 70.3 finishes to his name. In recent years he has been competing in multi-sport and adventure races for fun including Coast to Coast New Zealand, OTillO Sweden and the Transalpine Trail Run, with his incredibly supportive wife Lucy and their son Bobby agreeing to pretend that trips to these events are actually family holidays. Follow him @thesweatexperts.
View more posts by Andy Blow

​As the owner of Breakthrough Bodywork Massage Therapy, I strive to be as client centered as possible.  It works even better when my clients feel open to communicate with me! Some of these topics can be considered a little silly or have just flown under the radar. Well, I'm going throw my top ten out on the table!
 
10 Things I Want My Clients to Speak Up About
 
1.    How Do You Want Your Time Spent: If you are coming for a 60 min session and know that you back, shoulder and neck tensions are the reason you booked the session in the first place - Let me know!  Spending your session time on the places that you want to feel the most relief can lead to a very specific and effective treatment. I would rather you leave feeling like you had a successful massage than feeling like you've had a general session. Plus, if you leave your massage with your top pains taken care of, your whole body will thank you!
2.    What Is Your Medical History: Our bodies hold our history. If you broke your arm when you were 6 years old while you were riding your bike down a hill, the muscles in your hands, arms and shoulders will have been affected and changed. Information like this can help me look for other tensions your body may have created out of protection or compensation. It can also explain any issues you might have with posture or flexibility. It's also important for you to tell me if you have any kind of medical conditions (new or old). As a health practitioner, I was trained to understand how massage can affect people who live with diabetes, cardiovascular issues, muscular pathologies as well as structural issues. Furthermore, if you have any ailments that I am not familiar with - your uniqueness gives me a chance to research and learn something new!
3.    How Are You Feeling Today: I want to know if you are feeling a little stuffed up or if you had a tension headache at lunchtime. I also care if you are feeling flustered about getting here or if you are at a point in your pregnancy that your sense of smell has become a superpower.  I believe that one of the most important aspects of a good massage is to respect the energy that is being brought into the room with you.
4.    Do You Need To Go To The Bathroom: I've tried to make a habit of asking my clients if they need to use the loo before a session. Taking two minutes to go to the restroom before your massage can make all the difference between squirming through your last 20 minutes and being able to enjoy every second of your session.
5.    Do You Have Any Areas To Avoid: I try to ask all my clients "Is there anywhere you don't want me to work?" More often than not - this is the first time they have been asked that question and sometimes they even laugh. What's important is that they all respond with something. Sometimes it is a simple "I really don't like my head worked on" or "My feet are really ticklish".  Information a client might not think to tell me unless I ask.
6.    How Is The Temperature: We massage therapists are actively working and moving while you are relaxing on the table - having various aspects of your body being undraped and draped again. Speak up if you get cold!  It's easy for me to adjust the table warmer or add an extra blanket so you feel comfortable.  On the flip side - if you are burning up, by all means we can turn the table warmer off!
7.    How Is The Pressure: This is a big one. I like to ask my clients for a general idea of the pressure they want before we begin. I also make it clear I know people like deeper pressure in some places but not others. I love deep work in my upper back, shoulders, hands and feet. But can be a total pansy when it comes to leg work. So stay in touch about pressure as we go! If you want me to lighten up some places and dig into others, telling me will only make every session more tailored to your needs.
8.    What Did You Like About the Session: A majority of my clients have had massages before. I encourage them to not only let me know what they loved about our session (making sure I incorporate it every time we work) but to also let me know if there are other techniques they loved  while working with other therapists. Most of the time they are styles or tools I have been trained in that can easily be added to make sure they get their best massage!
9.    What Might You Like Different For Next Time: Maybe you don't want the moist hot pads, or would prefer some music that doesn't sound like Enya. If you let me know, then I can make those changes.  I've also had clients tell me at the end of the massage that they loved the stretches. By telling me that - I can do more stretches in the next appointment or suggest that they would enjoy a stretching session add on.
10. How Often Do You Want To Come For A Massage:  I have a lot of clients ask me how often I think they should come for a session. The most obvious answer is: As much as possible!  Realistically, I respond to them based on their individual needs and goals with massage. The other side of the coin is - how often do you want to receive a massage? I can nerd out all day about the endless healthful ways massage is helping my clients with stress, anxiety, sports performance, aches, pains and injury recovery. The better question for a client to think about is - how often do I want to invest in feeling better?

