# can you drink too much water during a ride?



## azimiut (Feb 21, 2014)

So my wife, a friend, and I have been riding. The other day we did a 20 mile ride. not a lot of climbing. pretty easy. It was not hot at all, maybe mid 70s. I drank under a litre of water, my friend about the same. my wife killed her 3 litre water pack and both water bottles. I said you drink too much water. she said thats what she needed to drink. wasnt sick or anything. Is it a person to person thing? I am used to physical activity. I work outside in comercial landscape in Phoenix. My wife works in an office. Am i not drinking enough or is she drinking too much?


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## dave54 (Jul 1, 2003)

Did she vomit it back up? Did she hear a sloshing sound? Did she pass out from hyponatremia?
If no, then don't worry about it. She probably needed more than you.


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## azimiut (Feb 21, 2014)

No she had no issues. Felt fine. Just to me seems like a lot of water


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## drwx (Jun 4, 2011)

I read somewhere a while back that you are just more efficient at using water when you're in better shape. I'm just a guy though and have no scientific data.

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## 274898 (Nov 29, 2005)

Yes, you can drink too much water and is very detrimental and can even cause death. It is just as bad as dehydration. There are several articles on Hyponatremia or overhydration that describes what happens. I have experienced it a few times. You feel thirsty but you are bloated and there is tons of water sloshing in your stomach. You also feel just beat down or feel like you are bonking.


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## azimiut (Feb 21, 2014)

drwx said:


> I read somewhere a while back that you are just more efficient at using water when you're in better shape. I'm just a guy though and have no scientific data.
> 
> Sent from my Pixel XL using Tapatalk


I'll accept that lol


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## LyNx (Oct 26, 2004)

Most definitely you can drink too much water, as said it's called hyponatremia and what is does is dilute your electrolyte/mineral stores and in severe cases, as said can cause death. You mention the temps and distance, but not how long the ride was and that's an important thing, especially for someone who does spend their days outside working in the heat, but instead in an AC office. 

For us down here, we never get below 75F/24C on a day unless it's raining and seriously overcast, so I will normally tell people who aren't accustomed to this heat that you want to be drinking about 20-24oz of water an hour. Now to me, that temp is downright cool, maybe even chily, so on days like that, I will probably drink half the water I normally would on as compared to our more regular 86F/30C > heat with heat index regularly over 104F/40C. Easiest way to know if you're properly hydrated is to keep an eye on how much or if you P, if you're out on a ride and you don't need to P at all and it's hot, then most likely you're slightly dehydrated or maybe just good, if you P at least once, then you're good, if you have to stop to P several times an hour, yeah you're over hydrated or have a serious bladder issue, either way, not good.


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## azimiut (Feb 21, 2014)

the ride was about 2 hours long. didnt have to go until we got back to the trail head. I have a hard time drinking water when its cool out like 85 or less. but come summer working one day I think I drank 3 gallons of water in 8 hours. but it was 118 that day. I also put electrolite tabs in my water in the summer which helps alot.


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## J.B. Weld (Aug 13, 2012)

I always drink more when I'm not so fit but ~6 bottles of water on a 2 hour ride does seem a little excessive at those temps. Maybe that 3 liter bladder wasn't full? Anyway she felt fine so it doesn't seem like anything to worry about.


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## LyNx (Oct 26, 2004)

Yeah, even unfit, that's a crap load of water to drink in just 2 hours, like double what I'd consider normal or on the heavier side of intake, even for our tropical temps. If she wasn't stopping every 10 minutes for a bathroom break, then maybe she was somewhat dehydrated to begin with and the outdoor exercise really made her body try to fix itself. Did the bottles only have in water or was there drink mix, electrolyte tabs etc in there?



azimiut said:


> the ride was about 2 hours long. didnt have to go until we got back to the trail head. I have a hard time drinking water when its cool out like 85 or less. but come summer working one day I think I drank 3 gallons of water in 8 hours. but it was 118 that day. I also put electrolite tabs in my water in the summer which helps alot.


