Let’s Talk Sweat Loss

Been really trying to nail down why I really struggle in warmer climate with workouts!!! Fall/spring/winter I’m always feeling great lol running and cycling! Well summer time hits and yah I hit a wall, I’m trying to work on overcoming this as I know the heat will be detrimental to training anyway but would like to atleast be at par with nutrition and fluids.

I have been playing with logging some data

I’m typically taking in about 57 ounces of fluid ( 20 oz bottles and a 17oz bottle on normally two hour ride workouts - that I have been failing lol)

I will typically drop around 3.5 pounds durring the ride for 120 minutes and also drink 57 ounces which is equivalent to another 3.5 pounds I would assume. So it appears I’m dropping around 7 pounds or so during these training sessions. Correct me if my math is wrong or this isn’t correct.

By doing the math I’m guessing I’m sweating around 56-57 ounces per hour…. Sweat rate of around 3 liters a hour.

I can’t carry 120 ounces of fluids with me on these rides , is there other options and ways to help overcome these things , should I start dumping fluids as soon as get on the bike during warmups and all even though I’m not thirsty ?

Just looking for recommendations and making sure my math looks correct, could improper fueling be what’s causing me to fight through and fail this sessions ?

35yrs old / 150 pounds !

This is on typical 90 degree days +|- 5 degrees

I also sweat alot. I’ll often slam an entire bottle before I go. For a 2 hour z3 ride I can get away with with 2 bottles and a preloaded bottle. But any longer, or harder intervals thats not enough for me. I’ve been a lot more successful with my hydration taking a 1.5L uswe backpack with me as well. I’ll often just take it now, whether I think I need it or not. And at these volumes of water, you’ll want to look into supplementing electrolytes.

I take two 24oz bottles of isotonic drink and for longer rides I stop at any gas station to reload water or more isotonic when needed. I don’t like to be short on hydration. Also I drink constantly not only when thirsty.

20 + 17 = 37, not 57
Or when you say “bottles” do you mean 2x20oz?

Also, a sweat rate of 56 oz per hour is 1.5 liters per hour, not 3l.

The easiest solution would just be to use bigger bottles. 27 oz/800ml bottles are pretty easily available.

34 oz/1 liter bottles are available (eg. Zefal Magnum), although a little harder to come by. But you may want to check if these fit in your frame first. I use these in summer on longer rides in rural areas where water may be harder to come by.

Thanks for the information guys! I’ll try to look into some larger bottles! I hate stopping as I feel it defeats some of the purpose of the workout by letting the HR come down for to long , but I’m guessing it’d be better then not completing workouts all together lol!

Yes I must have been converting ounces to liters wrong, more like 1.5ish liters per hour!

Knowing your sweat rate (water loss) and salt loss (electrolytes) is the key to proper hydration. Lots of good information here:

I did a sweat test and found I was loosing about 1100mg of salt per hour, but had only been taking in 475mg. Since doubling my electrolytes intake I’ve felt much better. I’m also a heavy sweater loosing roughly 1-3L an hour depending on the heat and humidity.

In my experience my stomach can usually only handle/process about 750-900ml an hour. Any more and I’m feeling bloated. This becomes a problem when racing longer events because I’m digging a deeper and deeper hydration hole.

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Buy two. Stop to fill them up mid ride and you get your 120oz. I have both clear and black. Basic bottles, a little heavy to pull from the bottle cage. One middle ground might be to carry one in your rear bottle cage and use it to refill your smaller bottles.