I miss the fitness threads and the fitness Doms!

[Lizzie_Borden]

A question, re hydration.

If a person is chronically dehydrated, as in, not drinking enough over an extended period, how long would it take for their system to return to normal once they did start getting 8 glasses a day into them?

 

[midwestyankee]

A question, re hydration.

If a person is chronically dehydrated, as in, not drinking enough over an extended period, how long would it take for their system to return to normal once they did start getting 8 glasses a day into them?

To anyone who read my initial reply, I apologize for passing on incorrect information.

I was skeptical about the rule of thumb that says we should drink 8 glasses of 8 ounces of water per day so I poked around online to check it out.

The best answer I could find came from the Mayo Clinic. In general, the Mayo Clinic recommends that we drink about 2 liters of fluid per day and more if we exercise. Virtually all drinks, even milk and fruit juices, count toward this goal of drinking 2 liters of water per day because they're all mostly water. Even beer and coffee count, but they ought not to be the major source of one's water.

This does not answer your question about re-hydration, of course, but it seems reasonable to think that unless you're nearly delirious with dehydration, a day of sufficient liquids should get your body back where it belongs.

 

[BiBunny]

A question, re hydration.

If a person is chronically dehydrated, as in, not drinking enough over an extended period, how long would it take for their system to return to normal once they did start getting 8 glasses a day into them?

My fat ass is hardly a fitness guru, but I have problems with dehydration, even when I'm in a period where I'm not exercising (re: now). I find that plain old water really doesn't help me that much. Sometimes, when we feel like we can't get enough to drink, it's not just simple loss of water. I know for me a lot of times, it's loss of water + electrolyte imbalance. That may not be the case for you, but just throwing it out there.

 

[Lizzie_Borden]

To anyone who read my initial reply, I apologize for passing on incorrect information.

I was skeptical about the rule of thumb that says we should drink 8 glasses of 8 ounces of water per day so I poked around online to check it out.

The best answer I could find came from the Mayo Clinic. In general, the Mayo Clinic recommends that we drink about 2 liters of fluid per day and more if we exercise. Virtually all drinks, even milk and fruit juices, count toward this goal of drinking 2 liters of water per day because they're all mostly water. Even beer and coffee count, but they ought not to be the major source of one's water.

This does not answer your question about re-hydration, of course, but it seems reasonable to think that unless you're nearly delirious with dehydration, a day of sufficient liquids should get your body back where it belongs.

I was going to say 2 litres, but thought I was de-metricfy it a little.

Yeah, I thought that a solid top up one day would do the job.. but I dunno.. I'm wondering if an ongoing effect of not getting enough fluids could build up.

I'll just keep trying to get my 2L and see how I go.

 

[Lizzie_Borden]

My fat ass is hardly a fitness guru, but I have problems with dehydration, even when I'm in a period where I'm not exercising (re: now). I find that plain old water really doesn't help me that much. Sometimes, when we feel like we can't get enough to drink, it's not just simple loss of water. I know for me a lot of times, it's loss of water + electrolyte imbalance. That may not be the case for you, but just throwing it out there.

Good point bunny.

I'll suss that out, and see if it could be an issue.

 

[Homburg]

A big sign of chronic electrolyte deprivation is a headache that won't go away. I use potassium citrate tabs for that, generally taking 2x99mg tabs after serious sweat.

 

[Bandit58]

I have a head cold, so won't be exercising until next week. I really don't feel up to it plus I don't want to spread my germs to other people in the class

 

[Lizzie_Borden]

Today I realised I can not feel like going to the gym, talk myself into it, feeling absolutely stuffed during, but still smile.

It's a good feeling.

I've also been knocking back a good amount of water the last few days, and I think I feel better.

 

[Cattypuss]

Go, Lizzie!

 

[Cattypuss]

Spurred on purely by the changes she has seen in me in the last 2 months(since I joined a gym), my mother has booked an induction session at the gym in her retirement complex.

She is 76 years old, is obese, has been infirm for years, has probably never walked more than half a mile at a time since she was 30, not more than 100 yards at a time since she was 65..... and has certainly never set foot in a gym.

Proud of her? That's an understatement.

 

[Lizzie_Borden]

Spurred on purely by the changes she has seen in me in the last 2 months(since I joined a gym), my mother has booked an induction session at the gym in her retirement complex.

She is 76 years old, is obese, has been infirm for years, has probably never walked more than half a mile at a time since she was 30, not more than 100 yards at a time since she was 65..... and has certainly never set foot in a gym.

Proud of her? That's an understatement.

Go Mum!!!

 

[FloggingMolly]

I am hopeless.

Tomorrow, I'm starting again. I'm getting a chart, and some gold star stickers, in the hopes this will motivate me.

 

[Cattypuss]

Just when I was wondering how I could try out the local rival gym without spending big money, someone in the street handed me a free one-day pass to said gym.

How spooky is that?

