Fluid Consumption
fto-si
Posts: 402
Got back from a 60 miler a couple of hours ago and only consumed approx 500ml of fluids during the whole ride. To be honest it could of been less as I thought in the later stages I should drink even though I wasnt particularly thirsty.
This is not uncommon for me I always drink far less than the amounts quoted by others when I read posts on here.
Prior to todays ride I drank 3 coffees in the 3 hours prior to starting so I had consumed some liquids before.
What my question is, is this low consumption doing me any harm? I don't feel the need to drink when I am out there and I feel totally fine afterwards.
This is not uncommon for me I always drink far less than the amounts quoted by others when I read posts on here.
Prior to todays ride I drank 3 coffees in the 3 hours prior to starting so I had consumed some liquids before.
What my question is, is this low consumption doing me any harm? I don't feel the need to drink when I am out there and I feel totally fine afterwards.
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That sounds low consumption pal.
I drank 4x750ml on a 60 miler I did today!chris0 -
It's easy enough to tell if you are dehydrated after a ride as your pee will be darker than if you were well hydrated - it should be clear or light yellow.
The 3 coffees would not help a lot unless they were decaff as caffeine is a diuretic.
The figure often recommended is 1L/hour but I tend to think that's probably a maximum (ie racing in hot conditions) rather than the sort of quantity for an easy ride in October.0 -
fto-si wrote:Got back from a 60 miler a couple of hours ago and only consumed approx 500ml of fluids during the whole ride. To be honest it could of been less as I thought in the later stages I should drink even though I wasnt particularly thirsty.
This is not uncommon for me I always drink far less than the amounts quoted by others when I read posts on here.
Prior to todays ride I drank 3 coffees in the 3 hours prior to starting so I had consumed some liquids before.
What my question is, is this low consumption doing me any harm? I don't feel the need to drink when I am out there and I feel totally fine afterwards.
Not the best idea, bad for your body and recovery.0 -
Vivid wrote:fto-si wrote:Got back from a 60 miler a couple of hours ago and only consumed approx 500ml of fluids during the whole ride. To be honest it could of been less as I thought in the later stages I should drink even though I wasnt particularly thirsty.
This is not uncommon for me I always drink far less than the amounts quoted by others when I read posts on here.
Prior to todays ride I drank 3 coffees in the 3 hours prior to starting so I had consumed some liquids before.
What my question is, is this low consumption doing me any harm? I don't feel the need to drink when I am out there and I feel totally fine afterwards.
Not the best idea, bad for your body and recovery.
So I should be drinking even tho I dont feel thirsty?
Out of interest why is it bad for me and my recovery? This is what I am looking to find out0 -
well, I've just done an hour and a half on the turbo with my heart rate between 130 and 145 and I ate one banana at 45 minutes and only needed one 750 ml bottle - water plus nuun - and I needed a wee for the last five - ten minutes. When I did pee it was clear. On an 80 mile ride, including lots of climbing I'll go through two 750 ml bottles. One wate, nuun mixture and the oher water, go eloctrolyte mixture and I have to pee several times on the ride and when I get back
and it's always transparent. Different people need to consume different amounts. When it's hot, I go through three to four 750 ml bottles and my pee is then a bit darker after a ride.
I just take in what I need to take in. I usually eat a banana/ energy bar every hour on a ride to keep topped up. Also, I drink up until about one hour from home. So if I am out for four hours, I'll eat and drink for three and use up all of the liquids I am carrying and then just go without for the last hour because anything you consume in the last hour is not really going to get into the system in time anyway. I just have an orange juice/coke and a bit of chocolate as soon as I get back in.0 -
On a cool day feeling the need to drink will be a lot lower than on a hot day, but needless to say you will still be sweating, and slowly dehyrating, and your kidneys will still be producing urine as well.
While 1L an hour would be for hot days, I would think 500ml over 3 and a half hours is too little. Even if you don't feel it your performance will be lower, not only physically but mentally.
Saying that, I personally on a hot day drink at a rate of about 700ml an hour, and on a club ride on a hot day can go through 3 bottles, otherwise my physical and mental eprformance really starts to suffere; yet others in the club will not finish 1 bottle in the same time. Maybe they just don't sweat as much?
