Topic: Am I drinking too much?

[Big Hooper]

OK besides my off the bike performance. I seem to go thru alot of water while riding. How much do you really need to drink. I have heard a bottle an hour on numerous occasions. Im trying to stop running out of fluid. Im already carrying a 100oz camelbak. On my last ride it was about 3hrs and i was just about empty.
I have recently stopped mixing anything in my water so I was thinking maybe if I went back to supplements it would help in reducing the amount of fluid intake.
Whats the deal?

[FACTORe]

every body is different - I go through 20oz per hour

I did the ole - weight myself pre-ride - ride for 2 hours without drinking anything - re weigh myself - how much weight that I lost divided by 2 and that is how much I need to drink per hour at that effort to stay on top of hydration

[Meerkat Surprise]

It sounds to me like you're not drinking enough the day before and morning of your rides. To go through that much water when the weather is cooler makes me think you're starting on the dehydrated side of things. But water consumption is a very individual thing that can also be hugely effected by conditions and riding intensity. During the summer afternoons, I go through as much as 50oz. per hour. With the conditions lately, I can ride for 3-4 hours on a half-full camelbak and still not run dry.

[FACTORe]

I agree - it is totally a personal thing - and it varies with weather and how hard that individual goes - you also have salty sweaters compared to less salty sweaters and some need more sodium/electrolytes etc...it is very tricky - trial and error for you and your body - never try and change something up before a big ride or an important race

[Darrinw2001]

for me the weather plays a BIG part.. I can drain my 100oz camelbak in August doing the WTA loop, but this time of year I will only need 30oz's.. being well hydrated before you ride does make a differance as well.

[Scott]

A 20 oz bottle per hour is a good average. You need some type of electrolyte replacement in that water(Gator, Power, Heed aide)other wise the pure water is flushing out what little bit of salt you had to begin with. Find a drink mix you can stomache, I will bring you a sample of heed for tommorows ride

[FACTORe]

if you like plain water outside sport makes an H2O enhancer - it is flavorless and it had everything you need in it - right now you can go to www.outsidesport.com and get some - put in promotional code JS and get an extra 10% off.

[slowfatguy]

Heed made me cramp, so do endurolytes. Not saying they don't work, just trying to point out as others have that everyones needs are different. Don't be afraid to try stuff, but just because it works for others doesn't mean it'll work for you. For me it's straight water and trailmix instead of gels. But it's alot of water, it's nothing for me to put down 100+oz in a 4 hour ride, even when it is cooler out.

[FACTORe]

this is from my coaches page - he had a PHD in exercise physiology from Colorado State he has programs that are being used by Lance - so yes...I trust what he says as golden

"About 60-70% of your body is water.  Your blood is mostly water and your organs contain water.  Water is essential for your body to function.  Not drinking enough water puts a tremendous strain on your body as it tries to compensate to the lake of water.  As an athlete, it becomes more important since you loose much more water than a sedentary person.  Water regulates your body temperature, provides a means to transport nutrients to all of your organs, transports oxygen to your bodies' cells and removes waste.  If you take your body weight and half that number, that is the absolute minimum amount of water, in ounces, you should be drinking every day."

"Probably the most important part of race day.  Make sure you hydrate sufficiently the morning of race day, your urine should be a pale yellow.  If it's yellow or darker you have not hydrated enough, if it's clear you have over hydrated.  Over hydrating can result in a dangerous even fatal condition known as hyponatremia.

The age old question, how much should I drink during a race?  That depends on many factors, temperature, length of race, body weight, fitness and how much you sweat.  A fairly accurate way to determine your hydration needs is to pick a day that has a 
temperature similar to the average temperature of your races.  Make sure you are adequately hydrated before this workout.  Weigh yourself naked on an accurate scale before you start.  Complete your workout at race pace for an hour, without consuming any liquid.  Immediately following your workout weigh yourself naked on the same scale.  If you lost 1 lb (16oz), you need to consume approximately 60% of that for every hour you are racing.

By race start you should be fully hydrated and your glycogen stores should be full. During the race do not rely on thirst as an indicator to drink, by that time you have already started to dehydrate.  You should be drinking a little at least every 15 minutes.  You should know your hydration requirements in order to avoid dehydration or over hydrating, you need to find the perfect balance.  Get to know the symptoms of both.  Signs of dehydration include, headache, fatigue, dizziness, nausea, muscle cramps, chills and thick saliva.  Signs of hyponatremia include, puffiness, like swollen figures, tight watch, liquid sloshing in your stomach, vomiting, progressively worsening headache.

During races or training workouts longer than an hour you will need to drink some sort of sports drink that contains electrolytes and carbohydrates and as older athletes it becomes more important that drink also contains protein in the correct ratio.  "

what you need in the H2O = http://outsidesport.com/H2O%20Enhancer.htm 

[RKL]

The Hammer Nutrition website also has a pretty extensive paper on hydration, nutrition during endurance sports that I read recently and was helpful to me.  It's one big commercial for their products but appears to have a lot of nutritional science behind it I found interesting.  Because your body can only process water and food so fast, you can actually over do it.  Bottom line is you have to figure out what works for you.   

