Friday morning I participated in a Dehydration Study done by BSX Athletics. The study is meant to help BSX develop a sensor that tracks the amount of water in body tissue using LED lights. And oh my god was it rough… The day before the test I was required to track my hydration levels using a few strips they provided me and then I had to write down the specific gravity and how hydrated I was according to the strip. I also had to swallow a CorTemp ingestible thermometer around 10 PM and drink at least 3 cups of electrolytes before bed. The morning of the study I wasn't allowed to have food or liquids after 6 AM (my test started at 8 AM) so I woke up a little early to make sure I could get my other 3 cups of electrolytes in and eat a hearty breakfast. I then headed over to BSX! I walked into the office around 7:45 AM and Whitley helped me get all set up for the study. We put my bike on a Wahoo trainer, took my pre workout weight and she strapped about 5 LED sensors on my body as well as a lactate sensor and some kind of device that was reading my body temperature from the thermometer I had swallowed the night before. She took my blood and gave me a few mints to help me when I started feeling thirsty. The study was done in a room heated to 102 degrees and about 60% humidity, so just a little nicer than a bikram yoga room! I was allowed to have a fan blowing hot air onto my face, but I wasn't allowed any liquids AT ALL for the entire 2 hour workout. The first part of the study was an FTP test followed by finishing out an hour of spinning at 50% of whatever your FTP tested at in the heated room. They warned me my FTP would be about 20-25 watts lower than normal, but I really didn’t believe it until all was said and done! I hit my FTP threshold about 5 minutes earlier than I usually do. As soon as I was done I felt all the blood leave my face and almost passed out. I got to rest for a few minutes and Whitley gave me some Dex4 tablets to help raise my blood sugar. Those tablets were a lifesaver throughout the test! I spun out for the rest of the hour and then Whitley came in and took my blood sample for the second time. The second half of the test sounded pretty easy, but ended up being even worse than the first half. I had 25 minutes easy spinning and then 15 minutes of a tempo workout ending with another 25 minutes easy spinning. I was so thirsty. And I had already started feeling dizzy. But I figured I could easily spin for the next 65 minutes. I sucked on a few mints (to help with the thirst), had my little pile of Dex4 tabs ready and I was off to finish the test. The first part wasn’t physically difficult, but I guess the lack of liquids started to really hit me. I remember feeling very angry and wanting to throw things at the wall. I started getting antsy on the bike and moving around quite a bit. I was just so bored and thirsty! I was excited for the 15 minutes of tempo because at least then I could change things up my cadence! Somewhere within that 15 minutes I started to get very dizzy and almost fell off my bike. I pressed the little help button they had attached near my bike (because if you were a BSX employee would you really want to hang out in a sweaty 102 degree room with a dehydrated athlete??). Whitley and the other guy came in a she gave me a few more sugar tablets, they asked if I wanted to continue the test and said they could lower the power level. So we lowered it by about 20 watts and I finished out the rest of the 65 minutes without incidence. And finally the hard part was over! I I was just so thirsty, all I could think about was getting some Skratch after the study was done! I had my blood drawn once again, and apparently when you are dehydrated your veins like to retreat within your body. Whitley had to move to my other arm to get a good sample and as soon as the blood started to get drawn I once again got very lightheaded and almost quite the study right there. I was not feeling well and the thought of having blood taken again was making me nauseous. Somehow I toughed it out. I was told to weigh myself again so they could determine how much water weight I had lost. Then I was sent to the recovery room where I was allowed about 100 ounces of water separated into 5 servings given to me every 15 minutes. When I weighed myself the second time I had lost almost 4% of my weight in water alone! In only 2 hours! So I was to spend the next 90 minutes relaxing and rehydrating, and even took a short nap. After the recovery period I weighed myself for the last time, and had gained back all the water weight (plus some extra!) so Whitley took my blood once again and I was done! Overall, it was an interesting experience in how my body works in a dehydrated state. I am excited to see how the sensor ends up working and I definitely want one when it comes out!! That tool could be a real game changer in hot, long races.
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LPCoach & Team - Austin T3 (Whitley Atkins) & Team Nuun |