Average liquid intake

Page may contain affiliate links. Please see terms for details.

double_dd

Über Member
I carry 2 500ml bottles on longer rides. One is plain water and the other electrolyte.

Is there an optimum amount of water to drink per hour to keep hydrated?
 

MikeG

Guru
Location
Suffolk
Yep: the same amount as you lose.

Unfortunately, that is completely individual, and varies with your fitness, the terrain, and the weather.
 

MikeW-71

Veteran
Location
Carlisle
The usual ballpark figure seems to be 500ml per hour, which assumes you are working quite hard. You might need more or less than that depending how much you are sweating.
 
OP
OP
double_dd

double_dd

Über Member
Yeh I know it's whatever I need. But...I feel like by the time I'm thirsty I'm already slightly dehydrated so I started to drink even when I'm not thirsty. But equally don't want to take too much on.

I too heard the 500ml per hour and I struggle to take that much on do I think I'll drop it a little.
 

w00hoo_kent

One of the 64K
General thinking is that you feel thirsty quite a while after you need hydration. The body is pretty crap at telling you that you need liquid (not helped by the brain being good at deciphering the messages as 'you're hungry') so for most people by the time it gets through to you it's more important than it ought to be.

If at the moment you are drinking and don't get to the feeling thirsty stage you're probably pretty close to what you need. If you're worried try cutting it back a bit and see if you start feeling thirsty that point means you've cut back a little too much. If you are feeling thirsty with your current regime, then step it up a little.

There are loads of factors that it depends on so it will be different ride to ride. Find what you're comfortable with, use that as a baseline to work around and just make sure you don't end up with no liquid at all.
 

MikeG

Guru
Location
Suffolk
I'm afraid you guys are peddling old wives tales.

The myth of "by the time you are thirsty it is too late" ( quote:"the body is crap at telling you when you need liquid") is just that, a myth. You (and I) were suckered by the advertising of the sports drinks industry, and, somehow, it seems to have stuck. There is absolutely no evidence whatsoever that thirst is a bad indicator of liquid requirements.

Did you know that more people have died of excess hydration during marathons than have died of dehydration? Because precisely zero people have died of dehydration during the big city marathons over the last 30-odd years they've been running, and people die reasonably regularly through over-drinking. Yep, believe it or not, you can kill yourself with water.

There is a limit to what your body can absorb. This is why "little and often" is the golden rule. We have been repeatedly told that we need lots of fancy "sports" drinks, and we let the buggers get away with that crap, uncritically, until very recently. Luckily there are now more and more people studying this stuff. The rehydration myth was debunked recently on TV in that series where a doctor looked at all sorts of health myths. A few seconds of googling "rehydration myth" will give you lots to think about, but here are one or two links to get you started. And some more. And more.

Those seeking an evidence-based approach to their nutrition and hydration should take a long hard look at what the science says, and not what the advertisers want you to believe.
 
Last edited:

w00hoo_kent

One of the 64K
Always happy to be corrected :-)
 
OP
OP
double_dd

double_dd

Über Member
Yep I'll have a good read of those links.

Although, a glance at the runners world link and it states:

" Then take in about two to three gulps (up to 230ml) every 15 to 20 minutes while you train"

To me this is the equivalent of saying 500ml an hour when sipping slowly.
 

MikeW-71

Veteran
Location
Carlisle
That's all I try to drink TBH. I use watered down fruit juice and take maybe half a mouthful about every 20 mins. Even when it's hot, a 750ml bottle can do me fine for 2 hours.
 

w00hoo_kent

One of the 64K
Yup, the short version of those that I've read (well, aside from the 10 myths which is basically "everything you think you know is wrong") is when you're thirsty, drink some water. Don't stress over how much.
 

maltloaf

Senior Member
Location
Gloucester
I find a 750ml bottle (with an electrolyte tab in) will last me around two hours maximum, at a highish intensity (150 to 170 bpm)

There is no science behind what I do, I just find that it works for me. Very roughly every 3 to 4 miles I take half a mouthful of drink. Little and often. It's not a rigid schedule, sometimes further and sometimes more often, but it's round about that rate and if I'm thirsty I drink. It's not a rule and I can drink what I want !

To bear this out I did a 100k a couple of weeks ago. 64 miles took me 3hrs 46min and I had just under half of the second bottle left.
 

nickyboy

Norven Mankey
Too many variables to give a definitive answer. Temperature, effort made, climbing
To give an example today I rode three and a half hours. 50 miles and 5,000ft of climbing. 23 degrees on average. I drank 3 litres and needed every drop. Hills make a big difference. Slow climbing speeds reduce evaporation so you heat up more and sweat more.
 
Top Bottom