 

[midwestyankee]

To all the gurus here: what are your suggestions for exercises to strengthen the knees? In the past, knee injuries have kept me from running far too much. I'd like to do something to strengthen my knees. Suggestions?

 

[Homburg]

To all the gurus here: what are your suggestions for exercises to strengthen the knees? In the past, knee injuries have kept me from running far too much. I'd like to do something to strengthen my knees. Suggestions?

Depends. What sort of knee issues do you have?

In my case, wide-stance heavy weighted squats to parallel were magic. Wide stance squats work the hips and glutes like mad. They position rolls the normal close-stance squat related shearing forces off of the knees and into the hips. If you look in the mirror you will probably notice that there's a shitload more muscle on the hips. They're also a vastly stronger, more stable, and protected joint, biomechanically speaking.

"So, yeah, H," you're thinking, "My hips get strong, whee. What about my knees?" Keep your pants on. While wide-stance parallel depth squats will blast your hips and glutes, the loading will also strengthen your quads, and, this is the magic part, it will also work to strengthen your knees themselves. So long as you don't have some degenerative thing going on in your knees that precludes loading, hip-dominant squat may well work magic on your knees.

Deadlifts also are capable of working good stuff on the knees. They're a bit more stress on the low back though, so not sure how you are there. You can also do wide-stance deads (called sumo deadlifts) for even more hip-dominant happiness.

Another side effect of wide stance work will be much stronger hip flexors. So we're now talking about hip flexors, quads, and hamstrings. Where do all of those muscles terminate? Yup, the knee. Work the hell out of them from the hips, and you will strengthen the knee as a side effect. Additionally, added muscular strength and health around the knee will transfer much of the normal day-to-day load from the knee joint onto the muscles where it should be. Simply getting stronger overall will help support your knees.

The last thing I will suggest is to look into form. Even with strengthening the snot out of my knees, running hurts. Then I found the POSE Method of running. I suck at it, but when I do it right, my knees are totally fine.

 

[Keroin]

To all the gurus here: what are your suggestions for exercises to strengthen the knees? In the past, knee injuries have kept me from running far too much. I'd like to do something to strengthen my knees. Suggestions?

Good advice from Hommy, as always.

My added advice is to work on the stabilizing muscles around your knees. Ball, balance board, that sort of stuff. If you have a gym with a decent fitness trainer, see if you can book in a couple of sessions to set up exercises for this. Basically, when you get all the muscles 'around' your joints firing properly and nice and strong, your joint will have a MUCH easier time.

As someone with ankles that have suffered too many sprains and flake fractures to count, I can tell you that balance training really, really, really helps!

Also, if you can find a surface to run on that doesn't bother your knees as much, that would help. Remember to ice your knees after your runs and take some Tylenol about 20 min before you run.

 

[ultramarineblue]

I've been struggling to get back on track with my exercise schedule after I was sick for so long. I'm doing better now but I still have to absolutely make myself.

 

[Homburg]

Balance training is a good one as well. I don't think about it much because I don't tend to get much from it. I had balance issues as a tot due to the ear issues I've got, and my method of compensation was to become very, very well balanced. I never realised until doing some grappling with a world-reknowned instructor at a seminar, and his first comment to me after we finished was, "Damn, you got great balance!"

The problem, and the reason why I never realised it, is that I have weak ankles when it comes to lateral rotation. As a result, I can't waterski, surf, skateboard, etc. Anything that involves having one foot behind the other is basically impossible. And, well, those are the sort of feats that show that great balance. *shrug*

So one foot on the wobble board is all but impossible impossible. Two feet on the board and I can swivel, twist, dance, squat, etc. Heavy squats have helped with the lateral rotation issues. I started walking too early as a baby, and the docs wanted me in special shoes. My mom opted out, and thus the ankles are how they are. *shrug* I'm down to twisting/spraining an ankle about once a year now, instead of previous times when it was averaging almost once a quarter.

 

[YourCaptor]

A question, re hydration.

If a person is chronically dehydrated, as in, not drinking enough over an extended period, how long would it take for their system to return to normal once they did start getting 8 glasses a day into them?

I think you can tell by the color of your pee.

I can't imagine it being more than 2 -3 days of normal drinking.

But yea like bunny said electrolytes need replenishing too. So orange juice for you.

 

[midwestyankee]

Depends. What sort of knee issues do you have?

In my case, wide-stance heavy weighted squats to parallel were magic. Wide stance squats work the hips and glutes like mad. They position rolls the normal close-stance squat related shearing forces off of the knees and into the hips. If you look in the mirror you will probably notice that there's a shitload more muscle on the hips. They're also a vastly stronger, more stable, and protected joint, biomechanically speaking.

"So, yeah, H," you're thinking, "My hips get strong, whee. What about my knees?" Keep your pants on. While wide-stance parallel depth squats will blast your hips and glutes, the loading will also strengthen your quads, and, this is the magic part, it will also work to strengthen your knees themselves. So long as you don't have some degenerative thing going on in your knees that precludes loading, hip-dominant squat may well work magic on your knees.

