Can you drink water during and after workouts for weight loss?

Author: Timko Ilya - master of the whole project and fitness trainer.
2014-08-14

Many trainers prohibit their clients from drinking water during and after workouts. They justify this by saying that fat is partly made up of water. If you don’t drink, your body will take water from fat, thereby reducing the amount of subcutaneous fat. Is this true?

This is true, but there is one VERY BIG nuance. The body can indeed draw water from fat tissue. However, simply not drinking for a few hours is not enough. You would need to avoid drinking for SEVERAL DAYS! This means putting your body into a significant state of dehydration. Agree that this is quite a high price to pay for weight loss? Moreover, weight loss can be achieved without such cruelty to the body. The body stores fat primarily as an energy source, not as water. Providing water is a secondary function, not a primary one.

Some also claim that the stomach is in "sleep mode" during exercise because the blood is concentrated in the muscles. Therefore, there’s no need to overload it. This is also true. However, you CANNOT overload the stomach with water (unless you drink 2 liters at once) because it doesn’t need to be digested. This means there is no burden on it. Even during exercise, your stomach can easily handle the absorption of water.

What happens if you haven’t drunk during exercise and for 2 hours afterward? Nothing happens. During this time, your body will lose about 500 ml of water, sometimes up to 1 liter. Over the course of a day, the body will replenish this loss. So you might tolerate thirst for 2 hours, but afterward, you will still drink more than usual over the next 24 hours to make up for the fluid loss. Therefore, apart from suffering from thirst for a few hours, you won’t achieve anything.

I believe that drinking during and after workouts is not only acceptable but necessary!

Now let me explain why. The speed of metabolism directly depends on the amount of water in the body. The more water there is, the higher the metabolic rate. One of the foundations of weight loss (after the diet, of course) is a fast metabolic rate. By forcing the body to periodically experience a shortage of water, we slow down metabolism. Therefore, you should drink as much as you want. Just during workouts, try to drink in small sips—no more than 100 ml at a time. A stomach filled with water can interfere with your ability to exercise normally.

So there’s no need to torture yourself with thirst, hoping it will help you lose weight. You should try to drink plenty of water not only after and during workouts but throughout the entire day. In conclusion, I want to say that everything said above applies equally to gaining weight. There’s no difference. Good luck!