So based on this, you know you need to drink water. Now the question is how much do you drink?
What is the standard? For the sake of argument, we’re going to say that one water bottle = one pint, by single water bottle I mean 16oz/473ml. I have water bottles that hold more but we’re going to use the smaller water bottles as benchmark. So this means that when you see some sports drink that advertises itself as 1 liter, you will know that it means about 2 water bottles full. You will also know that losing 1 pound (~.5kg) means about 1 water bottle in loss. One liter is about 2 pounds (~1kg).
The hole is larger than the spout. When you�re exercising, your body simply cannot replenish the electrolytes and calories at the rate you�re burning them. Evaporation from your sweat is much faster than you can drink. Later in this article we will discuss what happened in a study of ultra-marathoners who have tried to over-hydrate only to have hindered performance through a dilution of electrolytes and sodium, but we will discuss this later.
What you’re using. Using averages, you lose about 1 liter (2 water bottles) of fluid per one hour of exercise. When I go on a bike ride on our local and world famous American River Bike Trail, I generally ride between 2~3 hours, so from the time I leave my house to the time I get back, I lose about 3 liters of water; more if it emotional and clammy, less if its cold and dry. I’m in good aerobic shape so I have about 90 minutes of glycogen (sugar) stored in my muscles; if you’re in fairly decent shape, you have about the same. If not, you could take about 30 minutes off that. If you’re an ultra endurance athlete, you could add about 30 minutes to that time. If you’re a Lance Armstrong quality athlete, you could add another 15 minutes to that time. (more…)