5 risks of drinking water immediately after exercise

First Published Sep 18, 2024, 2:43 PM IST

While staying hydrated during exercise is crucial, drinking water immediately after a workout can lead to digestive issues, electrolyte imbalance, and hindered nutrient absorption. It's best to rehydrate after allowing your body some time to recover.

Risks of Drinking Water After Exercise

Nowadays, everyone, regardless of gender, exercises to keep their body in shape. As a result, they go to the gym every day and exercise. Exercise is a process that strengthens our body. Moreover, it can be called a healthy habit. Daily exercise burns calories in the body and reduces body weight. Apart from this, it is sure to get many health benefits.

By exercising daily, we improve heart health, reduce the risk of diabetes, strengthen muscles, get restful sleep, get the energy our body needs, improve mood and increase memory.

Strenuous exercise in the gym causes excessive sweating from the body. This will make you very thirsty. Generally, you can drink water from time to time while exercising.

Risks of Drinking Water After Exercise

Drinking water in this way will repair muscle damage during exercise, promote muscle growth and prevent dehydration. While it is good to drink water or energy drinks after a workout, it is not good to drink water immediately after a workout. Why? Let's see what happens if you drink like that.

What happens if you drink water immediately after exercising?

Digestive problems:

Drinking too much water immediately after exercising can cause serious problems in the digestive system. This is because drinking water lowers our body temperature, which causes muscle tissue repair to take place inside the body. This can lead to problems like bloating, stomach cramps or nausea. Therefore, it is better to drink water some time after exercising.

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Risks of Drinking Water After Exercise

Electrolytes are excreted: 

When we exercise, there is a high chance that not only water but also essential electrolytes like sodium, potassium, magnesium are excreted from our body through sweat. Drinking water immediately after exercising dilutes the electrolyte content in our body. This naturally leads to their balance. This causes muscle cramps, dizziness, headache. Therefore, it is good to consume electrolyte-rich foods and energy drinks after exercising.

Absorption of nutrients will be prevented:

Drinking too much water after exercise prevents the nutrients in the food we eat from being properly absorbed by our body. It is better to drink water some time after exercising.

Risks of Drinking Water After Exercise

Muscle problem:

Drinking water immediately after exercising will lose time to recover our muscles. It takes longer for our body to return to its normal state after exercise. This increases the water content in the tissues and sometimes causes swelling. Drinking water after exercise is very helpful in muscle tissue recovery.

Blood sugar level will be affected:

After exercise, our body's muscle tissue becomes more sensitive to insulin. In such a situation, drinking too much water can adversely affect the blood sugar level in the body. Also, there is a high chance of fluctuations in blood sugar levels. Therefore, it is better to drink water some time after exercising to keep the blood sugar level balanced.

Risks of Drinking Water After Exercise

Eat these after exercising: 

Eat a banana after exercising. Because, this fruit helps to energize your muscles and provide the body with the energy it needs immediately. You can eat the bundle after exercising. This will keep the body strong and active.

Similarly, it is good to eat dry fruits after exercising. Because, they contain the protein content and lots of fatty acids that the body needs. Examples are soaked almonds, walnuts.

It is good to eat a cup of yogurt after exercising. Because it not only stimulates the body's metabolic process, but also provides the necessary strength to our muscles after exercise.

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