HTFU

---

Pink? Maybe. Maybe not. You decide.

I'm in the same boat. I lost 4lbs over a 1.5 hour ride this weekend. Couldn't seem to keep up. Will try the HTFU approach.

Can be worthwhile getting formal sweat testing done where they analyse the electrolyte content of your sweat. Thirst is a complex sensation and sweat is not a uniform mix of electrolytes, you may find what you are using for drinks etc is not a good match for your sweat content, but also you may have a high sweat rate. FYI in 33 degree temps I lose about 3L/hr at running threshold pace. Hard to keep up with those losses unless you are really strict.

That's not bad. Around/over 90-F I will target 1.5 bottles the size of the normal bike bottles. Two with ice into the cages, two frozen solid into my rear jersey pockets for a longer ride.

Given the constant hydration and water loss/gain this time of year, the body scale is more like a random number generator lately.

Just make sure your thirst isn't diabetes related.

I measured myself at 10 ounces of weight loss per mile run (which compares closely to Amnesia's 3 L/hr at threshold number) a few years ago on a particularly hot day. Read Tim Noakes about the safe limits of dehydration and HTFU, or move somewhere cooler ;)

I love winter weather for long runs because I can get away with just not bringing along fluids at all!

Yes, but Precision Hydration 1500s have helped a lot. I do a lot on the trainer and treadmill, but if I'm going to be out in the heat typically it will be a brick, so I'll premed the day before with another 1500 tablet. That seems to limit the damage, but I'll still see huge weight swings due to hydration.

For me preparation is the key. If I tried to do it on a whim, I don't think it would go well.

No one should expect to weigh the same after an intense workout as before. Endurance exercise beyond 2 hours or so is a deficit spending activity. The goal is not to replace fuel, fluids, and electrolytes - it can't be done and to attempt it is folly. Rather, the goal is to postpone fatigue.

Much more than one water bottle (24 oz) per hour is inviting problems. From the Mayo Clinic:

"In hyponatremia, one or more factors — ranging from an underlying medical condition to drinking too much water — cause the sodium in your body to become diluted. When this happens, your body's water levels rise, and your cells begin to swell. This swelling can cause many health problems, from mild to life-threatening."

Of course, as previously pointed out, you want to rule out any underlying medical condition.

Can largely assuage that concern by taking in fluids with electrolytes. 300+cal/hr via gels and liquids isn't unreasonable. If one can't handle gatorade on repeat for hours on end, supplement water with a proportional sodium intake. Especially if it's on the hotter side.

But we are not only drinking water to replaced lost fluids. We are dinking electrolyte drinks. This will not dilute the salts levels in the body that you are referencing. I routinely drink between 2-3 bottles of fluid per hour during cycling races (12-14 bottles during the summer months for 80-90 miles). The tricky thing is figuring out what the mixture of electrolytes should be in the volume of fluid you are drinking. That is were the benefit of a sweat test becomes a benefit.

But we are not only drinking water to replaced lost fluids. We are dinking electrolyte drinks. This will not dilute the salts levels in the body that you are referencing. I routinely drink between 2-3 bottles of fluid per hour during cycling races (12-14 bottles during the summer months for 80-90 miles). The tricky thing is figuring out what the mixture of electrolytes should be in the volume of fluid you are drinking. That is were the benefit of a sweat test becomes a benefit.[/quote]
Yes, sorry, that is right. Three bottles per hour? Surely that has got to be more than you are losing.

You would think so, but I'm a sweaty mother. I am on the larger side (75", 190#) so my surface area to mass ratio is lower and I sweat more to cool off. Its not uncommon for me to lose up to ten pounds on a four hour ride in the heat and humidity of Louisiana while still hydrating with two bottles per hour. I had so much trouble with cramps when I was younger so I tested my self. At threshold effort I lose nearly two liters per hour. One of the last summer road races I did pre pandemic was just over 80 miles in roughly three and a quarter hours. I took in 10 bottles that day. I wish I would've had one more electrolyte bottle. Woulda, coulda prevented last lap cramping. (90->95F with 70->60% humidity)

Consider it a blessing.

1 hour ride and I can easily lose 5-8 pounds.

Makes happy hour a lot cheaper.

