Don't Cut Water

💧THE PHYSIOLOGY OF HYDRATION (WHY YOU DON’T CUT WATER)

Water isn’t just “weight” — it’s biologically essential, especially for natural physique athletes.

As a promotor, I have had moments where I have had athletes at check in talk about cutting water. I have heard some say they have not had water in 2 or 3 days. The first thing that comes to bind is telling this person to drink water ASAP if they have already got their weight taken. Cutting water is something one should do carefully, and one must understand what they are doing because cutting out water does a lot more than just lowering your weight. We are mainly made out of water, water maintains blood pressure, and much more summarized below.

🧠 How much of you is water?

• ~60% of total body weight

• ~75% of skeletal muscle

• Muscle = ~40% of total body weight

➡️More muscle = higher total body water

🔬What water actually does physiologically:

✅Enables all metabolic reactions (nutrient breakdown & energy production)

✅Maintains blood volume & blood pressure

✅Regulates acid–base balance (pH)

✅Supports cell volume & muscle fullness

✅ Lubricates joints & protects tissues

✅Primary driver of thermoregulation (cooling via sweat)

💪Body water distribution:

• Intracellular fluid (inside muscle cells): ~66% • Extracellular fluid: ~33% – Interstitial (between cells) – Intravascular (blood plasma)

➡️Muscle fullness = intracellular hydration, not dehydration

🔥During training & heat exposure:

• Muscle contractions ↑ metabolic heat

• Sweat rate increases to dissipate heat

• Dehydration = ↓ performance, ↓ pump, ↓ recovery

🚫 Why cutting water BACKFIRES:

❌Reduces plasma volume

❌ Increases stress hormones

❌Flattens muscles (↓ intracellular water)

❌Impairs thermoregulation

❌ Increases cramping & fatigue risk

❌Dehydration ≠ dryness

• These are the main reasons we don't cut water out as natural bodybuilders. We are not using insulin, diuretics, and other pharmaceutical medications to manipulate all of the above.

✅Natural bodybuilding takeaway:

➡️Lean physiques look best when hydrated, not depleted

➡️Muscle size, pumps, and performance depend on water

➡️Cutting water compromises physiology — not fat loss

➡️Water is anabolic support, not the enemy.

Always look at the risks and benefits to anything you do while prepping. When prepping one should not think in black and white. One should always consider context, experience on the specific athlete if they want to cut water out, and much more. This is why it is important to give yourself a lot of time to prep for shows and diet. When I tell people that prep was 10 months long people tend to think it must have been hell the last 10 months. However, it has not been too horrible because I gave myself plenty of diet breaks and I was ready early October (an entire month from my first show). This gave me the opportunity to mess with peak week protocol and not have to cut any water to make weight. Being ready early is key!