[MischaHY]

Or lack thereof. I basically never feel thirsty except for when doing sport and often feel like I have to manage water intake completely mechanically. Is there anything I could be doing in 'normal life' that might be contributing to/affecting this? I probably instinctively get 2 litres which feels like nowhere near enough for my body size and activity level and is presumably not optimal neurologically either.

[teestub]

Are you showing signs of dehydration, like is your urine colour ok? How much water people need seems to be v variable so would maybe look at symptoms rather than concentrating on an amount.

[moose]

Or lack thereof. I basically never feel thirsty except for when doing sport and often feel like I have to manage water intake completely mechanically. Is there anything I could be doing in 'normal life' that might be contributing to/affecting this? I probably instinctively get 2 litres which feels like nowhere near enough for my body size and activity level and is presumably not optimal neurologically either.

I'm similar - I usually have a couple of mugs of coffee in the morning and then nothing until gin o'clock in the evening.  I usually do without any drinks during bouldering sessions, except if I'm outdoors and there's a slog of a walk-in.  I wonder if it's hormonal - higher vasopressin levels than the norm, so you lose less water to urination?

[Adam Lincoln]

Try not to drink just water when exercising as it just goes straight through system. Get some electrolytes in or at least some salt in there as well.

[webbo]

Try not to drink just water when exercising as it just goes straight through system. Get some electrolytes in or at least some salt in there as well.

I think you’ve been reading too many sport drink adverts Adam. They drink mainly water in professional cycling without having to stop for a pee every 5 minutes.

[webbo]

Or lack thereof. I basically never feel thirsty except for when doing sport and often feel like I have to manage water intake completely mechanically. Is there anything I could be doing in 'normal life' that might be contributing to/affecting this? I probably instinctively get 2 litres which feels like nowhere near enough for my body size and activity level and is presumably not optimal neurologically either.

I'm similar - I usually have a couple of mugs of coffee in the morning and then nothing until gin o'clock in the evening.  I usually do without any drinks during bouldering sessions, except if I'm outdoors and there's a slog of a walk-in.  I wonder if it's hormonal - higher vasopressin levels than the norm, so you lose less water to urination?

Google The water myth which explains why not everybody has to drink 2 litres of fluid a day.

[Adam Lincoln]

Try not to drink just water when exercising as it just goes straight through system. Get some electrolytes in or at least some salt in there as well.

I think you’ve been reading too many sport drink adverts Adam. They drink mainly water in professional cycling without having to stop for a pee every 5 minutes.

Thats bollocks

I dont believe road.cc mag is wrong.

https://road.cc/content/feature/123374-nutrition-tour-de-france-rider

https://www.welovecycling.com/wide/2018/07/05/the-bottle-what-do-the-pros-drink/

I dont believe for one minute tour de france competitors only drink water

[webbo]

So they are pouring sport drink over their heads to cool down.

[Adam Lincoln]

So they are pouring sport drink over their heads to cool down.

All i took from those articles was that they used electorlytes…. Which you said they didnt use?

[webbo]

So they are pouring sport drink over their heads to cool down.

All i took from those articles was that they used electorlytes…. Which you said they didnt use?

I said they mainly use water. Road cc and other magazine type web sites are really just advertising stuff, how often do you see a bad review. They will have you using 4 gels an hour to do a 4 hour zone 2 ride.

[webbo]

Try not to drink just water when exercising as it just goes straight through system. Get some electrolytes in or at least some salt in there as well.

I think you’ve been reading too many sport drink adverts Adam. They drink mainly water in professional cycling without having to stop for a pee every 5 minutes.

Thats bollocks

I dont believe road.cc mag is wrong.

https://road.cc/content/feature/123374-nutrition-tour-de-france-rider

https://www.welovecycling.com/wide/2018/07/05/the-bottle-what-do-the-pros-drink/

I dont believe for one minute tour de france competitors only drink water

That road cc article reports that using too much salt can lead to fluid retention and weight gain.

[Adam Lincoln]

Try not to drink just water when exercising as it just goes straight through system. Get some electrolytes in or at least some salt in there as well.

I think you’ve been reading too many sport drink adverts Adam. They drink mainly water in professional cycling without having to stop for a pee every 5 minutes.

Thats bollocks

I dont believe road.cc mag is wrong.

https://road.cc/content/feature/123374-nutrition-tour-de-france-rider

https://www.welovecycling.com/wide/2018/07/05/the-bottle-what-do-the-pros-drink/

I dont believe for one minute tour de france competitors only drink water

That road cc article reports that using too much salt can lead to fluid retention and weight gain.

