Heavy legs from dehydration?

[Kar43]

Reading a post the other day on here but can't find or remember who started it off.

I'm sure I read 3 litres for females and 4 litres for men or am I wrong?

Tracking my water/fluid intake from today as I should of been doing a long time ago but like they say "late is better than never"

So what's possibly safe as a daily fluid intake?

As I walked 20 minutes then ran for 30 minutes and legs were very heavy during and tired and hurting afterwards as I was on the 30 minute walk home so again I'm sure I read on here heavy legs are due to dehydration? Isn't it?

[Jay66UK Graduate]

Yes re heavy legs. Also can be sign you need calf rolling.

The numbers are controversial because we get some liquid from our food and we perspire at different rates/depending on the conditions. I try to drink two fills of my 900ml water bottle through the day which has hour marks on it plus brews plus taking a pint of water to bed.

[Kar43 in reply to Jay66UK]

Your fluid intakes is very good jay.

Just had to math to convert that into litres mind 😊😉

So 2 litres plus a few cuppas if your like me i drink 4 coffees daily (decaf with a sprinkle of regular coffee)

Plus fluid from foods.

I've not heard of leg rolling, I'll have to look that up.

Also happy birthday 🎉🍺x

[Jay66UK Graduate in reply to Kar43]

Ta!

[Rignold]

Yes 3 litres for women, 4 for men is a good base level. I would suggest adding another litre for very hot weather and another for every hour of exercise.

I drink about 8 litres a day at the moment, as I am male, it is hot and I do about 2 hour training a day.

Someone will inevitably be along to say that drinking too much water can be dangerous for you. Hyponatremia is a real thing whereby excessive water consumption can disrupt your electrolyte levels but that is down to drinking too much all at once not over the course of a day. If I necked my 8 litres in 15 minutes it might be problematic but not otherwise. You can always add a little pinch of sea salt to your water if you are overly concerned about minerals.

Water from food seldom contributes more than about 10 percent of our required minimum. If in doubt, drink more water, not less. Like sleep it is unlikely you ever get too much.

[Kar43 in reply to Rignold]

Thanks rignold interesting, I've only today started tracking my water/fluids chart intake today so I will be keeping bottle with me at all times, adding to the chart as I go along as I think I'm not hydrating enough

[mrrun Graduate in reply to Kar43]

If you drink in measures throughout the day you should see improvement in your running, as in less fatigue and 'heavy' legs. I was slightly worried by Rignold's daily water intake recommendation but, in fact, the more you work/run, the more water you'll need and the body will be glad for it. And, no, you won't hydrate much if you drink coffee.

[Kar43 in reply to mrrun]

Thanks Mrrun it's the heavy legs I'm noticing just about every 3rd 🏃‍♀️run (running every other day) but not had the severe tiredness in legs as I did today ever since starting this programme so I knew by this something isn't right. So hopefully I'll see a change in few days maybe now I'm upping the fluids 😊

[davelinks Graduate]

It can be.. a hot day demands a drop more, wouldn't rely too much on water from food or tea & coffee, waters the one!

[Kar43 in reply to davelinks]

I'm defiantly taking up the drinking more water challenge from today 😉👍

[_SimonT_ Graduate]

Hi Kar

I found this the other week. The link to the actual paper is included on the website.

google.co.uk/amp/s/breaking...

😀

[Kar43 in reply to _SimonT_]

Cheers there Simon I'll take a look 👀 at this 😉😊

[theoldfellow in reply to _SimonT_]

Really useful. I wonder what Gatorade is?

[GoGo_JoJo Graduate in reply to theoldfellow]

American version of a sort of lucozade

[GoGo_JoJo Graduate]

I get through 2 to 3 litres easy every day and up to 6 in really hot weather as my job is very physical so in high summer I can get through 2 litres before mid morning. It's a habit thing. I can often do a whole litre between getting home at 5.30ish and before bed at 8.45. The more the better but as Rignold says, not all at once! 👍😉

[Kar43 in reply to GoGo_JoJo]

Is this from just water? Or do you drink cuppas on top of this?

Gosh I'm no where near where I should be so it's lucky I felt heavy this morning as I also forgot my cap so will never forget that again

[GoGo_JoJo Graduate in reply to Kar43]

That's water. Flavoured, sugar free but water. I will have maybe 2 or if I'm lucky 3 cups of tea on top. (Decaf after 3pm).

If that's how your legs are feeling imagine how your brain copes... water feeds the brain. 😉

[Kar43 in reply to GoGo_JoJo]

Oh I've never even thought of that, now I have I'll definitely be keeping fluids up 😊.

[mrrun Graduate in reply to Kar43]

On the day of the run it's the water that you drank the day before that keeps you going. Before the run you only need a small glass or else your stomach would rebel in style and make things even worse. Don't bother with that experiment.

If you are rested, hydrated and well fed (the day before) you can go some distance without anything. I had an OK breakfast before my HM and didn't need anything else. You reward yourself later.

Of course, if it gets mentally hot (this weather I call warm, sometimes 'quite' warm but never hot) you can carry a bottle with you should you really need it, otherwise the body, like a good car, will respond well if looked after.

[Kar43 in reply to mrrun]

This is why I struggled with legs today then, yesterday was way too warm and I avoided the sun but don't think I drank enough at all

[mrrun Graduate in reply to Kar43]

I learned that lesson when I ran in hot and humid conditions of 30C plus, from quite early in the morning. My rules went through the window, the body shut down, the legs were heavy, breathing was laboured. I drank, but I did not drink sufficient quantity, lost too much through sweating and, contrary to what some may say, cold beer will not hydrate you, it will empty your tanks and then, that's it. Sit down and feel sorry for yourself for that day.

[theoldfellow]

Coffee, and tea in normal British strength, is a diuretic. That means it will actually encourage you to pee more, and hence loose water. The best water source is the one we evolved to drink: freshwater. The safest source in UK is almost always tap-water, even if some of it tastes 'orrible.

Little plea: please don't use plastic-bottled water without knowing how you are going to recycle the bottle. I do the litter-pick round my village, and I have a word for water-bottle-droppers.

EDIT: I'm lucky, the tap water here tastes good, but I do understand why some people have to buy bottled.

[GoGo_JoJo Graduate in reply to theoldfellow]

Agreed. Unfortunately I can't bear plain water and our tap water in Sussex is pretty awful. I do go through a lot of plastic bottles but I know 100% none of them get left anywhere. The vast majority go into my household recycling. 👍

[Kar43 in reply to theoldfellow]

Tap water is alright for squash but not to drink plain it just doesn't taste nice at all. I'd end up more dehydrated if I didn't buy bottled.

Every bottle goes in recycling bag at home ✅

[Hidden]

I m thinking it’s def dehydration I usually drank about a lite a day but dice running I m actually craving water two litres now and since being away have been no where near that and my legs are def heavier be glad to be back home and normal routine again

[Kar43 in reply to Hidden]

Definatly agree with you 😊