water loading?

[tomtom]

O's are aid.

[iluka]

O's are aid.

 

Tomtom.... with your altitude tolerance, or lack thereof, O's would definitely qualify as aid...

[G-spotter]

Beer will do it:

 

http://journals.lww.com/acsm-essr/pages/articleviewer.aspx?year=2000&issue=28010&article=00008&type=abstract

[iluka]

Beer is a hypotonic solution and quite good at dropping your sodium if consumed in excess

[G-spotter]

Beer is a hypotonic solution and quite good at dropping your sodium if consumed in excess

 

well then have some salted peanuts with it!

[mike1]

Mark Twight in Extreme Alpinism and Craig Connelly in The Mountaineering Handbook basically agree on a good climbing hydration and nutrition strategy based on sound science.

 

I can't remember the details but the essences are:

 

-Gastric emptying, the process of passing water from the stomach to the intestines, is optimized by sport gels (Gu, Carb Boom etc.) and you can drink about a litre/quart an hour with one gel. Hydration is the number one concern and even at that rate you will lose water throughout the day. Basically you need a certain amount of sugar in your stomach in order for it to pass water through. Most of what people think of as a lack of food energy such as brain fog and lack of energy is in fact due to dehydration.

 

-Energy mostly comes from fat stores. You get little energy from food eaten during the day although some food is good for tricking the body out of feeling hungry. Anything that is hard to digest will slow you down. I think that there is a common misconception that gels are for energy when in fact they are designed for hydration.

 

-Replacing electrolytes is also important. They both recommend adding powdered electrolytes and a bit of protein and even creatine (for recovery) to your water to supplement what is in the gels.

 

-Carb loading the night before. You store a bit of extra energy in your liver that is easily accessed early in the day. It gives you a bit of extra energy but not much. The article above seemed to speak against prolonged carb loading. I think it has been shown to be effective if only done the night before.

 

-You can prehydrate to some extent but exceeding the maximum that your body can do through gastric emptying before the climb will not help. Be sure to drink lots of water the day before in order to not start the next day in a water deficit and drink tons of water after intense activity especially if doing a multi day activity.

 

I've tried the gel and water all day thing and it works well for me. I haven't taken it to the next step with the electrolytes but I'm sure that will help as well. I climbed the Buttress on the Chief on Saturday drinking water with gels and a cliff bar with good success. I didn't get the bonk that I would get in the past at about pitch 8 and I am not exactly in top shape right now. I can barely walk today. I did have to carry quite a bit of water in a hydration pack but I think it was worth it.

 

It surprised me how closely those books outlined the same recommendations and they are science based with good evidence from endurance athletic events. I highly recommend reading those sections if you are interested in the food science.

 

NOLS Backcountry Nutrition agrees as well. From what I understand, attempting to "water load" would just result in wasting energy and water for that matter. If you pee clear or straw colored urine before you go to sleep, then you can likely begin the next day at an optimum level of hydration. BTW, this NOLS book is an excellent read!

[Le Piston]

I just know that I perform better when I'm hydrated. I tried the "preloading" in the Alps a few years ago and found it took a while for my system to get used to doing without as much fluid on the climbs. I have found that hydrating before, during (with my Platypus hoser filled with Gatorade or other electrolyte sport drink), and after is best for my performance. I save the alcohol for post climb hydration.

[akhalteke]

To answer your question, you cannot "load water." Having the correct levels of electrolytes will increase the levels of H2O in the body. Most people in the US though are chronically "slightly dehydrated" meaning that the average person can increase the water storage in their body only because they are not fully utilizing the "container size," not "increasing the size of the container." If that makes sense.

 

You really don't wanna overdo it with electrolytes as these solutions will actually pull water from the body due to osmosis and actually rob you body as you are pissing out the excess. Due the the properties of osmosis, the water will follow. Some will be reabsorbed in the kidneys but all in all, you are just making your body work harder and reaping no actual benefeit.

 

This is an area I am really concerned with due to my AO and there are really no short-cuts. The only thing you can really do is to drink water and eat healthy before during and after your excercise.

 

The army has a water intake chart for different heat temps/indexes and work output loads if that would help you, let me know and I will post it up. I have it kicking around my files somewhere on my hard drive.

[layton]

that'd be cool