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## drwx (Jun 4, 2011)

I drank a complete 2 liter bladder of water in my second year of riding. It was around a 2 hour ride and 110 degrees. You have to drink a lot more than 3 liters of water to have problems. Commercials have convinced amateur athletes that they need electrolytes, it's got what plants crave. In reality, everything I've ever read from reputable sources is that most Americans get a **** ton of salt in their diets anyway and usually aren't at risk.

Ymmv


I'm not a doctor, but my username does start with dr.

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## Mr Pig (Jun 25, 2008)

aliikane said:


> Yes, you can drink too much water and is very detrimental and can even cause death.


But just avoid staying too long at the bottom of the pool and you're good.

I drink a lot of water. On a long ride three-liters or more. On the same ride my son only drinks about 500ml.


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## azimiut (Feb 21, 2014)

she puts electrolyte tabs in her bottles. but only water in the pack. she does drink alot of water on a ride, but that day she must have been dehydrated prior to the ride. we just finished a 3 hour ride and she drank about 2 litres and bottle with mix in it. but it was much colder, around 48-50


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## Joules (Oct 12, 2005)

Weigh yourself before and after riding. Any difference is water. If you or your wife weigh more after riding than before, you drank more than you sweated out, and vice versa. 

Moderate temps, and I assume low humidity since it's Phoenix, I find I sweat a lot more than I realize and after a 2 hour ride will be a pound or 2 lighter than I started. 
That's not a concrete, if you're not exactly the same weight as you started you're drinking too much or too little, rule. Just some info. If your wife drank 4 liters of water and came home 8# heavier than she started, yeah probably too much. If you're 10# lighter than you started, you probably could stand to drink more. If it's <2-3# either way, and you feel ok after, it's probably fine.


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## azimiut (Feb 21, 2014)

I actually usually weigh myself before and after for that reason. on that ride I was down about 4lbs.


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## drwx (Jun 4, 2011)

I weigh myself before and after my prd. =D

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## Sidewalk (May 18, 2015)

As already mentioned, you technically can drink too much water...but it's pretty rare.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/nati.../gIQA3imSDM_story.html?utm_term=.bfc7f8ffde56

Forcing yourself to over hydrate will cause the problem. If you drink to thirst, you are fine. We all have different sweat rates too.


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## dymen (May 10, 2018)

No way, when I drink too much water, I feel sick and my production falls.Besides, my legs become bigger like staffed with water. It's better for me to drink after the ride to compensate water balance


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## bachman1961 (Oct 9, 2013)

azimiut said:


> she puts electrolyte tabs in her bottles. but only water in the pack. she does drink alot of water on a ride, but that day she must have been dehydrated prior to the ride. we just finished a 3 hour ride and she drank about 2 litres and bottle with mix in it. but it was much colder, around 48-50


Good.

I'd seen a vid of a guy doing a big bike trip and either referring to himself or someone he knew that had a previous run-in with health issues, maybe hospitalization due to overhydration and loss of electrolytes.

Sloshing in the gut would probably make me feel like I might pitch it back up though. Only went that far a few times.


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## DaleinTexas (Mar 27, 2016)

I had a friend die from hyponatremia, I was close myself. Some of what has been said is correct, BUT lets break it down a bit.


ITS NOT WATER THAT KILLS YOU, via sweating your body is losing sodium, potassium,chloride, calcium, magnesium, bicarbonate, phosphate, sulfate. Your body has to have them in the correct balence to work (replace what your loosing). It is a misconception that drinking to much water is what kills you, what kills you is not replacing your electrolytes. You can drink all the water you want, just make damn sure that you also drink something that contains electrolytes also. Your body will filter what it needs and expel the rest, Nuun, Tailwind, Salt tabs all work great at replacing what your expending.


My friend was drinking plenty of water to stay hydrated but neglected to replace the electrolytes he was expending, same for me. One second he was talking the next he just fell over, and was very aware something was wrong. Less than a hour later he was in a coma in the hospital and I was being administered Pedialyte orally and 3 liters of "Ringers" to get me going in the right direction. 2 Days later he passed away, moral of the story..