I found this article very interesting and wanted to share.  It was posted in Science News - Here is a link to the triclosan article connecting antibacterial soap to muscle weakness and possible cardiac dysfunction.
http://www.sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/343045/title/Antibacterial_agent_can_weaken_muscle

I am also posting the article below.

Antibacterial agent can weaken muscle
Triclosan impairs power of heart and other muscles

    By Janet Raloff      Web edition: August 14, 2012   Print edition: October 6, 2012; Vol.182 #7 (p. 19)  


A germ-fighting chemical added to many soaps, toothpastes and fabrics can interfere with how muscles contract, new research shows. 

Doses of the chemical, called triclosan, needed to diminish muscle strength and blood flow in mice roughly matched those already measured in people in some parts of the United States, neurotoxicologist Isaac Pessah at the University of California Davis School of Veterinary Medicine and his colleagues report online
August 13 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The report suggests that triclosan interferes with the movement of calcium into and out of cells.
   
“Calcium regulation is just so fundamental to the functioning of any organism,” observes Heiko Schoenfuss, a toxicologist and muscle physiologist at St. Cloud University in Minnesota who was not involved in the new study. “By demonstrating that calcium transport was affected,” he says, “this new study immediately opens up an entire Pandora’s box of possible other effects. This could be a major breakthrough.”

Although the agent was tested in mice and fish, the mechanism by which it impaired muscle activity also exists in people. U.S. surveys have found triclosan in fluid samples from about three-quarters of people tested.  So the new data “provide strong evidence that the chemical is of concern to both human and environmental health,” Pessah says. 
   
Four years ago, Pessah’s team studied triclosan for its ability to disrupt various activities in mammalian cells. Triclosan appeared to have potent action in one unusual class of cellular gates — essentially biochemical locks that turn certain cellular activities on and off. Known as ryanodine receptors, these locks are part of the calcium channels that regulate the flow of calcium into and out of cells. 
     
Calcium channels drive the activity of many cells, including those in muscle. Since the heart is muscle, Pessah decided to test whether triclosan might be capable of perturbing cardiac activity in exposed animals. He initially selected a dose that was less than 1 percent of what should have been lethal to animals.
The first mouse tested died of heart failure within a minute of being dosed.

Stunned, the researchers dramatically ratcheted down the dose and were then able to show that in mice the chemical could reduce both the heart’s ability to move blood and the strength of leg muscles. The researchers then turned to fish, treating their water with somewhat higher doses of triclosan compared with the mouse experiments. Afterward, these fish couldn’t swim as fast as those living in untreated water.
     
Triclosan activates the calcium channel in muscle cells, Pessah says, but in an odd way that silences incoming nerve stimuli, diminishing the ability of muscles to contract.
     
Triclosan has become ubiquitous in municipal wastes and rivers owing to its use in a broad range of commercial products. Traces have even been detected in some tapwater samples. In another recent study, Schoenfuss and colleagues added triclosan to water containing fathead minnows — a species that serves as a lab rat of the aquatic world.

    
At low doses, triclosan impaired the swimming speed of young fish that were startled, the researchers reported in the July Archives of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology. In earlier work with other water
contaminants, such as antidepressant drugs, this effect could be partially attributed to a dulling of the reaction time of the fish. But not here, Schoenfuss says.

Triclosan-exposed fish responded just as quickly as untreated ones, although the researchers couldn’t tease out why. “But part of what we saw matches very well what they suggest as a mode of action in the new paper,” he says.
   
