Hallo
Does anyone know if you can “train” yourself to drink less whilst doing sport? I tend to drink a lot of water all the time, and whilst riding go through probably at least a litre an hour or so depending on weather, how hard I’m riding etc. I suspect I sweat most of it out as I’m not going to the loo all the time. I don’t think it’s necessarily a case of being unfit either.

In a few months I’ll be doing a bit of riding through a desert where there is not so much water available so I was wondering if there was anyway to make my body need less, or is it just something intrinsic to me and I’ll just have accept that I’ll be lugging litres with me on the bike (which I would do anyway to be sure I suppose).

If you are drinking and not peeing, sounds like your body needs the water.

No doubt there are tips for riding in the deserts.

have a look at Elete electrolyte stuff you add to tap water. eletewater.co.uk I think. supposed to significantly reduce the volume of water you need to drink if IIRC. They used to have research they referred to to back up their claim.

I think all other scientific research indicates that trying to sweat less by reducing the volume of water is a bad thing. it’s what Tom Simpson used to do in his day, and look what happened to him. (OK there were other things involved in that, but basicaly his body overheated and wasn’t able to cool down by sweating)

Litre an hour seems a lot …….especially if you are drinking water all the time.

If you are not peeing it out your body must be using it up in sweating.

Yep, just drink less.

-1 damo2576 – have you ever been badly dehydrated or had heatstroke? Sweating is essential not optional, and to sweat you need to be hydrated.

We start riding at sunrise and by the time we finish the temperatures are typically nudging mid-30s.

On a 5hr ride I can get through 3 litres of water in a Camelbak (maybe 2.7698 litres if you allow for the fact that half of it is ice cubes and you can never quite get it completely full) and 1.5 litres of Energade (energy/electrolyte stuff). Pee not too dark on completion, but probably on the edge of mildly dehyrated.

I have noticed that if I overdo the Energade I get a terrible thirst later, presumably due to the salts. On the other hand, if I wear a dark t-shirt under my jersey I find it turns white, so definitely a balancing act to keep your salt levels right.

Also, if the climate is dry (like Botswana) you may not think you are sweating (or feel particularly hot) because the airflow evaporates it almost instantly, but if you stop you will suddenly drown, or possibly even go hyperthermic.

Is it practical to avoid riding in the heat of the day?

Do you normally drink a lot when you are not riding??

Could be that you aren’t drinking enough water when you aren’t exercising, so you’re normal state is slightly dehydrated. As soon as you start exercising, you need to drink loads to offset the dehydration before you started & also the requirements of the exercise. A litre an hour sounds like quite a bit if you then aren’t needing to pee it out.

Do you normally drink a lot when you are not riding??

this may be important.

i know that pro footballers are advised a pint an hours (or similar) for a week before a game (most of the season then)

roadie i know says the key to a good ride is 1/2 litre an hour all day before a ride.

I do the pre-hydration (for want of a better phrase) thing the day before and have light coloured wee when starting. Usually take a wee-stop an hour or two into a ride as well.

I suppose thinking about it, it’s probably just a litre an hour when it’s hot and in the winter probably more like 1 every two hours.

I tend to drink a fair amount all the time, at least a big glass of water a few times a day at work and quite a lot with meals, more than most people I know. I guess I might just be a thirsty person – I also normally drink a glass during the night or straight away in the morning.

I’ll try to stick to riding in the early mornings and evenings aswell as buying some large water-carrying article (or maybe just fill up one ortleib pannier full!)

Thanks for all the suggestions/answers.

(maybe 2.7698 litres if you allow for the fact that half of it is ice cubes and you can never quite get it completely full)

Why not put the Camelback in the freezer then top up with water before you leave increasing volume from 2.7698 to the full 3L. 😉

OP- I find I drink more when riding MTB than the road, maybe you could carry the water but just not drink it to see what the effect is.
Is the desert ride through an organisation, like Nissan Desierto, in which case there should be vehicle support and no need to carry so much.

You can train yourself to drink less.

The amount you drink is basically due to habit as thirst isn’t a great indicator of your need for water. If you’re used to sipping regularly during a ride, and you’re not stopping excessively to pee then you may well be drinking the “right” amount.

But it is possible to get used to running on less. Whether or not it’s a good idea is a debatable. Being dehydrated will reduce your performance but so will carrying lots of heavy water.

If you can get used to drinking less while you’re training, you can begin to recognise the signs of getting too dehydrated. Learning to listen to your body is key because you’re beginning to play a dangerous game.

I used to drink loads. 1L per hour on the bike and lots during the day. I have walked across the Anza Borego Desert, ridden the Iditarod Trail Invitational and The Tour Divide.

In all of those, I just couldn’t carry the ideal amount of water. So, well in advance, I would reduce the amount I drank while training. I could stretch things out so that I drank about 2/3 of what I had before – as long as I had the opportunity to fully rehydrate on a regular basis (daily, usually).

Just don’t mess about and get yourself fried in a desert with no chance of getting extra water!

Two pints would be my max on a long ride although I’ve done five on a “pootle”.

😉

Two pints would be my max on a long ride although I’ve done five on a “pootle”.

Ha, my max is a half!

Thanks for the input Aidan, I’ll see how it goes – maybe have a try in my spinning classes first. I’m doing a tour from LA to Death Valley and then into Arizona in spring but will be going from cold temperatures here to fairly warm there so I think it’ll take me a bit of time to adjust. I can’t drink so much during training rides here anyway as my bottles end up freezing.