Hydration and muscle recover?

I seem to have the idea that not drinking enough AFTER riding can contribute to eventual over-use injuries. I've done some searches and can't seem to find anything that confirms or denies that. I am probably not looking on the right sites...

I did note after my 100 minute ride last night that my weight was almost half a pound lower than when I started - though it certainly wasn't hot (48 degrees) and I did not seem to actually be sweating...though that doesn't mean much of itself. I also do not typically even notice sweating unless it is running down my face :rolleyes: I did have my 'bak with me and did drink, but I still forget sometimes, and still looking for that balance of drinking enough and too much ---- when I remember it at all...sigh

You know, I wish I'd bookmarked a citation, but I read recently that when they actually tested athletes after exercise, the weight loss thing was found NOT to be a good indication of hydration per se. Since glycogen is bound to so much water in the muscles and liver, when that's burned, the water is released into the bloodstream for the athlete to use in other tissues or sweat.

So you'd still need water with your recovery meal, when you're re-stocking glycogen (another reason why the instinct to reach for a smoothie is a good one), but maybe not as much during your workout as was previously thought.

Still chasing that balance myself ... water/sodium and protein are the two things I really need to get with a sports nutritionist about.

Good luck with finding a good one. The one I recently visited may understand things in general, but after seeing her calorie recommendations for long-ride days I question whether she really understands the demands of cycling. I told her exactly how I like to ride... I am broadening my own research, which helps a lot, but may eventually find someone else.

I tend to think that over hydration after the ride, along with a recovery meal and some electrolytes seems to help your body clear the lactic acid. I rarely finish a 28 ounce bottle unless the ride is over 3 hours long so the first thing I do when I get off the bike is to drink the bottle empty, fill it up with plain water and drink that alternately with my recovery drink. Of course I spend the afternoon "recycling" it.

I have to be pounding really hard to work up a sweat that I notice, although since I am a mouth breather, and tend to pant like a dog, I figure that I am burning up the liquid. I do drink before my mouth gets too dry to swallow, but the sweat rate is so deceiving. If the humidity is low, I don't sweat at all, if the humidity is high ( remember this is hot humid headwindy texas plains riding in the burbs of Houston) I leave wet spots and slime trails, just walking my bike down the driveway.

just my 2 cents worth of rambling.

Wouldn't it be nice if we could just trust our bodies and drink when we are thirsty and eat when we are hungry?

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Originally Posted by KnottedYet

Wouldn't it be nice if we could just trust our bodies and drink when we are thirsty and eat when we are hungry?

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Indeed - but when you have spent so many years ignoring both thirst and hunger, you get too accustomed to not being aware of either...