An often overlooked area for coaches is whether or not their players are properly hydrated before, during and after practices and games. This matters because players who are dehydrated perform at lower levels and they do not recover as quickly. Proper hydration has a direct impact on performance.
The most important fuel for athletes is carbohydrates which should be consumed as a regular part of an athlete’s diet. They are the fuel for the engine. Athletes should eat 3-4 hours prior to competition and consume replacement carbs as soon as possible after practice/games.
Some sports drinks claim to offer combinations of carbohydrates, sodium, protein and electrolytes. Some of these products are actually quite beneficial to athletes and are great compliments to ordinary water. These drinks, for example Gatorade Endurance, are a mix of bitter and sweet flavor and as a result do not quench thirst thereby encouraging the athlete to drink more than might be consumed with plain water.
At the International Coaches Conference during the IIHF World Championships in May, 2008, Dr. Lawrence Spreit conducted some research on an NHL team, a Canadian Junior team and several high school age teams. The results were very interesting and so as not to present too much science, I have listed the important findings below.
• The research indicated that 75% of high school players arrived at the rink partially dehydrated.
• Players lose as much as 1.5 liters of fluids during a game and goalies as much as 3 liters.
• Players lose on average 4 teaspoons of salt during games.
• Goalies lose as much as 3 liters of fluid per practice.
• 30% of properly hydrated players will become dehydrated during practice.
Hydration matters because it materially impacts performance. Just like your car engine will quite working efficiently when the coolant levels fall causing the engine to overheat, so to with athletes. For every 1% your body is dehydrated there’s a 5% decrease in your performance. Therefore if your body is just 5% dehydrated your performance has decrease 25%, that’s a lot think about it. So now do you think Coaches need to educate their players about the importance of proper hydration?
Not only should they educate their players about hydration for their performance but also for their health. If they are coming to games/practice already dehydrated then playing they are using up more energy further dehydrating themselves. Not only will they lower their performance and increase tiredness and over heating they run the risk of passing out.
ReplyDeleteAll of my life I have been informed of proper hydration and meal comsumption and this post has given me more insight as to what really goes on when you sweat and lose lots of enegry during your games. Pasta is a great meal for the night before, and I'm not sure if I read this or not but eating 20-30 minutes after your game or practice is the best way to get all of the energy you lost back because your body is still working hard and will break down everything you eat at a much faster rate.
ReplyDeleteVery well done again, hydration is one of the most important untold aspects of playing sports. Along with the importance of stretching, staying hydrated is highly important. This blog has given great information and i learned a lot. Hydration is a great aspect in the performance because the human body needs fuel to perform.
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