Earlier work by Pessach’s group at UC Davis showed that certain other ubiquitous environmental contaminants, including certain polychlorinated biphenyls and a family of flame retardants known as polybrominated diphenyl ethers, also impair the operation of ryanodine receptors. The new work also
suggests that the different chemicals’ have an additive effect on the receptors, Pessah says. 


Citations
 K.C. Ahn et al. In vitro biologic activities of the antimicrobials triclocarban, its analogs, and triclosan in bioassay screens: Receptor-based bioassay screens. Environmental Health Perspectives, Vol. 116, September 2008, p. 1203. doi: 10.1289/ehp.11200. [Go to]

 G. Cherednichenko, et al. Triclosan impairs excitation-contraction coupling and Ca2+ dynamics in striated muscle. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1211314109. Abstract: [Go to]

 M.M. Schultz, S.E. Bartell and H.L. Schoenfuss. Effects of triclosan and triclocarban, two ubiquitous environmental contaminants, on anatomy, physiology, and behavior of the fathead minnow (Pimephales promelas). Archives of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology, Vol. 63, July 2012, p. 114. doi: 10.1007/s00244-011-9748-x. Abstract: [Go to]
 
Suggested Reading

 A.M. Calafat, et al. Urinary concentrations of triclosan in the U.S. population: 2003-2004. Environmental Health Perspectives, Vol. 116, March 2008, p. 303. doi: 10.1289/ehp.10768. [Go to]

 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention National Biomonitoring Program. Triclosan factsheet. [Go to]

 A. Cunningham. Scrubbing troubles. Science News, Vol. 171, March 17, 2007, p. 173. Available online: [Go to]

 J. Raloff. Solution for drugged waters. Science News Online, August 27, 2011. Available online: [Go to] 

J. Raloff. A new source of dioxins: Clean hands. Science News Blog, May 18, 2010. [Go to]

 J. Raloff. Kitchen tap may offer drugs and more. Science News, Vol.160, November 3, 2001, p. 285. Available online: [Go to]

 J. Travis. Popularity of germ fighter raises concern. Science News, May 27, 2000, Vol.157, p. 342. Available online: [Go to]

DRY BRUSHING 101

Did you know your skin is the largest organ of your body?  Dry brushing your skin daily helps keep your skin clear of debris, by loosening dead cells, stimulating acupressure points, promoting lymph movement, boosting your immune system, improving circulation and making your skin soft and smooth.  It also helps reduce and break up cellulite.

I have recently read that we dump about a pound of waste from our skin on a daily basis.  Dr. Bernard Jensen, a well-known holistic practitioner, did an analysis of skin debris resulting from skin brushing, and was shocked by all the chemicals and heavy metals that were mixed in with the skin cells.  As a result, he became a huge advocate of dry skin brushing for detoxification of the body, and practiced it on himself until he died. 

When your skin is clogged, your body will reabsorb the toxins rather than eliminate them.  Because dry brushing promotes circulation of the skin, it will also provide oxygen and nutrients to skin cells.  Now don't you want to invigorate the skin naturally without using topicals?  Not to mention it's inexpensive and easy to do.

It’s important to use a natural bristle brush or loofah, which can be found at any health food store or online.  I have even seen loofah gloves, which will allow you to use both hands.  You will need to make sure to clean your brush (or gloves) once a week with soap and water and let dry.

HOW TO BRUSH

University of Maryland Medical Center's website suggests brushing  the entire body, beginning at the feet, use long upward strokes moving toward your heart.  Brush your arms with the same intention, toward your armpits and heart.  You can throw in some circular motions around the upper thighs and bum, paying special attention to the dimply areas.  It is not recommended to brush on compromised or broken skin (eczema, psoriasis, rosacea, etc.).  Always be gentle. 

