# What's the best way to drink water at maxheartrate?



## bamwa (Mar 15, 2010)

Hello folks, is there some secret ninja method for drinking water whilst huffing and puffing
on super hard climbs or while racing? Often when riding hard, taking a swig of the camelback can get my breathing rhythm way off and I need to find the groove again which takes a sec or two. I've tried littler sips but still sometimes I have to pick between drinking water or huffing air! I thought one of you more experienced racers might have a strategy
for drinking water while close to or at max heart rate.
Is there some way to drink water that won't throw off my breathing rate/rhythm?
What do you all do?

Thanks for any suggestions.:thumbsup:


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## xgjokax (Sep 2, 2010)

I drink out of bottles and only grab for them on straight flats, longer climbs or in the feeding zones. I find myself more relaxed and in control in those spots. I think its probably different for each person also keep in mind that I am no expert or ninja by any means.
Good luck


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## dontheclysdale (Mar 12, 2008)

hahaha, I thought I was the only one with this problem. Short squirts of water from the bottle for me. Actually, as I've gotten a better base built, my heartrate doesn't seem to run as high and it's easier to drink and breath. The real chore is taking in gel or blocks while breathing hard. I like the gel blocks but in an XC race I can't breath and chew and concentrate on the trail so I use a flask of gel.


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## Damitletsride! (Feb 4, 2004)

Why would you just be drinking water if you were riding at near max heart rate??  

Anyway, I just use bottles as well. It can be hard, but you need to get the fluids down ya know.


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## mooddude (Jun 23, 2008)

I have the same problem, yet my solution for race day is to pre-ride and think about where I want to drink and where I want to pass people. Once I have a plan on where to drink, I pre-ride it again and try to drink in those spots and pick out land marks a few minutes before so I know when they are coming up. This way during the race, I see the land mark, get my heart in control and then drink at those spots. Only way I have found that works.

Oh and I try to plan a drink spot where someone can't pass me


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## Combatcm (Nov 15, 2005)

On the trainer i noticed that if i don't take a full breath before i drink my muscles burn for the next minute. So i either slow a little or take a deep breath.


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## Whambat (Jul 30, 2006)

dontheclysdale said:


> The real chore is taking in gel or blocks while breathing hard. I like the gel blocks but in an XC race I can't breath and chew and concentrate on the trail so I use a flask of gel.


So true, that's why I've had to generally switch to all liquid nutrition on shorter races. On longer races, over 2-3 hrs, I'm pacing a little slower and can manage gels better.


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## bcaronongan (Nov 8, 2006)

i take a drink before the climbs and after my hr is down. 

otherwise, i've endo'd before trying to drink at max hr on a freakin' flat section of trail that was straight as an arrow.


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## Crosstown Stew (Aug 16, 2008)

Get water bottles. There is a reason why experienced riders for the most part use em. 

Camel backs are good for all day events or endurance races with no support but not for regular racing. 

It should only take several rides to get the hang of using them.


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## rob_co2 (Apr 23, 2004)

Crosstown Stew said:


> Get water bottles. There is a reason why experienced riders for the most part use em.
> 
> Camel backs are good for all day events or endurance races with no support but not for regular racing.


I do just the opposite. 
Most XC courses (especially at the aggressive pace) have very few spots that allow you to drink from a bottle, if you miss a couple of those opportunities it will be easy to get behind on hydration/calories. If there is a smooth, open section then I stand up and hammer it to get my speed up (which rockets the HR) and makes it hard to drink after. 
With a pack it just takes a fraction of a second to put the bite valve in your mouth, and then you can just leave it there while still breathing and riding the technical stuff, so you just grab a sip whenever you desire. The 40oz packs are just right for a 2 hour race, and less likely to get mud/dust on the valve.

The easy pace of an endurance race makes it easier to reach a bottle more of the time, and there are more likely to be stretches of connecting roads. Plus you can just throw them down and pick up a new one without the lengthy stop and take off and take out and refill and put back, etc of a pack. And wearing that thing for 5 hours doesn't sound appealing to me.


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## bamwa (Mar 15, 2010)

Thanks for your suggestions everyone, and we are getting warmer but no one has hit the nail on the head.

Even if drinking from a bottle, one would still need to wait a couple breaths while the water goes down, and then have to catch their breath from that also, so I don't think the method of delivery is as important as the timing.(I use bottles on my road rides, and like the fact that camelbacks keep the hands on the bars during a bumpy race).

I usually wait until I crest a hill and the breathing slows down a little to drink, but for instance in Colorado recently the climbs were several miles up and I couldn't wait that long to rehydrate(30 minutes).

I think (without tempting dirty remarks) that I should maybe take the water into my mouth, let it warm to body temp a little, and then let the water slide down my throat strategically between gasps in little bits (if this is possible) instead of one huge gulp
that makes me pause for a breath.

There has to be a method someone uses where they are timing correctly, sip, breathe,sip,breathe,sip, breathe. Instead of chug chug, huff, huff, huff and returning to the prior respiratory rate.


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## The Novice (Jan 25, 2011)

this is a great question. Our first race of the year offers little to no room to take out a bottle and drink without risk of going over the bars. maybe wear the cambleback on these type of races and the bottles on courses offering better places to drink. 
I know the pro's use bottles, but they also get paid to ride their bike!


