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Picture this ... you're jogging outside when all of a sudden you start to sense this slight twinge around your temple.  You decide to ignore it, and you press on.  Slowly, that little twinge turns into a dull pain.  You start to become a little irritated by this occurrence, but you're tough; you can take it.  A few minutes later, this dull pain has turned into a sharp pain, and now it's to the point that with every step you take, a pain shoots through your head and starts to make you feel sick. ... definitely a problem when you're trying to keep a consistent pace with your run. 

As a result of dehydration, our bodies send out a signal saying, "Hey, wake up man! I'm dying here!"

So what happened?

Well, obviously, your body is being plagued by the grips of a headache.  Do we really know why this headache happened?  It could actually be several things.  In fact, I wrote an entire section on one of these reasons ... out of whack muscles.

Alright, besides crazy muscles, how else can we make sure this problem doesn't turn into a common occurrence?  Another reason, and probably the biggest reason, is dehydration.  Our bodies are made up of about 70% water.  When we become dehydrated, this balance becomes off kilter.  As a result of dehydration, our bodies send out a signal saying, "Hey, wake up man!  I'm dying here!"  One of those signals, other than a dry mouth, is a headache.  How much water do you need?  Half of your body weight in fluid ounces.  If you weigh 100 lbs., you should drink 50 fl. oz.

The National Sleep Foundation recommends 7-9 hours of sleep every night.

Another reason could be hunger.  Ever gone a long time without food?  In the times I have, I normally get a headache.  Again, your body is sending out a signal that something needs to change ... it needs food. 

Here's another reason, sleep.  The National Sleep Foundation recommends 7-9 hours of sleep every night.  If we don't get that, our hormones become all out of whack.  Here's the big problem, though.  One of the signals for lack of sleep is a headache, and because of this, it can be hard to distinguish if you're dehydrated, haven't eaten enough, you have imbalanced muscles, our your body is craving sleep.  See where I'm going with this? 

Headaches can result for many different reasons.  Above are some of those reasons, but in order to make sure we maintain a healthy body, we need to make sure we're keeping every area in check.  We need to eat right, we need to stay hydrated, we need to get enough sleep, we need to keep our posture inline, and so on and so on.  Remember, a headache is an alarm going off in our bodies.  Sometimes it might be hard to interpret the cause, but if we're making sure we don't slack in one area of a healthy body, we stand a better chance of alleviating headaches for good.

Dan Falkenberg, BA, ACE-CPT, NASM-PES

Dan Falkenberg is the cofounder of Your Live Trainers.  He can be reached at DanFalkenberg.com.

The Fat Dissolver Program; it features over 50 of the exercises I use with my own clients.  You can download them to your computer, watch them on your iPod/iPhone, or turn them into two DVDs of your own.  Today, get several free bonuses with it.

Tags: exercise safety, exercise selection, flexibility, nutrition