Body absorbes water while swimming? + 10lbs!?

kiminikimkim
kiminikimkim Posts: 746 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
I came across a 308lbs woman who claims her body will absorb 10-12lbs of water after a 2 hour swim! She weighs herself before she gets in the water and again right when she gets out.

Can this be true? Have any of you weighed yourself before and after swimming?

I do triathlon training every week-end and I tend to have a headache right after my swim. I was told to eat an electrolyte gel pack right before the cycle portion (after swim) and right before the last leg, the running. I tried the gel for the first time yesterday and my headache went away pretty fast which makes me wonder if the swimming portion over-hydrated me, causing the headache.

There is no scale at my pool, has anyone gained water weight after a long swim???? Is that 10lbs of water gain bogus?

Replies

  • unkeptwalnut83
    unkeptwalnut83 Posts: 33 Member
    That sounds pretty bogus to me. As far as the headache, could be the length of the workout dehydration or low blood glucose or even that your goggles are too tight, but your body won't like you absorb that much water, it's way too into maintaining homeostasis for that.
  • monicalosesweight
    monicalosesweight Posts: 1,173 Member
    I suspect it's totally bogus.

    I found this one link that says you can actually get dehydrated from swimming in a pool. Grin.

    http://www.whyzz.com/can-swimmers-become-dehydrated-while-swimming

    This is a link to a study that shows people tend to drink water when they swim. It could be that she has a tough time swimming and she's actually drinking water from the pool. That's the only reason I could think that she'd gain that much water weight. Also, you tend to gain weight during the day. If she weighs herself in the a.m., eats a big breakfast, then lunch, then goes swimming. The weight gain may not be that much. We've all had fluctuations depending on how much we're eating.

    http://www.iwaponline.com/jwh/004/0425/0040425.pdf
  • ChangeYourPace
    ChangeYourPace Posts: 127 Member
    Kudos on bring able to stomach the electrolyte goo. That stuff always made me feel much worse during races.
  • Emilina79
    Emilina79 Posts: 28 Member
    Yeah I agree with the article posted by monicaloosesw...also, when I was at school I was told that their is a layer of sebum (oil) in the skin to protect the skin from bacteria and other nasties also acting as waterproof barrier. Water is very dense so I'd suspect it's very easy to dehydrate (lose water) I used to get the wrinkly fingers lol.
  • froeschli
    froeschli Posts: 1,292 Member
    When I swim, I always, always need to get out after an hour to go for a pee...

    Depending on the salt content in the water, it is possible it enters your cells through osmosis. 10lbs seems a bit much, unless she started dehydrated and has a high concentration of minerals in her skin cells.
    But if there were excess water in yous system, your kidneys and such would filter it out. hence the need to pee.
  • kiminikimkim
    kiminikimkim Posts: 746 Member
    http://health.howstuffworks.com/skin-care/information/anatomy/skin-wrinkly-in-water.htm

    Apparently the wrinkling of your hands and feet is an indication or water absorption from prolonged water exposure, according to Discovery Health channel.

    I'm not too concerned about dehydration, for every one death caused by dehydration, there are 16 people who have died from over-hydration. Plus, the body knows when it wants water, it will automatically activate thirst.

    I am thinking I might have to bring a scale to the pool to test this Dehydration vs Overhydration swimming conundrum.
  • ktingram18
    ktingram18 Posts: 4
    Although the keratin in our dermis might absorb water, there probably isn't a whole lot of pool water getting into our bloodstream through osmosis.

    Most competitive swimmers now take a bottle of water or electrolyte solution with them to the pool to avoid dehydration, which can occur easily if someone is working hard enough to raise the body temperature. You don't say where you got the statistic that 16 times as many people die from over-hydration as dehydration, so I am very skeptical of that claim.

    Please do let us know the results of your scale test.
  • BCSMama
    BCSMama Posts: 348
    Okay, maybe this is dumb and she weighs herself after she's dried off completely or after taking off her swimsuit and drying her hair, but could some of that 10 lb gain come from a wet suit and wet hair/skin? I imagine her swim suit is fairly large and would possibly absorb a fair amount of water.
  • mitchhickok
    mitchhickok Posts: 18
    I just laid in a hot bath for almost an hour. I weighed 230.0 before, and 230.0 after. I didn't swallow any water.
  • ktingram18
    ktingram18 Posts: 4
    Did your hands and feet turn to prunes?

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