hydration-how much water do you drink/day?
 

I just read the "throwup" thread and I am curious about this.

I drink between 1.5-2 liters per day and am not sure that is enough for me. I'm 175 6'2" and ride between 4-8 hours per week. I drink coffee, 2-3 cups (8oz) per day, and drink while riding (recovery periods: roughly every 10-20min). I DON'T drink suppliments while riding.

So, how much is too much, and is there a good way to objectivly measure sufficient hydration?

I don't know, how much do you eat in a day?

I don't know, what would a scale show?

I drink until I'm no longer thirsty.

Point taken...let me be more clear. The reason I'm interested is because people toss around the term "proper hydration" quite frequently but never really qualify what that means. Furthermore, I am sure athletes need more than the adage 8 glasses/per day suggests.

I guess I am looking at this question to gain insight into various ways measure "proper" hydration...I don't think most people formally "measure" this per se, but I know informal methods such as the color of one's urine is a commonly tossed around means--are there others? What factors (quantity of food, workout) ought these methods consider?

For general discussion: how much water do you consume on days you ride vs. days you don't? how do YOU know you have consumed a "proper" amount? What symptoms do you notice when you don't?

preempt: no more "till I'm not thirsty" bcause if you got thirsty "you are already on the way to dehydration" as many have suggested and therefore are not...being nice.;)

I carry a 24 oz Camelbak water bottle with me almost everywhere and typically fill it up and empty it about 4 times a day. And that is outside of what I do during a ride. It is most likely excessive but I started doing it to control hunger pangs, to aid me in overcoming my soda habit, and to "flush out" my system. I've kept it up for the better part of 6 months now with no ill effects. Most folks can't or won't tolerate drinking that much water and hitting the bathroom that often but to each his own.

When I am off my bicycle I drink enough so that I am not thirsty. That may vary depending on what I eat ... if I have just consumed some rather salty pizza, I might drink more. If I have ice cream or soup, I might drink less. I have never kept track of how much I drink during the day.

When I am on my bicycle, I aim to drink somewhere between one 750 ml bottle of water and/or sports drinks every 1 to 1.5 hours. That amount may vary slightly depending on the weather.


I have two ways to tell if I have not been drinking enough during the day or on the bicycle:

1) If my urine is dark/bright, I need to drink more

2) If my feet cramp, I urgently need to drink more

I record everything I eat and drink during every day, and calculate protein, carbs, fat and fibres using a custom Excel sheet. This also allows me to find out how much water I've consumed during the day (and I count the water in all the food as well).

Taking the average of the water column for October 2006 to today, I get 2.6 l. I also know that if I haven't had enough to drink for more than two consecutive days, or very little one day, I get migraine. Drinking a glass or two of water sometimes helps within an hour, but often not.

I aim for at least 2.5 l every day, but I obviously fail to reach that target some days.

This is for non-biking days, by the way. When I ride, I drink extra.

In general, you can tell whether you're adequately hydrated by how many trips you make to the bathroom. If you're going 4 hours without a trip, you're probably not well hydrated. It's also good to make sure that you drink enough when you eat - there are a lot of foods that are dry, and you want to get enough liquid to make sure they're hydrated.

When training, the best thing to do is weigh yourself before and after. Any lost weight is water weight. That's assuming you're well hydrated when you start.

Plain water is okay for rides, but a good sport drink will be absorbed considerably faster. I've had times when I used to drink plain water where I'd be thirsty but feel the water sloshing inside - I don't get that with Accelerade.

A couple of caveats here...

1. You have to wear the same clothes, or no clothes both times.
2. You have to make sure you've urinated recently before each weighing.
3. If you've eaten food during the ride, you have to take that into account, by subtracting the weight of the food from your "after" weight. Which also means you need to know how much that is...

Is this the means that trainers use to deterine % of hydration set agains performance abilty? As in a loss of "X" hydration may result in a reducation of "Y" in performance ability...