If you want to know how much you have lost through sweat etc, weigh yourself before you go out, and then when you come back, the difference will be mostly in fluid. You shoudl keep within a few % of your weight, otherwise you'll have problems, even if you possibly won't notice them.'Twas Mulga Bill, from Eaglehawk, that caught the cycling craze....0 -
That's true Chuck but I think colour of urine is the biggest indicator, alongside weight loss. If you ride at a good intensity then you burn lots of calories too so a percentage of the weight loss after a long ride is going to be genuine cal consumption. Obviously, you then have to eat a good tea to put a lot of that back into the system but in terms of fluid loss, if your urine is clear and you don't feel thirsty when you get back from a ride then you've taken on about enough in fluids.0
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Check out joe friel's blog - drink when you're thirsty!!! Of course, fuelling is a separate issue.
http://www2.trainingbible.com/joesblog/blog.html--
Obsessed is just a word elephants use to describe the dedicated. http://markliversedge.blogspot.com0 -
Patrick1.0 wrote:That's true Chuck but I think colour of urine is the biggest indicator, alongside weight loss. If you ride at a good intensity then you burn lots of calories too so a percentage of the weight loss after a long ride is going to be genuine cal consumption. Obviously, you then have to eat a good tea to put a lot of that back into the system but in terms of fluid loss, if your urine is clear and you don't feel thirsty when you get back from a ride then you've taken on about enough in fluids.
Weight loss through energy consumption won't be enough I would think. If it was with the riding I've done in the last year I'd weigh something like -100kg.'Twas Mulga Bill, from Eaglehawk, that caught the cycling craze....0 -
Think people vary a lot on this. I'm with Joe Friel, listen to your body and drink when you are thirsty. This post caught my eye because on club run yesterday rode 65miles in 4.5 hours drinking 250ml water + 2 mugs of coffee at stop. Felt fine throughout and strong at the end. On other hand on hard indoor workout could easily want to drink 1.5l of water in an hour.Martin S. Newbury RC0
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Thirst is generally a poor indicator of hydration. I've found the feel of my mouth is a pretty good indicator, if it is sticky then i need to drink more. The pee one is the best measure, try to drink steadily and in lots of small quantities to maintain an even hydration level and avoid caffeine as it messes things up.0
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It is a hard one to judge - but I would say if you are thirsty or can notice a difference in the back of your mouth then you are already dehyrated to some point. Also It is pretty critical for recovery to make sure you drink enough - you need to replace 1.5x the amount you lose through sweat to keep yourself fully hydrated. In this respect the pee test doesn't always work either - After most land training sessions I can normally pee completely clear despite weighing 1-2 kilos less than I did starting. So you can end up needing to consume failry large quantities of fluids to keep you topped up. I try to go for about half the sweat loss weight to be consumed during the exercise and the remainder of the 1.5x as soon after without hammering it down.
Al0 -
I served in the Marines and on long runs (I Know its not cycling however its still CV work).We were told to drink little and often. The clearer your urine the better, I always found it was fine during the run but later on it would start to get darker (the so called sugar puff p**s). So continue to take on fluids throughout the day in order to recover fully. If you feel thirsty you are already dehydrated.
Hope this is of some use0 -
Jo Friel is right, drink when thirsty, or at most little and often to start with. People have developed an obsession with hydration, being that now more people have problems with hyponatremia than with dehydration. I'd say 4 x 750 ml in 60 miles is a lot unless its very hot. To the OP, if after your ride your urine was clear you didn't have a headache and felt god then I'd say for you during that ride, you drank enough. It's usually fairly obvious when you haven't had enough, listen to your body and you should be ok.0
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Sorry but I don't agree with the 'thirst is an indicator' bit!
By the time you start feeling thirsty you can already be becoming dehydrated. Then all you are trying to do is play catch up. Which ina sport like cycling is nearly impossible.
It's better to have even just a mouthfull every few miles and keep your fluids topped up!chris0 -
drummer wrote:Sorry but I don't agree with the 'thirst is an indicator' bit!
By the time you start feeling thirsty you can already be becoming dehydrated. Then all you are trying to do is play catch up. Which ina sport like cycling is nearly impossible.
It's better to have even just a mouthfull every few miles and keep your fluids topped up!
Hence why I said "or at most little and often to start with."0