Deadlifts also are capable of working good stuff on the knees. They're a bit more stress on the low back though, so not sure how you are there. You can also do wide-stance deads (called sumo deadlifts) for even more hip-dominant happiness.

Another side effect of wide stance work will be much stronger hip flexors. So we're now talking about hip flexors, quads, and hamstrings. Where do all of those muscles terminate? Yup, the knee. Work the hell out of them from the hips, and you will strengthen the knee as a side effect. Additionally, added muscular strength and health around the knee will transfer much of the normal day-to-day load from the knee joint onto the muscles where it should be. Simply getting stronger overall will help support your knees.

The last thing I will suggest is to look into form. Even with strengthening the snot out of my knees, running hurts. Then I found the POSE Method of running. I suck at it, but when I do it right, my knees are totally fine.

Good advice from Hommy, as always.

My added advice is to work on the stabilizing muscles around your knees. Ball, balance board, that sort of stuff. If you have a gym with a decent fitness trainer, see if you can book in a couple of sessions to set up exercises for this. Basically, when you get all the muscles 'around' your joints firing properly and nice and strong, your joint will have a MUCH easier time.

As someone with ankles that have suffered too many sprains and flake fractures to count, I can tell you that balance training really, really, really helps!

Also, if you can find a surface to run on that doesn't bother your knees as much, that would help. Remember to ice your knees after your runs and take some Tylenol about 20 min before you run.

Balance training is a good one as well. I don't think about it much because I don't tend to get much from it. I had balance issues as a tot due to the ear issues I've got, and my method of compensation was to become very, very well balanced. I never realised until doing some grappling with a world-reknowned instructor at a seminar, and his first comment to me after we finished was, "Damn, you got great balance!"

The problem, and the reason why I never realised it, is that I have weak ankles when it comes to lateral rotation. As a result, I can't waterski, surf, skateboard, etc. Anything that involves having one foot behind the other is basically impossible. And, well, those are the sort of feats that show that great balance. *shrug*

So one foot on the wobble board is all but impossible impossible. Two feet on the board and I can swivel, twist, dance, squat, etc. Heavy squats have helped with the lateral rotation issues. I started walking too early as a baby, and the docs wanted me in special shoes. My mom opted out, and thus the ankles are how they are. *shrug* I'm down to twisting/spraining an ankle about once a year now, instead of previous times when it was averaging almost once a quarter.

I've had problems with my iliotibial band mostly and I'm a tad skittish because of a run-in with a torn meniscus about 7 years ago that put me under the knife.

Thanks for the suggestions. I'll start with some balance things before I get to anything weighted. I'm reluctant to join a gym because I'm terrible about getting there and actually getting any return on my money. But I'm ok with putting some exercises into my day to day time.

Sleep problems are making this return to running a real bear. Feeling sluggish while you run is mentally painful. But at least I'm out there for every scheduled run.

 

[Keroin]

I think you can tell by the color of your pee.

I can't imagine it being more than 2 -3 days of normal drinking.

This reminded me of the time I got dehydration sickness. BTW, you don't ever want it. Stay hydrated!

Dry heaved all night. Yuck.

The day after, I drank 23 glasses of water. Didn't pee once. Yeah, it was bad...I'm such a dummy! You can't play tennis all day in the desert heat on half a glass of water. Just...can't.

 

[Bandit58]

I haven't had any knee injuries, but find that halfway through a combat or step class my knees start to ache. Elasticized supports help, and I'm taking calcium and glucosamine supplements, but I'd rather try to strengthen them if possible.

So during pump class, doing squats (with a 10kg weight on the bar) should I have my feet wider than a hip width apart? Deadlifts and rows sometimes make my lower back hurt a little too (but I only have about 7kg on the bar for those). Instructor says my technique is fine

 

[Lizzie_Borden]

I officially passed the 10kg lost mark today. Hooray!

(That's 22 pounds to you lot)

 

[Lizzie_Borden]

I haven't had any knee injuries, but find that halfway through a combat or step class my knees start to ache. Elasticized supports help, and I'm taking calcium and glucosamine supplements, but I'd rather try to strengthen them if possible.

So during pump class, doing squats (with a 10kg weight on the bar) should I have my feet wider than a hip width apart? Deadlifts and rows sometimes make my lower back hurt a little too (but I only have about 7kg on the bar for those). Instructor says my technique is fine

My knees have been stuffed from the get go. I do a lot less of the bouncing round type cardio because of it.. and I usually struggle with squats and lunges because I crunch badly and it hurts like a bitch and I stop.

But, I realised the other day that sticking my ass out a little further, and bending at the waist a bit more, shifts that gravity point back a bit more, means my thighs are doing more of the work, and it takes the pressure off my knees.

 

[Cattypuss]

I officially passed the 10kg lost mark today. Hooray!

(That's 22 pounds to you lot)

That is MAJOR, Lizzie! Way to go!