Cardio Soup / 8 glasses per day?

For time:

100 kb swings 25/35
1000 meters row
50 burpees
100 double unders (or 300 singles)

Post time to comments:

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I have a client who is CEO of a 200 million dollar a year company.  The guy is in his mid 50's and is in better shape than most men half his age.  There are comparatively few people on earth who are as fit or driven to be fit as he is.  Few people can compare to his physicality and to what he is capable of in a workout.

He NEVER drinks water.  He claims that he hasn't had a glass of water in over 30 years.  He hates it.

This used to blow me away, because the mantra that I was taught in school was that you should drink A LOT of water.  How much?  Some of my instructors went as far to say, "You should drink 1 oz per pound of body weight." 

That's a LOT! 

Have you ever tried to drink that much water?  It's tough.  For me it is the most uncomfortable, draining experience that I can think of participating in.  Sometimes I think If God had intended for us to pee that much he would have put our whizzer where our big toe is and EVERYONE on earth would have a hole in their shoes. 

"Don't worry," they say..."Your body gets used to it."  The hell it does.  I tried it once for 2 weeks.  I was still getting up 3 times in the middle of the night and excusing myself from EVERY conversation I ever had during that time.  This is not to mention the energy DRAIN I was feeling. 

These days I don't believe in drinking A LOT of water.  Instead, I rely on thirst as the benchmark indicator of my bodies' hydration needs.  I think there are too many people blaming their overfat laziness on the fact they aren't drinking enough water. It's stupid. 

Do I think drinking a lot of water will help you workout?  NOT unless you are dehydrated to begin with.  I think someone's boot in your ass will have a much more profound effect. 

Here are some interesting facts about whether you should drink 8x8 per day...I should mention that I got this article from calorielab.com. You should visit there.  They got cool stuff.  -FitZoner  

8 glasses of water a day myth a diet urban legend

 

CBC News | Read article
Mayo Clinic | Read article
Dartmouth Medical School | Read press release
Snopes | Read Snopes debunking

It has become accepted wisdom: “Drink at least eight glasses of water a day!” Not necessarily, says Dartmouth Medical School physician Heinz Valtin, M.D. The universal advice that has made guzzling water a national pastime is more urban myth than medical dogma and appears to lack scientific proof, he found.

In an invited review published by the American Journal of Physiology August 8, Valtin, the Vail and Hampers professor emeritus of physiology at Dartmouth Medical School, reported no supporting evidence to back this popular counsel, commonly known as “8 x 8″ (for eight, eight-ounce glasses).

Valtin, a kidney specialist and author of two widely used textbooks on the kidney and water balance, sought to find the origin of this dictum and to examine the scientific evidence, if any, that might support it. He observes that we see the exhortation everywhere: from health writers, nutritionists, even physicians. Valtin doubts its validity. Indeed, he finds it, “difficult to believe that evolution left us with a chronic water deficit that needs to be compensated by forcing a high fluid intake.”

The 8 x 8 rule is slavishly followed. Everywhere, people carry bottles of water, constantly sipping from them; it is acceptable to drink water anywhere, anytime. A pamphlet distributed at one southern California university even counsels its students to “carry a water bottle with you. Drink often while sitting in class…”

How did the obsession start? Is there any scientific evidence that supports the recommendation? Does the habit promote good health? Might it be harmful?

Valtin thinks the notion may have started when the Food and Nutrition Board of the National Research Council recommended approximately “1 milliliter of water for each calorie of food,” which would amount to roughly two to two-and-a-half quarts per day (64 to 80 ounces). Although in its next sentence, the Board stated “most of this quantity is contained in prepared foods,” that last sentence may have been missed, so that the recommendation was erroneously interpreted as how much water one should drink each day.

He found no scientific studies in support of 8 x 8. Rather, surveys of fluid intake on healthy adults of both genders, published as peer-reviewed documents, strongly suggest that such large amounts are not needed. His conclusion is supported by published studies showing that caffeinated drinks, such as most coffee, tea and soft drinks, may indeed be counted toward the daily total. He also points to the quantity of published experiments that attest to the capability of the human body for maintaining proper water balance.

Valtin emphasizes that his conclusion is limited to healthy adults in a temperate climate leading a largely sedentary existence — precisely, he points out, the population and conditions that the “at least” in 8 x 8 refers to. At the same time, he stresses that large intakes of fluid, equal to and greater than 8 x 8, are advisable for the treatment or prevention of some diseases, such as kidney stones, as well as under special circumstances, such as strenuous physical activity, long airplane flights or hot weather. But barring those exceptions, he concludes that we are currently drinking enough and possibly even more than enough.