Yeah, that’s similar for me too. It’s almost impossible for me to drink enough in road races since I just never access to that much water! So I start races w a camelback sometimes #pro

What do y’all use for electrolytes? Salt?

Mentally forcing drinking off bike is hurting, not helping.

Search "I like big bottles" here on the tri forum.

Use more sodium. Sodium Citrate (no affiliation)

---

Dr. Alex Harrison | Founder & CEO | Sport Physiology & Performance PhD
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
📱 Check out our app → Saturday: Pro Fuel & Hydration, a performance nutrition coach in your pocket.
Join us on YouTube → Saturday Morning | Ride & Run Faster and our growing Saturday User Hub

Yes, salt. I add it to flavored beverages.

---

Dr. Alex Harrison | Founder & CEO | Sport Physiology & Performance PhD
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
📱 Check out our app → Saturday: Pro Fuel & Hydration, a performance nutrition coach in your pocket.
Join us on YouTube → Saturday Morning | Ride & Run Faster and our growing Saturday User Hub

Not largely, but entirely. Just consume lots of sodium. 1000-2000mg per hour should do the trick.

The anti-hyponatremia dogma is purely reactionary to the wave of hyponatremic injuries we saw a decade ago after the big "hydrate hydrate hydrate" rhetoric push.

It's possible to avoid hyponatremia while drinking 1-2 L per hour. Just gotta have appropriate sodium concentrations in the fluid.

It's absolutely recommended to replace fluid lost in sweat, if you care about cardiovascular performance. Just need to have the sodium in the fluid too! Salt tabs and pills are useless, not for their mechanism, but simply because they're SO low-sodium by comparison to what is possible to dissolve and consume in fluid.

There's a reason The Right Stuff has 1700mg sodium per serving and says to put it in 16-32oz water. (not promoting, and there are cheaper ways for sure.) ie. Sodium Citrate and/or Table Salt

---

Dr. Alex Harrison | Founder & CEO | Sport Physiology & Performance PhD
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
📱 Check out our app → Saturday: Pro Fuel & Hydration, a performance nutrition coach in your pocket.
Join us on YouTube → Saturday Morning | Ride & Run Faster and our growing Saturday User Hub

Pretzels? These pretzels are making me thirsty.

Is it just high sweat-rate or do you also have to pee a lot? If so: The last time this happened to me, I subsequently found out I was a type 1 diabetic...

---

if you can read this
YOU'RE DRAFTING!

Do these hydration suggestions apply to the rest of life? I find myself thirsty a lot during the summer (duh) and I end up drinking a lot but not excessive amount of water throughout the day in addition to what I drink when working out. Would it be more efficient to drink something with electrolytes (homemade or purchased)?

It’s been >100deg for close to 2 months straight now. Even in the early AM it’s 75-80 and I frequently ride midday when garmin reads 105-110.

I always thought I drank a lot … mostly ~0.75-1 gallon / day. But I’m the summer it’s more than that. Just constantly thirsty. I’ve started adding electrolytes while not exercising once a day / not really sure if it helps or not.

Yes, in fact higher electrolyte content per liter is less likely to cause GI upset at rest than while exercising, though it might also be unnecessary after the first liter of playing "catch-up" (rehydration) at rest. I work in an office that doesn't have AC (back of our RV), and I've been using 1 pack of The Right Stuff in a liter of water and sipping on that alongside other water and fluids the rest of the day. I could easily use 1-2 tsp of sodium citrate or a tsp of table salt for the same effect but I have a few pouches of The Right Stuff leftover from our youtube product review stockpile and it tastes good. :)

FYI, WHO guidelines are 1800mg sodium per liter for rehydration.

If you're sweating appreciably during activities of daily living, and don't have sodium-sensitive hypertension, including some sodium in your fluids throughout he day is a good call. Especially if you care about endurance performance. I'll do a video on salt loading and hyperhydration soon.

---

Dr. Alex Harrison | Founder & CEO | Sport Physiology & Performance PhD
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
📱 Check out our app → Saturday: Pro Fuel & Hydration, a performance nutrition coach in your pocket.
Join us on YouTube → Saturday Morning | Ride & Run Faster and our growing Saturday User Hub

H as in Hydrate?? :-)

---

#######
My Blog

Have you been checked for diabetes?

I have never been checked for diabetes