"Drink plenty of liquids that also contain electrolytes"


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## primoz (Jun 7, 2006)

aliikane said:


> Yes, you can drink too much water and is very detrimental and can even cause death.


It's true, and there's some 80 cases in history of mankind recorded where hyponatremia was the cause of death. So it's really something to worry about 
Joking a side, yes you can drink too much water, but except for going to pee a bit more often there's no side effects. For real issues related to "drinking too much water", you will need to empty nearby lake, which normal people just don't do 
So don't worry and just ride. Liter or two "too much" is no big deal, and in most cases it's actually you drinking too little and not your wife too much. Dehydration is way more common then over hydration.


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## Fairbanks007 (Sep 5, 2009)

In order for over hydration to be an issue, you almost have to have your mind set on drinking *large* amounts of water in a *short* amount of time. A while back a woman died after participating in a radio station's promotion where the object was to see how much water you could drink without going to the bathroom: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/woman-dies-after-water-drinking-contest/

A couple of people have mentioned weighing yourself before and after activity. That's a good idea, just a 2% reduction in your weight from water loss decreases performance. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10198142 It's not unusual for be to me 6-8 lbs lighter (3-4% body weight for my fat ass) after a hot ride or hard judo training session. That's despite drinking more than 2L of water over 90 minutes to 2 hours.

The color of your urine is a reliable indicator of hydration status (assuming you're not mega-dosing something or other). Urine should be light yellow or clear, the darker it is the less well hydrated you are.


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## dd61999 (Aug 5, 2008)

I sweat a lot and require lots of water

After switching to Gatorade in my camelbak. I drink 1/2 to 2/3 less liquids then straight water and don’t “bonk” on the same trails


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## cyclelicious (Oct 7, 2008)

If you don't like to drink It, Eat It!


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## BrianR60077 (Jul 25, 2018)

usually i never drink water, usually coke, coffee, tea, lemonaide with and without vodka but absolutely hate plain water


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## sturge (Feb 22, 2009)

My average ride is 2hrs and I push pretty hard and sweat a lot. I don't even bring water unless it's a super hot/humid day. When I do have a water bottle, I never use up more than 1/3 to 1/2 a bottle. For 2 hours I am into the routine of powering through the ride and don't really feel the need for water. Most of the guys I ride with use some water but nothing crazy.

We've had a few newer riders that have joined us over the years. I've seen them drain an entire water bottle or camelback and are looking for more before the ride is half done! Usually we don't see them again...


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## J.B. Weld (Aug 13, 2012)

sturge said:


> We've had a few newer riders that have joined us over the years. I've seen them drain an entire water bottle or camelback and are looking for more before the ride is half done! Usually we don't see them again...


I drain approximately 1 bottle of water per hour and I've been riding for years.


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## Kuttermax (Sep 4, 2011)

Water intoxication, as mentioned, is rare but can happen. Usually its when someone really forcibly tries to down as much water as possible (likely what happened to the radio station contestant). This overwhelms the kidneys ability to keep up and hyponatremia (low blood sodium) can develop, which can be dangerous.

Similarly, the thought why some athletes run in problems if they only drink water is that they are also losing sodium sweating, so it could lead to hyponatremia. The body will try to adapt as best as it can, but in extreme situations dangerous hyponatremia can occur.

Another factor is what is your body used to. For example, if someone normally drinks 2 - 3 liters of fluid a day during a normal workday, there body is going to be adapted to this and better able to handle large amounts of fluid. Usually these individuals start to feel very thirsty and crave fluid if they suddenly decrease their intake. On the other hand, people who only drink a glass or two of fluid a day are not going to be able to handle large volume increases as easily. They often don't feel well when suddenly trying to drink a lot more than they are used to. It takes a while for the body to adapt. 

The comment about weighing yourself before and after is a good one. That really helps one appreciate just how much fluid can be lost on a long ride on a hot day.


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