Despite the dearth of compelling evidence, then, What’s the harm? “The fact is that, potentially, there is harm even in water,” explains Valtin. Even modest increases in fluid intake can result in “water intoxication” if one’s kidneys are unable to excrete enough water (urine). Such instances are not unheard of, and they have led to mental confusion and even death in athletes, in teenagers after ingesting the recreational drug Ecstasy, and in ordinary patients.

And he lists other disadvantages of a high water intake: (a) possible exposure to pollutants, especially if sustained over many years; (b) frequent urination, which can be both inconvenient and embarrassing; (c) expense, for those who satisfy the 8 x 8 requirements with bottled water; and (d) feelings of guilt for not achieving 8 x 8.

Other claims discredited by scientific evidence that Valtin discusses include:

Thirst Is Too Late. It is often stated that by the time people are thirsty, they are already dehydrated. On the contrary, thirst begins when the concentration of blood (an accurate indicator of our state of hydration) has risen by less than two percent, whereas most experts would define dehydration as beginning when that concentration has risen by at least five percent.

Dark Urine Means Dehydration. At normal urinary volume and color, the concentration of the blood is within the normal range and nowhere near the values that are seen in meaningful dehydration. Therefore, the warning that dark urine reflects dehydration is alarmist and false in most instances.

Is there scientific documentation that we do not need to drink “8 x 8″? There is highly suggestive evidence, says Valtin. First is the voluminous scientific literature on the efficacy of the osmoregulatory system that maintains water balance through the antidiuretic hormone and thirst. Second, published surveys document that the mean daily fluid intake of thousands of presumably healthy humans is less than the roughly two quarts prescribed by 8 x 8. Valtin argues that, in view of this evidence, the burden of proof that everyone needs 8 x 8 should fall on those who persist in advocating the high fluid intake without, apparently, citing any scientific support.

Finally, strong evidence now indicates that not all of the prescribed fluid need be in the form of water. Careful peer-reviewed experiments have shown that caffeinated drinks should indeed count toward the daily fluid intake in the vast majority of persons. To a lesser extent, the same probably can be said for dilute alcoholic beverages, such as beer, if taken in moderation.

“Thus, I have found no scientific proof that absolutely every person must ‘drink at least eight glasses of water a day’,” says Valtin. While there is some evidence that the risk of certain diseases can be lowered by high water intake, the quantities needed for this beneficial effect may be less than 8 x 8, and the recommendation can be limited to those particularly susceptible to the diseases in question.

(This article was based on a press release dated August 8, 2002, from the Dartmouth Medical School.)

Comments

[Steve Lamb]

23:40. I don't like kettle bells...

[Rach]

Get back to me in a few years on your "water issue". In the meantime, I'll be hydrating with crisp, cold, clear H20. Good nutrition is like fitness. Not everybody needs to buy into it. Just those who want to go further, faster, longer.

[Chaney Packer]

22:00

[Julie]

14:42 Great workout! sub push ups for the burpees because of foot. Note to self...no more jump roping until foot is healed!!!

[Becs]

24:59
great workout!

[FitZoner]

Sorry Rach, I'm afraid it will take a lot more than a, "You'll be sorry" by someone (even someone I highly respect, like you) to convince me to recommend that folks over-hydrate.

I know the score. I realize hydration is paramount to success in optimal health. I'm on board with that. I also realize the effects of prolonged and/or profound dehydration are potentially damaging to health, if not deadly.

What I hoped to convey with this article is that all this popular "hyper-hydration" mania is primarily media hype and seriously lacking in substance.

It is my observation that too many people across this great land are substituting lots of downed H2O for other more relevant practices like avoiding crap food and participating in lifelong exercising which is complete in scope and practice. It is also my observation that fitness experts who's name is "legion" are perpetuating this practice of hyper-hydration in order to offer "quick fix" solutions for health while selling "easy out" practices that are questionable, at best.

It is nothing to drink lots of water. It is easy. And doing ONLY THAT will do very little if anything to improve one's health.

It is this that I rally against, NOT the fact that we would all do best if we stayed hydrated.

[ashley]

12:56Rx+
thank you Meg!

[Christine]

Didn't make it to gym decided to get to work at home. I did the 10 burpees on the minutes every mintue for 20 minutes! I LOVE burpees:D

[Ryan C. Rigby]

15:31 I liked this workout. I feel like my workouts are getting faster.

[Alison]

21:51

[Ryan N]

13:50 someday I'll get more than 3 double unders at a time!

[All Women Stalker]

I encountered this same issue a few years back. And yes, I believe that 8 glasses a day is not enough. And yes, it's too late when you feel the thirst. I personally try to drink 3-5 liters of water everyday.

-Denise