Drinking a lot of water...

[HailStorm]

Most days, I am able to down around a gallon of water (yes, I am doing enough cardio to justify it). Then there are days when I am unable to. Is this doing bad things to my body, going one day fully hydrated, next almost nothing?
~Ted

[Cinque]

What's up hailstorm, just want to throw my 2 cents in. I've been training for 18 years and am a freelance personal trainer on the side. No matter what anyone tells you always, I repeat always hydrate your body with water while hitting the weights or cardio. Your body is a machine that overheats when working out, what do you do but cool it down with water. Remember this fact by the time the human body feels thirsty it is already dehydrated. In short my man always hydrate your machine. Hope this helped out a bit.

[HailStorm]

Hey, thanks to you both. What I was really trying to find out is what kind of damage am I doing to my body (if any) by hydrating a lot one day, and next to nothing the next? Does it shock the system somehow? Would it be better to drink less if I know that the next day I can't down as much water?

[Cinque]

What's up hailstorm. Again you are doing immeasurable damage to your body if you hydrate one day and not the next, especially if this becomes a habit. Dehydration can compromise liver function and cause the liver to become overloaded with deadly toxins, remember everything we eat goes through the liver to be purified,water flushes these toxins out of the body. And yes you will shock the system because if the kidneys don't have enough water waste will sit in the bladder making you more susceptible to deadly infections. It also depends on how much you weigh too. Generally though 8-10 glasses a day is recommended. And no don't drink less one day so you can even out the next, you have to stay consistent everyday. Just remember hailstorm I am not an expert so like I tell my clients research this for yourself and come to your own conclusions, I'm just here trying to give you some helpful advice to prolong your life. Remember between 55 and 75% our adult body is water. Hope this helped out.

[ProWriter]

...Again you are doing immeasurable damage to your body if you hydrate one day and not the next, especially if this becomes a habit. Dehydration can compromise liver function and cause the liver to become overloaded with deadly toxins, remember everything we eat goes through the liver to be purified,water flushes these toxins out of the body. And yes you will shock the system because if the kidneys don't have enough water waste will sit in the bladder making you more susceptible to deadly infections. It also depends on how much you weigh too. Generally though 8-10 glasses a day is recommended. And no don't drink less one day so you can even out the next, you have to stay consistent everyday. Just remember hailstorm I am not an expert so like I tell my clients research this for yourself and come to your own conclusions, I'm just here trying to give you some helpful advice to prolong your life. Remember between 55 and 75% our adult body is water. Hope this helped out...

First, "immeasurable harm" is a very dramatic overstatement, and hardly something anybody could possibly know from what he posted. He did not say that he's depriving himself of water, just that he's unable to drink an entire gallon in a day.

Most days, I am able to down around a gallon of water (yes, I am doing enough cardio to justify it). Then there are days when I am unable to. Is this doing bad things to my body, going one day fully hydrated, next almost nothing?~Ted

Thirst is a homeostatic function, meaning it's self regulating: you automatically drink whatever amount of fluid your body needs for proper hydration, under most normal circumstances. There's no benefit to "super-hydrating" yourself just for the hell of it, and that may be why you're comparatively less thirsty the day after. On the other hand, there's no real risk drinking a gallon of water a day, either.

If you're very active and/or sweat a lot, you should drink some water before activity and before you feel thirsty, because the sensation of thirst lags a bit behind your actual measure of dehydration, and once you're thirsty, it's hard to catch up before performance or stamina suffers. You are not causing yourself medical harm or shortening your life by "only" drinking whatever your thirst dictates, especially if you're drinking a gallon of water every other day. My question is why are you purposely chugging more water than you need on those days?

[Cinque]

Okay,so maybe I overused that word a bit, excuse me, but I just don't want the young man to get into any bad habits especially if he progresses into the iron game,where he will definitely need to monitor his water intake. Like I said I am not an expert on this topic, but I have some knowledge on nutrition and bodybuilding that I think can help him along the way.

[HailStorm]

There's no benefit to "super-hydrating" yourself just for the hell of it, and that may be why you're comparatively less thirsty the day after. On the other hand, there's no real risk drinking a gallon of water a day, either.

If you're very active and/or sweat a lot, you should drink some water before activity and before you feel thirsty, because the sensation of thirst lags a bit behind your actual measure of dehydration, and once you're thirsty, it's hard to catch up before performance or stamina suffers. You are not causing yourself medical harm or shortening your life by "only" drinking whatever your thirst dictates, especially if you're drinking a gallon of water every other day. My question is why are you purposely chugging more water than you need on those days?