Performing dry skin brushing before taking a shower or bath allows you wash away dead skin.  Be kind, especially around sensitive areas.  You can brush your face and armpits too, but use a brush or scrubbing cloth designed for that area.  A dry washcloth works perfectly.

The Four Types of Trigger Points
 
1. An active trigger point is an area of extreme tenderness that usually lies within the skeletal muscle and which is associated with a local or regional pain.
 
2. A latent trigger point is a dormant  (inactive) area that has the potential to act like a trigger point.

3. A secondary trigger point is a highly irritable spot in a muscle that can become active due to a trigger point and muscular overload in another muscle.
 
4. A satellite myofascial point is a highly irritable spot in a muscle that becomes inactive because the muscle is in the region of another trigger pain.

Most of you know that I am a huge fan of stretching.  Sometimes we stretch your muscles while we are in session or perhaps you have received hand outs from me, followed by some discussion,  but why is stretching your body so important?

Stretching your body is a major part of any physical exercise, but we don't have to associate it with exercise alone.  It can also be beneficial if you are sedentary.  Standing up and moving around after sitting for long periods returns the blood flow to stiff arms and legs and keeps you mentally alert. Proper stretching is thought to help avoid injury by increasing your flexibility, which can also improve performance in physical activity.

Stretching the body offers other benefits in addition to keeping the body flexible to avoid injury, according to author and physical therapist Dr. Suzanne Martin. Proper stretching helps lengthen the muscles, which leads to better posture. Stretching the muscles and tendons also improves circulation of water and nutrients  throughout the body, which slows the aging process. It can also reduce stress and promote relaxation. Stretching your muscles can help avoid muscle spasms, and help your joints move through their full range of motion. Stretching the neck muscles can also help reduce headaches.

Let's say, for example, that your Achilles tendon is tight and lacks flexibility. If you do a lot of hill walking, your foot may not move through its full range of motion. Over time, this can increase your risk of tendinitis or tendinopathy in your Achilles tendon. Stretching your Achilles tendon, though, may improve the range of motion in your ankle. This, in turn, can decrease the risk of microtrauma to your tendon that can lead to overload and injury. 

Proper Stretching
Stretching needs to be done properly to be effective.  Following some basic advice can help avoid losing any possible benefits. Warm up the muscles before stretching by walking, jogging or biking for 10 minutes.  Don't stretch cold muscles. Focus on the muscles that need stretching the most  -- neck, shoulders, calves, thighs, lower back and hips. Stretch both sides evenly. For example, stretch both the left and right shoulder. Avoid bouncing when you are stretching; aim for a slow, gradual stretch. Hold the stretch for 30 seconds and do three to four stretches for each muscle, avoiding stretching to the point of pain. Stretch regularly, at least twice a week. If you stop stretching, your muscles will stiffen and shorten over  time.

Considerations
Stretching is beneficial, but there may be times when you need to be very careful or avoid stretching altogether. If you are participating in a very intense activity, such as a sprint, it's best to wait until after you
are  finished to stretch. Stretching an injured muscle or tendon can cause further damage. Some chronic health conditions are exacerbated by stretching. Consult a  doctor if you have an injury or health condition that may cause problems when stretching. A doctor can advise you of your limitations and will make  recommendations for your condition.

In 30 days you will see noticible improvement to your flexibility and you may come to enjoy the ritual of stretching before — or better yet, after — hitting the trail, ballet floor or soccer field. 


 All information found at the following sites:
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/stretching/HQ01447
http://www.livestrong.com/article/437852-the-importance-of-stretching/
http://femalefitnesstips.com/why-stretching-your-body-is-so-important/

 As you can imagine, any component that makes up 60 to 70 percent
of our body weight has to be important when it comes to one’s body and health.  Since the majority of our bodies are made up of water, it is constantly running through our blood, muscles, and joints, assisting in brain and lung functions.  All the essential organs of our body require ample amounts of water in order to perform properly. Although we see it and use it everyday for multiple purposes, many individuals do not understand how important consuming water is to our overall health.

