Are we drinking too much water?
 

An article in Science Daily says that runners (and by extension, undoubtedly cyclers) are drinking too much water. I summary: experts recommend drinking only when thirsty and accept a temporary loss of a few pounds after running (riding in our case). They found that a third of runners follow a pre-set drinking schedule and a third wrongly believe they need extra salts. The danger is that over-hydration will dilute sodium in the blood to dangerous levels. From the article: "The International Marathon Medical Directors Association recommends that runners drink only when thirsty." After a dehydration episode a few years ago I have been loading up on water -- maybe too much?

Everything in moderation ;-). Having said that, a little too much water is better than too little.

Common sense and experience will help here. If I'm doing a climbing ride on a hot day there is no way I can get enough water in and frequently drink over 200 ounces and still get dehydrated.
On a flat ride on a cool day obviously I need a lot less.
The other thing is to prevent an extreme imbalance of minerals by eating and/or taking electrolytes.

If you wait until you are thirsty you are making a mistake, especially if you have a bunch of hot climbs ahead.

People die in marathons from drinking too much water, which causes a dangerously low level of sodium. There is a real danger of misdiagnosis and people think they are dehydrated and drink more water. Arguably it is more dangerous than dehydration.

Here is a good article discussing the issue: http://www.rrm.com/rrmsamplehyponatremia.htm

In a word, No.

Like big john above, on a hot day I'll sweat about twice as fast as my body can absorb what I'm drinking. Now that the daily highs are below 90 F, over a day's ride I can almost balance water in/water out, and only by forcing myself to drink.

When it gets cold, my kidneys take care of any excess I drink. Maybe I could force myself to drink a gallon when it doesn't get over 60 F, but since it doesn't feel right, I don't.

Where I live, I can drink over 200oz of water on a long hot summer ride, and still lose 2-3% of my body weight. Waiting to drink until 'thirsty' could be life threatening. With that much water flowing through, you obviously have to also be popping electrolytes, and I take enough to ensure my sweat is salty. Learning to manage hydration (and nutrition) is a huge part of the endurance learning curve, and oversimplifying it is dangerous.

Context is everything. Where I live it is usually cool and I can go a long way on not much water. I probably overdrink as a precaution.

But last year in Tanzania at 47C/116F in direct sun I found that I could barely drink faster than I could sweat. On one 50-mile ride I drank seven litres of water - that's over 1.5 US gallons - and couldn't pee for several hours after the finish. Scary.

Hot midsummers day with the temp in the 80's (once the sun came up) and a long 14 hour ride that was going to make you sweat. I had one pee after about 3 hours and that was the only one of the day. The 1 litre per hour of water was exceeded by 25% and I lost no weight on the day- but that was probably down to the amount of food consumed to replace what we were burning on the ride and The BIG bucket of Greasy KFC after the ride.

I do not know about over drinking during exercise- But I have felt the effects of de-hydration a few times. That has finished me for a couple of hours each time.

For me, the key to handling the hot rides is to drink significantly before, and then early on in the ride. If you get behind the hydration curve, you're toast. You'll never catch back up. Now that it has cooled off, I can just 'drink when thirsty'.

The people who die in marathons are not the elite runners, and not even experienced runners, most likely. They are the people who are spending 5 or 6 hours running and guzzling water without anything else. At least that has been the case in the cases I have read about.

Part of becoming a distance cyclist is learning to manage your food and water intake and what works for you. If you are going for a 6 hour ride you should know what to expect and how to prepare for it.

I read somewhere* that you should alternate sports drinks (i.e Gatorade etc...) with plane water to keep your electrolytes balanced when you are biking, running, etc. Is this close to the truth?


* that black hole that spews all sorts of mis-information. Related to "They say..."

How much weight are people losing, on average, during long 5 - 6 hour rides in 80+ degree weather?

This summer, my average weight loss is 5 pounds on long rides exceeding 5 hours and that's with eating and drinking anywhere from 150 to 200 oz of water and electrolyte drinks. Is this normal?

