Alkaline water is increasingly being used as an option to replace energy drinks in high intensity workouts, with the goal of improving muscle performance and reducing fatigue during muscle training.
During intense training, in the gym or in races, for example, muscle fibers use glucose as a source of energy and in this process produce a large amount of lactic acid which lowers the body's pH.
However, the muscle can only function properly in a pH range that should not be less than 6.5 and therefore, as lactic acid accumulates, there is a progressive increase in fatigue and a greater risk of injury.
Main benefits
By ingesting alkaline water, the pH of the blood stays longer in the ideal values and therefore the muscles can better eliminate the excess of lactic acid that accumulates during the activity and therefore, in addition to improving muscle performance, still helps:
- Prevent the onset of cramps;
- Avoid muscle injury;
- Reduce fatigue during training;
- Decrease recovery time after training;
In addition, alkaline water acts as a natural antioxidant, as well as the vitamins of a balanced diet, which in addition to avoiding premature cell aging also improves cellular efficiency and performance during training.
To maintain the organism at alkaline pH it is still possible to make an alkaline diet using foods that maintain blood at an ideal pH range for the training. Here's how you can do this type of diet.
When to take
Intake of alkaline water is very important during training to maintain hydration and counteract the effect of lactic acid which is increasing with exercise.
However, it is also very important to drink alkaline water throughout the day to keep the body within an alkaline pH range, so that when you start training your body takes longer to get acidic and allows the correct functioning of the muscles for more time.
How To Make Alkaline Water
To obtain all these benefits it is recommended to increase the pH of the water that is normally drunk in order to make it more alkaline. To do this, mix one teaspoon of baking soda in each liter of water and drink it during the day.
Although the pH value can not be easily calculated because it varies and according to the region where it lives, the more basic the water, the better the performance, and there is no risk of using sodium bicarbonate.
