Re-hydration

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Tim Bennet.

Entirely Average Member
Location
S of Kendal
When you say 'goes through me', well, unless you have the squits, the water must have hydrated you as the kidneys only remove fluids to form urine from the blood.

Only something that is diuretic (which incidentally beer isn't) can signal an increase in urine production without a corresponding increase in hydration levels.

Absorption occurs from the final part of the intestine / bowel region, so sports drinks that claim to 'speed up hydration' do so by increasing the speed at which the fluids are released from the stomach and pass through the early part of the intestine en route to the absorption zone. (Note: if trying to use a drip on a severely dehydrated patient where the veins have collapsed, you take the needle off the end and shove the tube up their arse. Gets fluids to the important part of the gut far quicker than by mouth)

Diarrhoea is the only indication that absorption itself is not happening, (hence the danger of tummy trouble in the tropics).

What you are perceiving to be dehydration the following day is either because you were massively dehydrated and there is only so much fluid (of any type) the body can absorb per hour, especially when asleep, (hence the use of drips on the TdF), or you worked really hard and you still have need to flush a lot of waste byproducts from your system).

One reasonable indication of dehydration levels (in addition to urine output and colour) is to weigh yourself before and after an exercise session. Any weight loss in kgs is the number of litres you have lost through dehydration.

The best remedy for all this is not to get dehydrated in the first place. One bike bottle an hour is about what can be absorbed, so keep up that intake before, during, and after exercise. Only when it's really stinking hot should any deficit occur. This is particularly the case on a bike where carrying bottles is easy.

Remember a 2 percent drop in hydration will lead to a 10 percent drop in performance.
 
OP
OP
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Crackle

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Tim Bennet. said:
Only something that is diuretic (which incidentally beer isn't)

really! I thought it was, hence, pub, beer, toilet....


Tim Bennet. said:
What you are perceiving to be dehydration the following day is either because you were massively dehydrated and there is only so much fluid (of any type) the body can absorb per hour, especially when asleep, (hence the use of drips on the TdF), or you worked really hard and you still have need to flush a lot of waste byproducts from your system).

I doubt I've worked really hard but to explain further. Yesterday was a case in point: Weather awful so went on the turbo, sipping water as I rode. Over the following couple of hours I drank two pints of water plus a couple of cups of tea. Resulting Urine was plentiful and clear. Didn't drink much after 8pm.

This morning, woke up, low urine levels, darker coloured and weight about 0.2/0.3Kg below where I expected.

This is not always the case but happens occasionally, That said yesterdays turbo session was a full mph faster than normal using a bigger gear. Factor?

On days when I'm not excercising, the next day morning urine levels are, unless I really haven't drunk enough, clear and plentiful.

Tim Bennet. said:
The best remedy for all this is not to get dehydrated in the first place. One bike bottle an hour is about what can be absorbed, so keep up that intake before, during, and after exercise. Only when it's really stinking hot should any deficit occur. This is particularly the case on a bike where carrying bottles is easy.

OK I am guilty of this. Unless the ride is over 20 miles long I don't take a water bottle: I will start.
 

fossyant

Ride It Like You Stole It!
Location
South Manchester
You've been asleep for many hours with no fluids, so likely to have darker colour wee.... - so long as you hydrate again then all's fine.

I take water on my commute and , as said, about a bottle every hour, water or sports drinks.

I'll only use sports drinks, and diluted, in longer 2 plus hours rides now - water for up to that and maybe a banana. In summer then the sports drinks are full strength.
 

Blue

Legendary Member
Location
N Ireland
Crackle said:
. After a certain point the water just 'goes through me' so I'm looking for alternatives.

A 2006 report in the International Journal of Sport Nutrition and Exercise Metabolism suggested chocolate milk as a recovery drink and a 2006 report from Loughborough suggested that fluid loss due to urination was greater when using water or a sports drink for recovery as compared to milk.

I use a drink of 1/2 smoothie and 1/2 carbonated water myself.
 

Blue

Legendary Member
Location
N Ireland
Crackle said:
. After a certain point the water just 'goes through me' so I'm looking for alternatives.

A 2006 report in the International Journal of Sport Nutrition and Exercise Metabolism suggested chocolate milk as a recovery drink and a 2006 report from Loughborough suggested that fluid loss due to urination was greater when using water or a sports drink for recovery as compared to milk.

I use a drink of 1/2 smoothie and 1/2 carbonated water myself.
 
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