After the ride, I feel thirsty, but not excessively so and after eating and drinking my weight comes back up.

What's normal for you?

Thanks for posting the link to the story.

You have to figure out what you need to maintain your electrolytes. I don't drink Gatorade, as I'm not looking for sugar or other 'stuff'. I use Hammer Endurolytes tablets, which give me the electrolytes I need, and I drink plain water. Makes a refill really easy, and I can pop the tablets before a ride to get the electrolytes primed without drinking a lot of liquid, that might make me need to urinate during the ride. Once into the ride, I can drink steady without worrying about having to urinate. The tablets also let me monitor my intake, and also boost that intake if I feel my muscles might be starting to cramp.

Drink what you want when you want. Do we need science to tell us everything we should or shouldn't do? If my mother were still alive and I asked her when and what I should drink, the first thing she would say is "Are you stupid?" then she would give the above mentioned advice. A wise woman in her way, my mother.

There is a discussion in the Long Distance Forum on this. Go read it for some relevant information which I am not going to repeat here (I am about to set out on hopefully back-to-back centuries).

But in brief, we are talking about marathon runners; there was as far as I can see no extension to cycling as the OP said. And the closest that any riders in the 50+ forum come to similar are those who do regular LD -- and there are very few of them.

In addition, there is a balance needed needed between fluid and electrolyte intake (Gaorade blurs all this because of its sugar content and is not, in my opinion, a good sports drink because it plays havoc with insulin).

The danger with these articles is that people hold back on drinking when they should actually be keeping their intake up, and they end up dehydrated with as serious consequences as those portrayed by overdrinking.

You lost me at...The Experts say......"Experts say" is a secret code between clean fingernailed slackers that means I have a job for another month.

Your body will tell you more than any expert out there.....just listen.

Don't do a summer ride here in Phoenix with that approach. WE would be the ones asking "Are you stupid?"

In many situations, your body tells you too late for you to reverse the problem. That is most definitely the case when it comes to hydration here in the desert. Giving that advice to someone here is telling them to endanger their life. Be careful with that...

Ok...

Forget I said Gatorade. The question is: Would it be a good idea or a bad idea to alternate a non-Gatorade sports drink with plane water?

I'm very new at this, I just got past twenty miles a day about a month ago. From what I've read on the forums, I will be getting into rides that I will have to eat and/or drink something during the ride. Right now I'm alternating between freezing and sweating but, it's warming back up so, it's more just the sweating.

I'm just wondering if it's worthwhile to try this or not.

Are you currently riding up to twenty miles without drinking anything?

Lots of people do just that: one bottle of water; one bottle of something with carbs and electrolytes. Many people also add electrolytes to the water bottle, so that everything they drink contains electrolytes, and they stay balanced.

Heavens no. About half way through I stop and drink about 3/4 of a bottle of water. My question was about electrolytes and such.

That answers my question. Thank you.

Now I suppose I should learn how to drink while riding. That should be an adventure.

The preceding posts mostly seem to focus on hot weather. The same effect is experienced in cold weather and low humidity. It is just as difficult to maintain performance and health hydration levels in cold temperatures as hot. Drink till you are comfortable and you can maintain performance.

I don't know, I only drink coffee. I think there is water in it but the one offsets the other so I am in perfect balance.

Except coffee is a diuretic, and your water intake will be more than depleted by the peeing you do because of that effect. If you drink a lot of coffee during the day at work, and wonder why you look old and haggard in the face every morning, and you feel lethargic, and you visit the restroom often, you are likely dehydrated as a matter of course.

Oh yeah, finished the first century just now, and we remained reasonably hydrated... and fed... and electrolyted thanks to good old Enduralytes.

HawkOwl also is right about that cool weather thing, and if anyone reads the Long Distance forum thread, they will see a reference there that there is as much danger of dehydration on a cool,. intense ride, as there is on a moderately warm ride at the same ambient temps.