[Big Hooper]

Alright - so another ride last night and this time I was paying attention to how much I was drinking. 1 hr 40 minute ride with some high intensity riding mixed in. Avg speed was up and rode about 14.5 miles. When I pulled out the bladder at the end of the ride I had only drank less than a third. between 20-30 ounces. I felt fine although I did pay attention to hydrating during the day. I felt real good on the ride as well. One thing....I did consciously make an effort to stop chugging water all the time during the ride and get some sips in between trails. I think I just need to get off the habit of sucking down water when I dont need it. I will get some supplements back in as well.

[FACTORe]

you might have solved the problem by paying attention to hydrating the day before and morning of the ride - you are more often than not just playing catch up during a ride that is that short

[HalfBreed]

SmartWater has a TON of electrolytes and hydration replacement additives
 

[HalfBreed]

this is from my coaches page - he had a PHD in exercise physiology from Colorado State he has programs that are being used by Lance - so yes...I trust what he says as golden

"About 60-70% of your body is water.  Your blood is mostly water and your organs contain water.  Water is essential for your body to function.  Not drinking enough water puts a tremendous strain on your body as it tries to compensate to the lake of water.  As an athlete, it becomes more important since you loose much more water than a sedentary person.  Water regulates your body temperature, provides a means to transport nutrients to all of your organs, transports oxygen to your bodies' cells and removes waste.  If you take your body weight and half that number, that is the absolute minimum amount of water, in ounces, you should be drinking every day."

"Probably the most important part of race day.  Make sure you hydrate sufficiently the morning of race day, your urine should be a pale yellow.  If it's yellow or darker you have not hydrated enough, if it's clear you have over hydrated.  Over hydrating can result in a dangerous even fatal condition known as hyponatremia.

The age old question, how much should I drink during a race?  That depends on many factors, temperature, length of race, body weight, fitness and how much you sweat.  A fairly accurate way to determine your hydration needs is to pick a day that has a 
temperature similar to the average temperature of your races.  Make sure you are adequately hydrated before this workout.  Weigh yourself naked on an accurate scale before you start.  Complete your workout at race pace for an hour, without consuming any liquid.  Immediately following your workout weigh yourself naked on the same scale.  If you lost 1 lb (16oz), you need to consume approximately 60% of that for every hour you are racing.

By race start you should be fully hydrated and your glycogen stores should be full. During the race do not rely on thirst as an indicator to drink, by that time you have already started to dehydrate.  You should be drinking a little at least every 15 minutes.  You should know your hydration requirements in order to avoid dehydration or over hydrating, you need to find the perfect balance.  Get to know the symptoms of both.  Signs of dehydration include, headache, fatigue, dizziness, nausea, muscle cramps, chills and thick saliva.  Signs of hyponatremia include, puffiness, like swollen figures, tight watch, liquid sloshing in your stomach, vomiting, progressively worsening headache.

During races or training workouts longer than an hour you will need to drink some sort of sports drink that contains electrolytes and carbohydrates and as older athletes it becomes more important that drink also contains protein in the correct ratio.  "

what you need in the H2O = http://outsidesport.com/H2O%20Enhancer.htm 

he aint too literate   

[FACTORe]

this is from my coaches page - he had a PHD in exercise physiology from Colorado State he has programs that are being used by Lance - so yes...I trust what he says as golden

"About 60-70% of your body is water.  Your blood is mostly water and your organs contain water.  Water is essential for your body to function.  Not drinking enough water puts a tremendous strain on your body as it tries to compensate to the lake of water.  As an athlete, it becomes more important since you loose much more water than a sedentary person.  Water regulates your body temperature, provides a means to transport nutrients to all of your organs, transports oxygen to your bodies' cells and removes waste.  If you take your body weight and half that number, that is the absolute minimum amount of water, in ounces, you should be drinking every day."

"Probably the most important part of race day.  Make sure you hydrate sufficiently the morning of race day, your urine should be a pale yellow.  If it's yellow or darker you have not hydrated enough, if it's clear you have over hydrated.  Over hydrating can result in a dangerous even fatal condition known as hyponatremia.

The age old question, how much should I drink during a race?  That depends on many factors, temperature, length of race, body weight, fitness and how much you sweat.  A fairly accurate way to determine your hydration needs is to pick a day that has a 
temperature similar to the average temperature of your races.  Make sure you are adequately hydrated before this workout.  Weigh yourself naked on an accurate scale before you start.  Complete your workout at race pace for an hour, without consuming any liquid.  Immediately following your workout weigh yourself naked on the same scale.  If you lost 1 lb (16oz), you need to consume approximately 60% of that for every hour you are racing.

By race start you should be fully hydrated and your glycogen stores should be full. During the race do not rely on thirst as an indicator to drink, by that time you have already started to dehydrate.  You should be drinking a little at least every 15 minutes.  You should know your hydration requirements in order to avoid dehydration or over hydrating, you need to find the perfect balance.  Get to know the symptoms of both.  Signs of dehydration include, headache, fatigue, dizziness, nausea, muscle cramps, chills and thick saliva.  Signs of hyponatremia include, puffiness, like swollen figures, tight watch, liquid sloshing in your stomach, vomiting, progressively worsening headache.

During races or training workouts longer than an hour you will need to drink some sort of sports drink that contains electrolytes and carbohydrates and as older athletes it becomes more important that drink also contains protein in the correct ratio.  "

what you need in the H2O = http://outsidesport.com/H2O%20Enhancer.htm 

he aint too literate   

if I was going to have somebody coach me write sonnets, I might choose somebody else - If I want somebody that will make me faster than you...he is just fine.


and you really use the word "aint" when calling a Dr Illiterate?