Hydration: Your Secret Weapon for Feeling and Performing Your Best

Jan 28, 2025

Water is more than just a thirst-quencher. It’s the foundation for everything your body does—from regulating temperature to powering your muscles and keeping your brain sharp. Staying hydrated isn’t just important; it’s essential. Let’s dive into why hydration matters, how to keep your water game strong, and tips to stay consistent even if plain water isn’t your thing.

Why Is Hydration Important?

Your body is roughly 60% water, and every cell depends on it to function. Drinking enough water supports equilibrium and homeostasis, providing a level ground and a stable foundation for the body to function effectively. Hydration fuels digestion, cushions joints, delivers nutrients, and removes toxins. It’s the oil that keeps your engine running smoothly. Want clearer skin, better focus, and more energy? Hydration is key.

The Dark Side of Dehydration

When your body doesn’t get enough water, it lets you know. Even mild dehydration (just 1-2% loss of body weight in water) can lead to fatigue, headaches, dizziness, and poor performance—both mentally and physically. Here’s a startling stat: losing just 2% of your body weight in water can decrease athletic performance by up to 30%. Imagine trying to play a sport or tackle your day at only 70% capacity!

In the long term, aging reduces the body’s ability to absorb water, and tissues naturally dry out over time. When vital supporting structures like ligaments, tendons, and spinal discs don’t receive adequate hydration, it accelerates the progression of arthritic changes. This can lead to pain and limited mobility. The key? Stay ahead of dehydration—once your tissues are behind, catching up isn’t an option.

How Much Water Do You Need?

You’ve probably heard the old advice: drink eight 8-ounce glasses of water a day (that’s 64 ounces). While that’s a starting point, it assumes we are all the same size and doesn’t account for varying body sizes.

A more personalized rule of thumb is to drink half your body weight in ounces per day.

For example:

  • If you weigh 120 pounds, aim for 60 ounces.

  • If you weigh 160 pounds, aim for 80 ounces.

  • If you weigh 200 pounds, aim for 100 ounces.

Then, add an extra 10 ounces for every hour of exercise you do. It's important to start your day strong with 6-8 ounces in the first 10 minutes after waking up—your body is dehydrated from hours of sleep and needs that jumpstart.

What If I Don’t Like Water?

Okay, tough love time: as an adult, it’s time to face the facts—water is non-negotiable. But if plain water isn’t appealing, get creative! Infuse it with fruits like lemon, lime, or berries. Try herbal teas, flavored electrolyte tablets, or sparkling water. There are so many ways to make hydration enjoyable; you just have to experiment.

Hydration Hacks for Success

  1. Hydrate Early and Often: Don’t wait until you’re thirsty. Thirst is a late-stage dehydration signal.

  2. Front-Load Your Day: Drink more water earlier in the day so you can ease up by evening. This way, you’re not interrupting your sleep for bathroom trips.

  3. Measure What You Drink: Guesswork doesn’t work. Use a water bottle with ounce markers or download a hydration-tracking app to stay accountable.

  4. Be Consistent: Small sips throughout the day add up. Find a routine that works for you and stick to it.

How Do You Know You’re Drinking Enough?

You don’t know unless you measure and track your water intake. That’s the truth. Invest in a water bottle you love, and track your intake. Some people use journals, apps, or even rubber bands around their bottle (removing one for every bottle consumed). Again, be creative. Whatever method clicks for you, embrace it!

But what about urine color? While often used as a quick check, urine isn’t always the best tool for measuring hydration. If you’ve been chronically dehydrated, your body may adjust by conserving water—resulting in less sweat and less urine excretion with misleading urine color. Plus, the color can be diluted by the water in the toilet bowl, masking its true shade. Urine color works better as an indicator if you’re consistently hydrated and starting from a good baseline.

Your Hydration Game Plan

Hydration isn’t just about feeling good today—it’s about setting yourself up for peak performance and long-term health. When you make hydration a priority, you’re fueling your body to power through workouts, stay focused, and perform at your best. When you take a moment to focus on hydration, set a target and practice hitting it daily—over time, it becomes a habit, second nature. Then you can “set it and forget it,” freeing up mental energy to focus on other areas of peak performance. Then you can watch your energy, focus, and performance soar!


Written by:

Dr. Laurel Mines, PT, DPT, OCS

Physical Therapist, Mental Performance Coach, Owner of Bay Laurel Athletics and Stanford University Teaching Specialist