Death By Water

Ever been advised that you need to drink lots of water while exercising to replace what you lose in sweat? I have!
In my gym the other day, the instructor admonished a young lady guzzling down a ton of iced water right from the bottle. He basically said that that could do her more harm than good. She didn’t listen to him and kept on guzzling until she had emptied the 60cl bottle – but I listened remembered something I had read [specific to prolonged exercising -marathons in particular] in the book ‘The First 20 Minutes’ by Gretchen Reynolds (get it on Amazon http://www.amazon.com/The-First-20-Minutes-Surprising/dp/B00CY5AUYA ) - it’s an amazing book if you want to ‘exercise better, train smarter and live longer’ -  ok, I stole that from the cover! But seriously, I have learnt so much from this book – including what I want to share today.

Ever heard of ‘hyponatremia’? No? Well, let me tell you a true story…

In 1998 a 43year old pediatric dentist and mother of three died at the Chicago Marathon; cause of death: water intoxication or hyponatremia! This is a condition caused when a runner consumes more liquids/fluids than he/she is losing in sweat, resulting in a dangerous imbalance in body’s natural sodium concentration. This warning is especially dire for [amateur] marathoners who run/jog/walk for up to 5-6hours – and we’ve all seen them downing bottle after bottle of water sometimes at every water station.

Some symptoms of water intoxication include:

• Headache
• Nausea and or vomiting
• Confusion
• Restlessness
• Muscle spasms
• Edema – swollen brain cells (caused by excess water in your cells)

This is serious! As I read up on this online, I read a NYTimes article http://www.nytimes.com/2005/10/20/sports/othersports/20marathon.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0 where a Dr Maharam said that “there are no reported cases of dehydration causing death in the history of world running; but there are plenty cases of people dying of hyponatremia”.

So how is this relevant to someone who works out maybe 20minutes to 60minutes? Not much, I reckon…but the knowledge is still valuable. Why? I think that even though we are not running marathons many of us who work out in gyms still drink far too much water (at least compared to the quantity of fluid we lose in sweat), and we guzzle the water far too fast – I don’t know the science of it, but I think that could dilute our sodium too (call me over cautious!J)

Personally, I take a couple of sips (the operative word here is SIP) every 20-30mins (I know its 20-30mins because that’s when I move from one gym equipment to another). I just take enough to wet my parched throat before I move on to the next routine. That way I am only taking in what I have lost in sweat. Does this make any sense?

So to those of us who put down 2 – 3 bottles of water every hour in the gym, I bid you ask yourself –

‘Is it possible that I am taking in more water than I have lost in sweat?’

‘Do I feel lightheaded and nauseous after working out?’

‘Are my feet or hands swollen after I work out?’

Done asking yourself? So what will you do about it?

Better safe than sorry isn’t it?

 

Before you start your workout, think about how much water you want to drink, that way you start strong, stay strong and finish strong.

 

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