UKC

Someone told me about a guide working on Aconcagua who 'trained' his body to need less water to the extent that on summit day he only takes around 400cc.

Is it possible to train the body to need less water, food, resist cold etc?

In reply to Henry L Buckle:

Certainly you can condition yourself to need less and less water. I used to do long alpine days with one of those tiny Sigg bottles which hold 1/3 L. I'd normally come home not having touched any. This went on for maybe 15 years. Then I found it didn't do me much good. I still don't drink very much on the hill, though.

In reply to jon:
Not affected you in the slightest..?http://www.lolzimages.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/poa87x3r2yf_ohmygod.jp...

In reply to Henry L Buckle:

I remember from some survival training I did many years ago in the army that if you are in a situation where water is going to be short, not to start rationing the water from the start, but to not drink for the first 24 hours, then start to ration it out. This I was told sent some kind of signal to the body, and it was more economical with fluid thereafter, ie sweated less etc.

Not what you were asking about specifically but thought you might find it interesting.

In reply to simondgee:

No, not at all!

In reply to Henry L Buckle:

Seem to remember a doumentary sometime ago where they tried to get people going out to the BAS used to the cold by cold baths, no gloves in winter, etc.

The end result of the study was that their bodies actually became more efficient at maintaining core temperature - the downside was this happened because their bodies became faster at sacrificing the extremeties...

In reply to Henry L Buckle:

I never trained my feet to stand the cold but due to having problems I couldn't bend my feet into normal shoes or boots, so wore open sandals for about three years, rain, hail or shine.... oh and snow and ice. I was surprised to find that I never needed to wear socks but my feet were always warm. I didn't walk great distances as time went on and eventually had plastic (sylastic) joints put in. These have been superb and I was soon back to doing everything again.

In reply to Henry L Buckle:

Hmm...so not sure what the conclusion is there.

To me it seems hard to believe that the body can get used to working, at altitude, with less than half the normal water necessary (which in itself is probably too litlle).

However, melting only 400cc of water would be much nicer than having to melt 2 litres. And carrying it would be nicer too.

In reply to Henry L Buckle:

Requirement of hydration for performance is a myth

http://mattfitzgerald.org/article.php?id=14

In reply to Mr Lopez:

Er well, now you come to mention it...

In reply to Henry L Buckle:

huge subject.

im not sure its so much training to need less, as much as its finding out just how little you can get by on.
theres all sorts of training systems designed to demonstrate methods for reinterpreting hunger, fear and other stress reactions so you can go beyond them.

that said tho, plenty of runners train for events in extreme heat and cold and seem to improve their efficiency for these things.

also, (correct me if im wrong) didnt hermann buhl used to carry around chunks of ice to toughen his hands?

again - huge subject, and a bit of a favourite. need more coffee for it. may return.

In reply to Henry L Buckle: I'm not sure. Certainly heat stressing the body prior to running in heat works and is recomended. In fact you'd be a fool not too..

Many runners favour running hungry, after a fast, yet I just think that's hard work and slows recovery. But they have valid evidence it has beneficial effects.

I'm not sure on thirst. I often drop our sports science guys an email, ask what they think.

In reply to IainRUK:

Personally I have found running hungry and running in heat (when possible in the UK) very beneficial for overall fitness and teaching the body to cope with discomfort

Also think that you feel the benefits when you go back to normal conditions

In reply to Henry L Buckle:
Yes to the water.
That's why people on the HRP (Pyrennees) go West to east. By the hotter, dryer parts you get by on less water. I tried it and it's true.

In reply to mloskot:


That article doesn't actually say that. The study he cites apparently did reach that conclusion - although I surely don't need to point out the risks of treating data from one study as providing conclusive proof. The author of the article disagrees, saying:

runners competing in the heat will reach the same core body temperature whether drinking has a cooling effect or not, because inasmuch as it does have a cooling effect, the runner's brain will simply allow him to run a little harder so that he still reaches the same body temperature

(my emphasis) and

whereas the authors of this study thought they had demonstrated that fluid consumption does not affect body temperature or performance in competitive running in the heat, they actually provided evidence challenging the traditional model of thermoregulation during exercise and supporting the new, teleoanticipation model