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Masters Athletic Newsletter Vol. 2

Masters Athletic Newsletter Vol 3.

Weigh yourself naked before exercising, and again, naked, on cessation. We suggest a minimum period of one hour for this test. To obtain your sweat rate, deduct finishing weight from starting weight, add ounces of fluid drunk and deduct ounces of urine passed (so you can see it might be a good idea not to pee during the test as, if you do, you will have to collect your urine and measure it).

If you exercised for an hour, this is your hourly sweat rate. If you exercised for more than an hour, then correct the calculated weight to an hourly value.

We strongly suggest that if you are a Multisport athlete that you check sweat rate for all the sports you participate in. Your sweat rate while swimming will be significant, but typically less than you experience while running and cycling  roughly one-third and one-half respectively  although this will vary with water temperature and whether you are wearing a wetsuit.

You should generally try to rehydrate at, or slightly below your calculated sweat rates. You should NOT rehydrate above your calculated sweat rates. For more information request a copy of the Masters Athletic Performance advanced competitive rehydration protocol

Probably not in most cases. Ibuprofen interferes with the production of a hormone called prostaglandin, one of whose functions is to keep the vessels of the kidneys open and maintaining adequate blood flow. Add dehydration – often encountered in a long race or training session, particularly in the heat — to the mix, and the problem is compounded. The possibility of renal (kidney) failure becomes a real possibility. Who wants to have a dialysis machine for their next best friend?

Ibuprofen use may also blunt your recovery after racing or training. Research suggests that ibuprofen use reduces protein synthesis, one of the ways the body repairs muscles after the stress imposed by racing or training.

Other research points to increased gastrointestinal permeability during endurance exercise concurrent with ibuprofen use. This may be one of the reasons that research among runners using ibuprofen at the Western States 100 ultramarathon suggests an increase in some inflammatory markers post-race. In this study, there was little or no difference in reported muscle soreness between ibuprofen users and non-users.

Does this mean ibuprofen should be avoided altogther? Probably not. It¡s an accepted choice for dealing with the aches and pains of daily life. But does it help during a race? Probably not. And can it hurt you? Yes, if you take too much and become dehydrated. For races and hard training sessions, the risks outweigh the questionable benefits, in our opinion.

UPDATE.. As a follow-up to my notes on ibuprofen use, I would like to offer the results of some just-published research.

In an article by Tim Noakes and others (Wharam, Speedy, Noakes, Thompson, Reid and Holtzhausen) entitled NSAID Use Increases The Risk of Developing Hyponatremia during an Ironman Triathlon” in the journal Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise (Vol. 38, No. 4), the authors concluded (in part): “This study shows that NSAIDs are commonly used in ultraendurance events and that their use is associated with an increased risk of the development of biochemically diagnosed exertional hyponatremia. The effect is likely due to an alteration of renal function.”

Please note that the subjects-participants in the 2004 Ironman New Zealand-were clinically diagnosed with hyponatremia but were asymptomatic. However, NSAID use appears to be a contributory factor to them developing clinically diagnosed hyponatremia based on blood sampling post-race. Just another factor to consider if you were thinking of taking NSAIDs during that next ultraendurance event.