If you do not drink enough water there can be severe consequences. The most common negative effect of not consuming enough water is dehydration. When someone becomes dehydrated, their organs do not have the fluids they need in order to operate. This can cause many problems, sometimes quite severe, and may even lead to organ failure. Some signs of dehydration include dry mouth, headache, dizziness, weakness, or being lightheaded. Because dehydration has been a cause of death among many infants and elderly, it is important to remember all of these symptoms.
 
We all know we cannot breathe or live without air. What many of us did not know is that after air, water is the most important element in order to survive. Unfortunately, studies have shown that the majority of individuals
do not drink enough water in order to maintain a good and healthy life. Our bodies’ lose large amounts of water on a daily basis just in normal activities. What activities am I referring to? Well, by just breathing, urinating, and sweating, our bodies are losing most of the water it uses in order to keep functioning. This is why it is important to replenish your body by drinking beverages or eating foods that contain water. Also, not only does water help our bodies maintain a normal body temperature, it helps carry oxygen to our blood cells as well as removing wastes from our bodies. Since every system in our bodies depends on water, consuming the right amount will help keep us all healthy. But, what exactly is the “right” amount?

As you have probably heard, many experts say one should consume eight 8-ounce glasses of water each day. Although this is a good estimate, the actual amount of water your body needs varies depending on the individual. Here are three aspects you should consider when figuring out how much water you  should drink on a daily basis.
 
1. Your weight.
 2. Physical activity (running, working out, or any activity).
 3. The climate you live in.

Starting off with weight, it’s obvious that the more you weigh, the more water you should consume. Studies have shown that by drinking 50 to 75 percent of your body weight in ounces is an accurate amount. If you do not consider yourself an active person, then 50 percent would be more in your range.  For example, if you weigh 120 pounds, you should drink at least 60 ounces of  water each day. However, if you work out daily or you are involved in other activities then you should drink more towards 75 percent of your body weight. You will need more water to keep your body hydrated. Although it is important to keep your body hydrated while you are exercising, it is also important to drink a full glass after you work out. Also keep in mind how much you sweat. Obviously the more you sweat, the more water your body is releasing. If this is the case, make sure to drink enough so you will not become dehydrated. Weather conditions you live in should also be taken into consideration. If you live in a hot or dry climate then you should drink an additional 16 ounces everyday. It is always important to remember these three things when determining the amount of water you should to drink daily.
 
In order to give your body the nutrients it needs it is essential to ensure you drink enough water each day. Drinking it all at once is not necessarily a good idea though. When you wake up in the morning, fill up a  glass. This will even help you come awake if you are not a morning person!  Throughout the day continue to drink glasses of water, before and after meals.  If you are someone who does not necessarily enjoy the taste of water, then try adding some lemon or another fruit juice to give it some flavor. Make it special by using a pretty glass, and adding ice cubes. Have a small dish of fruit with your water and it becomes a treat!

Now that you know what to do, you can calculate the amount of water your body needs and begin living a healthy lifestyle!

http://www.professorshouse.com/Health-Beauty/Nutrition/Articles/How-Much-Water-Should-a-Person-Drink-a-Day/

When was the last time you took an Epsom salt bath?
Epsom salt is a combination of magnesium and sulfates. Soaking in a bath of Epsom salts can relax your muscles, reduce inflammation, minimize pain, fade bruising, aid digestion, relieve stress and tension, and detoxify your body.

Dear Readers,

Thank you all for reading and supporting Breakthrough Bodywork! Thank you for spreading the Massage Therapy love and referring friends and family. I hope you will be coming back for more news and info about the world of bodywork in the upcoming months.

I am so grateful to be a part of your health care regimen. I look forward to growing and sharing my passion for massage with you and celebrating All Things Massage in the upcoming year.

Sincerely,

Angelique at Breakthrough Bodywork