I only mentioned salt if you cant afford electrolytes, or dont have any to hand. Anyway, ill agree to disagree with you about thirst.

[Johnny Brown]

I basically never feel thirsty except for when doing sport and often feel like I have to manage water intake completely mechanically. Is there anything I could be doing in 'normal life' that might be contributing to/affecting this?

Since passing my mid-thirties I find basic feelings like thirst, hunger, tiredness, etc are much less clear, and are increasingly experienced as grumpiness. I don't think there's a cure.

[Adam Lincoln]

I basically never feel thirsty except for when doing sport and often feel like I have to manage water intake completely mechanically. Is there anything I could be doing in 'normal life' that might be contributing to/affecting this?

and are increasingly experienced as grumpiness. I don't think there's a cure.

Less interaction with rope techs will cure that

[SA Chris]

Or are you just getting increasingly grumpy with age in general and trying to attribute it to something?

[tomtom]

Our 8yo drinks barely 500ml a day. He goes for a wee in the morning and after school. Thats it. I know no other child like it.

Despite constant badgering he just isn’t interested in drinking (ie feels thirsty) and we have to sneak fluids in via lots of fruit, cucumber, extra milk in his cereal etc..

We’ve given up trying to make him drink and just accept that he’s - different!

On the other end of the spectrum - I’ve a friend who suffered a minor brain injury in a car accident and now feels perma thirsty! He’ll readily down a few pints of whatever is in front of him (water or beer) - insatiable thirst.

[Paul B]

I said they mainly use water. Road cc and other magazine type web sites are really just advertising stuff, how often do you see a bad review. They will have you using 4 gels an hour to do a 4 hour zone 2 ride.

I'm sure they drink a lot of water (and dose bottles over their head when they have spare) but they're also using sports drinks. Also, when it's hot, you can see the salt rivers on their clothing. That's going to need to be replaced! I'm currently riding with a dietician who has worked with both AFL teams here in Adelaide and he didn't ridicule me searching the city to find some form of sports drink (I ended up with Staminade).

I think if you're consuming >90g of carbs/hr you're going to need to rely on sports supplements in some form, such as Beta Fuel (or Rocket Fuel). From SIS:

As an endurance athlete, meaning your events typically last more than two hours, you need to take in between 80-120g of carbohydrate per hour. The
Science in Sport Beta Fuel Dual Source Energy Drink delivers an optimised 80g of carbohydrate in a single, convenient isotonic fuelling solution with minimal risk of GI discomfort that enables you to maintain optimal energy levels.

There are videos online from team chefs (other than Sky) showing how to make these drinks yourself (with a soup cooker!). There are also videos of Harry Sweeney (EF) training and logging his carb consumption via his head unit (i.e. 1 bottle, 1 gel etc.) and it calculating whether he was on a deficit or otherwise. The recent EF video showed the team soigneurs hosing powder into many many bottles (that obviously doesn't mean they all get used) etc.

I was always quite resistant to gels as I just wasn't fond of the concept, but my mind was changed when I took one 10mins out from Hardknott and it was a revelation in how good I felt (good isn't perhaps the correct word, better may be fairer).

Anyway, how do you weirdos not consume at least 10 cups of tea/coffee to get through your working day? 

[webbo]

There’s a big difference in the carbs you need to consume if your racing  rather doing the Wednesday ride with the other geriatric’s 

[Paul B]

There’s a big difference in the carbs you need to consume if your racing  rather doing the Wednesday ride with the other geriatric’s 

Absolutely, but there isn't a soigneur following me around with bottle/gels refill/replacements either. I'd suspect even starting in the coffee shop ( ) and ending in the coffee shop ( ) it's unlikely on my weekend rides I'm managing to consume anywhere near what's 'required' to replace my expended energy (or that I'm drinking enough).

[Ballsofcottonwool]

I think if you're consuming >90g of carbs/hr you're going to need to rely on sports supplements in some form, such as Beta Fuel (or Rocket Fuel). From SIS:

100g/hr using regular granulated sugar and pinch of sea salt is much easier on my wallet and avoids the nasty taste of synthetic flavourings found in commercial offerings.

[Fultonius]

Our 8yo drinks barely 500ml a day. He goes for a wee in the morning and after school. Thats it. I know no other child like it.

This is me. I'm basically a camel.

I often drink an espresso for breakfast, another for lunch. I'll have the odd sip of water here or there, rarely thirsty, rarely feel any negative effects of dehydration.

When planning for doing Zodiac my mate wanted 5L per day, I wanted 2.5. We settled on 3.5L and we topped out with about 2 gallons spare.