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## Crosstown Stew (Aug 16, 2008)

bamwa1 have you tired breathing through your nose while trying to drink. I could see how if I was trying to breath through my mouth, then took a gulp of water, it would throw things off. It's one of those things I've never really thought about so it's tough to say what might work. Best of luck figuring it out


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## Gatorback (Oct 9, 2007)

If you are really at max heart rate, I wouldn't even try to drink. The bottom line is you have got to pick your spots. You are correct that it takes a couple of breaths away to swallow the liquid. You can't afford that when you are at or near max effort. I wouldn't drink at the top of hard climbs because your body is usually trying to recover from oxygen debt and you need to keep breathing hard to recover as fast as possible. 

I'll give you some analogies from my running days. Running is a good place to look because effort is so consistent compared to the bike--which is almost always more variable in effort. When you race at a very high, consistent effort, it is very hard to drink. 

In a 5k race, when running very, very hard for probably 15-20 minutes for most quality runners--you simply don't drink. The effort is too high and the race is so short the fluids don't really matter. Water handed to those runners is typically dumped on their head or face. 

In a 10k road race, the best runners who are going sub 40 minutes (and the elite even sub 30 minutes) will drink nothing or very little--a small sip. The effort is still too high. The exception will be really hot days, but in that case you'd get down some small sips and heart rate would rise for a little after because of missed breaths. But if you have to drink, it is going to affect how you feel. Typically you can recovery because you only go anaerobic for a short period of time--kind of like going anaerobic in a bike race when climbing a hill or powering through a rough section of trail. 

XC races are probably an hour for beginners and up to 2.5 hours for elite and pro riders. When racing that long, you typically are not at your limit--at least not all the time. Pick your spots, know where you plan to drink, and be disciplined about it. The same is true for getting down some gel. 

I'd suggest that figuring our when and where to drink and/or down some calories is an important part of race strategy. You should give it as much attention before the race as you do picking lines out on the course.


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## bamwa (Mar 15, 2010)

Well I had a race sunday and a preride saturday where I tried a few different things as far as drinking/breathing at race pace. It seems if I get water in my mouth and be patient and wait, I naturally find I chance to get it down. Maybe I'm being too anal about whether I gulp on the inhale or exhale. During the race, I just waited for spots where I wasn't too out of breath to drink so it wasn't much of a problem.

Thanks for the runners' comparisons. When in a rhythm they can't afford to get "off beat" or they get beat. They might hold the answer I'm looking for. I will keep experimenting on two wheels though.

As for breathing through mouth vs. nose, when going full out I think I do some of both. I remember during my childhood track years being told to breath in through the nose and out through the mouth, does that still ring true?

Thanks folks!


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## LandSpeed (May 27, 2007)

You could always plug yourself in to a portable IV. Tape the bag to your helmet, use one of those quick shut off valves, so that all you'd have to do is hit the switch to start getting an instafeed. Bypass your stomach altogether. They might think you're doping, but you can have the last laugh, bro. You can have the last laugh.


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## Gatorback (Oct 9, 2007)

bamwa1 said:


> Well I had a race sunday and a preride saturday where I tried a few different things as far as drinking/breathing at race pace. It seems if I get water in my mouth and be patient and wait, I naturally find I chance to get it down. Maybe I'm being too anal about whether I gulp on the inhale or exhale. During the race, I just waited for spots where I wasn't too out of breath to drink so it wasn't much of a problem.
> 
> Thanks for the runners' comparisons. When in a rhythm they can't afford to get "off beat" or they get beat. They might hold the answer I'm looking for. I will keep experimenting on two wheels though.
> 
> ...


I had learned to drink as a runner, which is tough at race pace. It was even tough for me at half-marthon race pace. The consistent effort in running presents its problems.

However, you have probably learned already that drinking on the mountain bike presents its own and altogether different set of problems. When running, if you run well, you are not bouncing up and down and can hold onto a dixie cup for a little while so you can take your time. Everyone is also pretty much drinking at the same time because you drink at the designated aid stations where somebody hands the drink to you.

On the mountain bike, we of course have the added problems of leaning down to get the bottle pulled out, drink enough when it is out, put the bottle back down, and keep from getting twisted up on a rock or root at the same time. And of course when there is a great stretch of fire road or buff single track, you've also got to worry that your competition will use that spot as a place to drop the hammer and get away.

Learning to drink on the mountain bike has not been easy for me.


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## MrEconomics (Aug 23, 2004)

I never drink at max HR. I think that would make breathing even harder. If you pre-rode the trail, you should already have hydration spots picked out. Normally on a long climb or on a flat. NEVER on a downhill or at the crest of a hill.


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## Poncharelli (Jan 13, 2005)

Any time lost slowing down a bit to drink is less than any time gap to the pre- or proceeding rider at the end. 

Plus most people are slowing down a bit to drink, so everyone has the same disadvantage. 

Except for the guy with the intravenous bag. (that was hilarious).


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## pljam67 (Jun 3, 2010)

Don't know if it was mentioned, but learning to drink left handed helped me a lot. That leaves the right hand available to shift or modulate the rear brake. When I first started riding, I drank right handed and thinks got pretty shaky trying to work the front brake and keep the bike under control with my non-dominant hand.


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## Rod (Oct 17, 2007)

Gatorback said:


> If you are really at max heart rate, I wouldn't even try to drink. The bottom line is you have got to pick your spots. You are correct that it takes a couple of breaths away to swallow the liquid. You can't afford that when you are at or near max effort. I wouldn't drink at the top of hard climbs because your body is usually trying to recover from oxygen debt and you need to keep breathing hard to recover as fast as possible.
> 
> I
> XC races are probably an hour for beginners and up to 2.5 hours for elite and pro riders. When racing that long, you typically are not at your limit--at least not all the time. Pick your spots, know where you plan to drink, and be disciplined about it. The same is true for getting down some gel.
> ...


Very well said. I don't try to drink at max heart rate.


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