Okay, maybe I misrepresented myself. I bike everywhere, and usually I drink ~1 gallon of water/day. Not intentional, but just because I'm thirsty. Hence, I think my body needs it. On days when I don't drink that much water, I'm standing in A/C at work, where we're not allowed to have water bottles on the cashier lanes. Not as much need, not as much fluid intake.

[krj]

One overstated his position and one misrepresented himself. Moving on........

[HardBall]

myth of water

About a month ago, there was a show on ABC (John Stossel) exposing the greatest fitness myths. Drinking 8 glasses of water a day was the #1 myth. It isnt based on any research, just some misqouted paper from 1950. You get practically all the fluids you need from the foods you eat. You're going to be fine...You hurt yourself more worrying about the lack of water then the actual lack of water itself...Be Safe

[ProWriter]

About a month ago, there was a show on ABC (John Stossel) exposing the greatest fitness myths. Drinking 8 glasses of water a day was the #1 myth. It isnt based on any research, just some misqouted paper from 1950. You get practically all the fluids you need from the foods you eat. You're going to be fine...You hurt yourself more worrying about the lack of water then the actual lack of water itself...Be Safe

In my opinion, the #1 diet/fitness myth is that eating after dark makes you any fatter than eating (the same food) during the day. Think he covered that one, too.

[savage4presiden]

I tried to get a gallon in a day, for a week and then gave up, mainly b/c I had to pizz every 15min.

Me too! I just started doing that and I swear I ****ed 20 times in one day alone! I'm stopping now, I don't have that amount of time to invest in my bladder.

[HardBall]

fitness myth

In my opinion, the #1 diet/fitness myth is that eating after dark makes you any fatter than eating (the same food) during the day. Think he covered that one, too.

The #1 fitness myth is that you can get a build like the guys in the magazines without handfuls of steroids....

[MizzMaddie]

allow me to throw in humbly my opinion.

To drink a galleon is a ball park number, you may need even more or sometimes less. The body needs water is almost all transport of substances are based on osmotic effects (in addition to complex ionic and moleculare processes.) When muscles work carbohydrates are transformed into energy and waste products which need to be disposed of, one famous waste product is lactic acid which is created with lack of oxigyne and causes soreness.

Funnily enough, drinking of too much of water, may result in diluting and washing out of important substances and harming your body... I kid you not, you could die from drinking too much water! (well of course, that'll be with lots of galleons).

Unfortunately the body is not smart enough to tell us exactly how much water we really need, especially women tend to dehydration.

oh btw, did you know that you need one quart of water per unit alcohol to get rid of the alcohol? (unit means a typical beverage serving)

[Centurion44]

To answer the original question, whatever your water intake is, your body becomes accustomed to a certain amount. That's why when you start drinking a lot of water all of a sudden your body stores it in fat (or bloating) because it's unsure of when you'll get more water.

Once you have a steady intake of water, your body's water content will regulate itself and bloating will go away. If you excercise on a regular basis, I recommend a large, steady, intake of water- even on days you don't work out- otherwise you'll bloat and possibly cramp. It doesn't have to be anything insane, but it needs to supplement your workout accordingly.

[krj]

To answer the original question, whatever your water intake is, your body becomes accustomed to a certain amount. That's why when you start drinking a lot of water all of a sudden your body stores it in fat (or bloating) because it's unsure of when you'll get more water.

Once you have a steady intake of water, your body's water content will regulate itself and bloating will go away. If you excercise on a regular basis, I recommend a large, steady, intake of water- even on days you don't work out- otherwise you'll bloat and possibly cramp. It doesn't have to be anything insane, but it needs to supplement your workout accordingly.

Our bodies don't "become accustomed" to specific amounts of fluids. We don't (and can't) store water in body fat, and our bodies can't (and don't) "conserve" water because it is unsure of when it will receive more.

We require fluids on a very regular basis in order to (among other things), regulate body temperature, maintain a multitude of chemical reactions, and optimize athletic performance. Our bodies are 60% water, and water should be the single most important nutritional concern for ALL exercising individuals.

Some specific guidelines for those who are interested (numbers come from the American Council on Exercise):

1. 1-2 cups (8-16oz) of fluid at least one hour before the start of exercise
2. 8oz of fluid 20 minutes before the start of exercise
3. 4-8oz of fluid every 10-15 minutes during the workout
4. 2 cups (16oz) of fluid for every pound of body weight lost after exercise

All those who have said to drink before, during and after exercise are correct - that's good advice. I've said this before, but again - many people who exercise regularly are in the habit of checking the color of their urine. If it is clear then you are getting enough. If it's dark, then you need to drink more (and more often).