Issue 145
What you pee could affect how you fight.
Are you dehydrated? An important question, given that dehydration hinders your ability to train and fight by decreasing your testosterone levels, causing your body to overheat and impairing the amount of blood pumped by your heart: but one you probably have no idea how to answer.
Simply urinate into a glass, hold it up against a white background in a good light, match your brew up against the shades featured in Professor Lawrence Armstrong’s ‘urine hydration chart’ (below) and discover whether you’re imbibing enough H20 or need to reach for the aqua mineral.
The diagnosis
Urine color 1-3: Congratulations, your fighting name could be ‘Mr Hydration’
Urine color 4-6: It’s not terminal, but you need to up your water intake
Urine color 7-8: You’re dehydrated, get to the tap or prepare to tap out
To pee or not to pee?
That is the question
We’ve all been there. You’ve reached the gym with a bladder that’s fit to burst, then looked at the clock, realized you’re running late and chosen to head for the mat instead of the lav.
“Bad move,” says Dr Catherine Spencer-Smith, a sports physician at Pure Sports Medicine. “And not because a big shot could cause you to involuntarily urinate – I’ve only seen that happen in a car accident – but for four other reasons.
“First, most top athletes pee before training.
The color tells whether or not they’re properly hydrated. Second, you can’t draw fluid back out of the bladder, so peeing doesn’t rob your body of valuable fluid. Third, holding on increases your risk of a urine infection. And fourth, it’s distracting, which is why the only people I know who train with full bladders are dancers, because it encourages them to hold their pelvic floor, which improves posture.”
Hear that? Shunning slashing is for dancers, so, late or not, drain before grappling,
The wonder of wee
Should you be drinking your own produce?
Don’t laugh. This isn’t as ridiculous as it sounds. Top fighters Lyoto ‘The Dragon’ Machida and Luke Cummo are long-time advocates of pee drinking, claiming it acts as a vaccine against illness and flushes food that wasn’t properly digested out of their system.
“I learned about this method through my father and I believe it has strengthened my immune system,” reveals Machida. “I’m not a doctor, but I do believe in this method and its effectiveness.”
Catherine Spencer-Smith of Pure Sports Medicine is a doctor and she believes: “There is absolutely no medical evidence whatsoever that drinking your own special brew is good for you.
Yes, urine is sterile, so it won’t be laden with bugs, but it’s also a waste product, so why would you want to put it back in your system?
Urea can be useful to control itches on skin, but that’s the only health benefit we know of. Drinking it just doesn’t make sense.” Not known for your ‘sense’ and hence still thinking of giving it a go?
Godspeed, but be warned according to Machida’s father, Yoshizo: “It tends to taste sweet or salty.”
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