Water Isn’t that Important, Is It?

If you don’t drink enough water, you can die.

Simple stuff?  Yes.

An obvious statement?  Yes.

Doesn’t need to be repeated for the umpteenth time?  Apparently not.

Young hiker dies at South Mountain

Firefighters: 115-degree heat too much for boy, 14

July 21, 2009 5:16 PM

By Doug Murphy

Ahwatukee Foothills News

On Monday morning, a 14-year-old boy from Alaska who was visiting relatives in the East Valley died after becoming dehydrated and suffering heat stroke while on a hike in South Mountain Park the day before.

Firefighters say the family was hiking for several hours when the teen became disoriented. Firefighters were called around 11:30 a.m. and when they found the group, far up a trail off Pima Canyon, the boy was not breathing.

“He’s coming from Alaska (and) he’s never been in the heat like this,” said fire Captain Dorian Jackson, a spokesman for the department.

The temperature was around 115 on Sunday, although the heat radiating off the rocks probably increased the temperature.

The desert can be unforgiving and Jackson said the key is to stick with the basics.

“Make sure you drink plenty of water the day before and carry plenty of water,” Jackson said.

Hikers should also wear a hat and loose clothing to protect from the heat. It’s also important for hikers to apply plenty of sunscreen and set a reasonable pace in hot weather so they won’t overheat and get into trouble.

Obviously this was a horrible situation, but it’s not exactly a rarity out here in the desert.  The trail the boy was on is about seven miles of strenuous hiking.  It takes a little over four hours to complete if you’re in decent shape, longer if you need lots of rest breaks.  If you’re already well hydrated before starting out, you will need to carry a gallon of water with you and be finishing it off by the time you get back to the trail head (drink at a rate of about a quart per hour).

The main points I want you to take away from this are BE AWARE and KNOW YOUR LIMITATIONS.

Being aware simply means understanding the environment you’re in.  If you want to go hiking, biking, or whatever in a new place, don’t be afraid to educate yourself.  Ask around.  Talk to people who are familiar with the area and LISTEN to them.  Walking around the block in extreme temperatures isn’t much of a problem.  Hiking up a mountain certainly can be, so find out from people who have done it if there are any special preparations you need to make.

“Know your limitations” tends to get quick responses of “Oh, don’t be a baby” and “Push through those limitations!”  Quite frankly, that is a foolish mindset.  The boy who died was from Alaska and his body wasn’t ready to handle a high level of exertion in extreme heat.  It had nothing to do with “being a baby” or “sucking it up.”  It had everything to do with his body being unable to thermo-regulate.

I’ll use myself as an example:

I live in Tempe, Arizona.  Today it should top out at around 110 or so which is a nice break from the 116 we had yesterday.  I spend a fair bit of my day outside and my vehicle doesn’t have air conditioning.  The gym I train at has a couple of swamp coolers, but they don’t do much to cool things down when the humidity starts to creep up.  I am fine with all of this.  I am comfortable in the truck and I wear a hat outside.  I drink about a gallon and a half to two gallons of water a day and I sweat very easily.  Bottom line, my body is used to this climate and I find it quite comfortable.

A few years ago, I went with my wife to homecoming at Penn State in October.  We also stayed with her family for about a week in upstate New York.  There was no snow on the ground, but the average temperature was in the 40’s.  All you people from the north can laugh, but I froze my tail off!  My body is fine at higher temperatures, but I’m ready to throw on a sweatshirt if it gets much below 70.  My body literally has no idea what to do with cold temperatures except to shiver uncontrollably.  I’m sure I looked ridiculous all bundled up in everything I packed while everyone else was wearing light jackets, but at least I was almost warm.  If I had tried to dress like a local…hello hypothermia!

Get a clue, people.  I’m tired of reading articles like the one above.

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More on Lifting Belts

Since we posted the “Lifting Belts 101″ video, we’ve had a couple of questions come through from people looking for more information on when to start using lifting belts.  While there really isn’t a hard and fast rule on when you should use a belt, I generally don’t recommend that beginning lifters use one.  No, this isn’t an elitist thing, it’s a strength and safety thing.  Wearing a belt too early will delay the development of a strong lower back.  If you train without one, your body has no choice but to support itself and it will get stronger (I promise!).  As far as safety goes, a belt can give you a false sense of security.  It is not uncommon for trainees to put on much more weight than they really should because of the belief that the belt will protect the spine.  It does give you a degree of protection, but that isn’t the belt’s primary purpose if you’re using it correctly.  I know that might sound a little strange, but I’ll cover that in a minute.

First, let’s talk about what the belt really does.  As I mentioned in the video, all the stuff in your abdomen is generally referred to os the “fluid ball.”  The human body has a lot of water…roughly 60% of your total weight is water weight!  Different parts of your body have varying levels of water.  Your organs (the “stuff” in your abdomen) are comprised of about 70% water.  I know it seems like I’ve veered way off topic, but stay with me here.  The fact that our organs are made up of so much water is important because water cannot be compressed like a gas can be.  If you squeeze a bag of gas, the pressure rises and the gas takes up less volume.  If you compress water, the volume stays the same.  Quick experiment: take a deep breath and push your belly out.  Really bear down and push!  Go ahead, I’ll wait.  Ok, now what happened?  Your belly pushed out and you looked like you had a pot-belly, right?  Now if you were wearing a good lifting belt and you had it wrapped over your belly button, you wouldn’t get the pot-belly effect.  The fluid ball in your abdomen wants to push your abdominal wall out, but the belt is in the way.  Where can it go?  Nowhere, actually.  It pushes against the abdominal wall and the spine, thereby increasing your inner-abdominal pressure and bracing the anterior surface of the spine.  The posterior surface of the spine is braced by the belt, so the vertebrae really don’t have anywhere to go.  You’re essentially using the belt to stabilize a very flexible structure (your spine).

Ok, now that we know what happens when we bear down while wearing a belt, why do we do it?  Well, if you’re using it correctly, the belt is giving you something to push against.  Imagine you’re going to move a refrigerator by pushing it across the floor.  Is it easier to push the refrigerator if you just stand there and push or is it easier if you brace yourself against a wall?  Exactly.  While the belt isn’t a wall, it sure does help!  The additional internal pressure provides a feeling of tightness and stability which is essential for lifting very heavy weights.  Yes, it does give you a measure of protection, but it really doesn’t cover that much surface area.  If you go too heavy, a few vertebrae in your lumbar spine might be somewhat protected, but what about your thoracic spine?  If your backs rounds over, you may very well experience a significant injury whether your lumbar spine is protected or not.

If you’re just starting off, I’d wait on the belt for a while.  Concentrate on building back strength first so your body can hold itself together without the aid of the belt.  How do you do this?  Easy!  For starters, it’s time to make back extensions part of your religion.  Check out the video on extensions and start doing ‘em!  Additionally, keep doing lots of squats and lots of dead lifts.  Remember to use proper form and keep the weights moderate.  This is not the time to beat a world record!  Now is the time to build your foundation.  Think of it this way: your body is a three-story house.  The first floor is made of bricks and the third floor is also made out of bricks, but the second floor is made out of tooth picks and string.  What do you think is going to happen to that house?  Right.  It isn’t as much fun, but you really need to take the time to make your second floor out of the same material as your first and third floor!

Hopefully this answered a few questions. As always, feel free to email me at phil@shapeofsuccessfitness.com if you want more information.

Lifting Belts 101

All of the strength, none of the pain. Dead lifting done right.