Again, same guy in the bugs 2 years ago still drinks about 2L more than me a day.

If unconsciously decide the drink more (because it's good for you) I basically just pee it all out pretty much straight away.

For some reason I'm just incredibly water efficient.

[Will Hunt]

Our 8yo drinks barely 500ml a day. He goes for a wee in the morning and after school. Thats it. I know no other child like it.

Despite constant badgering he just isn’t interested in drinking (ie feels thirsty) and we have to sneak fluids in via lots of fruit, cucumber, extra milk in his cereal etc..

We’ve given up trying to make him drink and just accept that he’s - different!

We have a very similar experience. I'm not so fussed as I can remember going round to friends' houses as a kid and thinking they drank way more than me, so I understand there's variation in how much people drink. It drives my wife crazy - constant badgering is a good way of putting it!

I wonder if diet has anything to do with it. Breaking down carbs(?) releases water I believe.

[Paul B]

100g/hr using regular granulated sugar and pinch of sea salt is much easier on my wallet and avoids the nasty taste of synthetic flavourings found in commercial offerings.

Sure and like I said, if you want to go one further then you can cook up your own batch of rocket fuel etc. The point the was being made was if you want to consume that amount of carbs/hr it's unlikely you're just smashing water purely for convenience.

[sdm]

I think if you're consuming >90g of carbs/hr you're going to need to rely on sports supplements in some form, such as Beta Fuel (or Rocket Fuel). From SIS:

100g/hr using regular granulated sugar and pinch of sea salt is much easier on my wallet and avoids the nasty taste of synthetic flavourings found in commercial offerings.

It is impossible for the body to take on 100g an hour of granulated sugar.

There is a hard limit of ~60g an hour of glucose due to the rate that SGLT-1 can transport glucose from the intestine to the bloodstream. Taking on more than 60g of glucose per hour will just increase gastrointestinal problems while providing zero increase your available energy.

Until relatively recently, it was thought that 60g an hour was the absolute maximum that the body could digest. Then it was discovered that you could almost double this amount by consuming a combination of different sugars which use different proteins for absorption instead of SGLT-1.

This is why endurance athletes  now use a combination of glucose, fructose, and other sugars.

It's been a few posts since someone has recommended the Real Science of Sport podcast: anyone interested in learning more can listen to their recent episodes on fueling for endurance athletes.

They also did recent episodes on hydration for endurance athletes. If you listen to them, it is unlikely that you will be rushing out to buy any electrolyte drinks anytime soon.

[teestub]

Granulated sugar is sucrose rather than glucose, so I guess that 100g would be 50 glucose and 50 fructose?

[sdm]

Cheers for correcting my error.

Yeah, sucrose gets broken down into 50g of each. So 100g of sucrose would leave you 10g short of the 60g glucose limit but over the ~30g fructose limit.

For those really looking for marginal gains, I think maltodextrin is supposed to be the most efficient way to consume most of your glucose because it maximises the amount of glucose you can take in while minimising the gastrointestinal issues.

[Fultonius]

https://www.welovecycling.com/wide/2018/07/05/the-bottle-what-do-the-pros-drink/

I dont believe for one minute tour de france competitors only drink water

Neither do I..... ;-)

I wonder how many are taking ketones?

[chriss]

I have a pretty boring routine. I drink 500mm of warm water on my drive to work before eating. I'll bang down a coffee or two, then eat something head out to site & will average 1-2l of plain water during the day.

If I'm doing a long or hot run/ride
(MTB )I'll add some electorates & take it with me.  For a blast on the bike or say 10k run I'll not bother.

For what it's worth when I watch Road Racers I didn't consider water only PED's or hidden motors... It's a shame that punters like me only think about that. That said distance running is rife with drug cheats at the moment.

[webbo]

So out with the boomers Wednesday ride today. 2 coffees and a bowl of fruit and fibre for breakfast. Lunch stop at 48 miles cheese and pickle panini, 2 pints of Neck oil at 73 miles and 85 miles total completed.
2  500 cl bottles of sugar free apple squash on the bike which I didn’t finish.
All this on the back of shoulder surgery 9 weeks ago tomorrow which meant I hadn’t ride out side for 7 weeks. I did ride the turbo for 50 minutes 3 times a week for 50 minutes and w ent walking 3 times a week.
I think this sport nutrition is all smoke and mirrors 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

[Paul B]

I think this sport nutrition is all smoke and mirrors 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

I think it's all about convenience. I eat a tin of rice pudding for breakfast 4 times a week ATM #athletebychoice.