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Are You Staying Hydrated?

“There have been far too many young athletes who have died from heat exhaustion while training in the heat and unfortunately, heat stroke is one of the common causes of exercise-related deaths in high school students in the United States.”, according to Dr. Paul Stricker, MD.

Why is it that young adults head out to their sporting events without proper hydration? Some common misconceptions from them include, "the coach always has water", "I don’t even sweat", "it’s cloudy out today and I won’t need it", "I’ll be fine, it’s only a short practice", and the list goes on. The explanations are endless and varied, but the results are the same; high heat and humidity mixed with exercise can make a deadly combination.

So, how much water does an athlete require before strenuous exercise to be safe?

Prehydration

The goal of pre-hydration is to start an exercise activity in a hydrated state. Pre-hydration should be performed several hours before exercise to enable fluid absorption and allow urine output to return to normal levels. If your urine output is gold or darker, then you are already reached or passed the dehydration state. You need to drink more water! A person who drinks the proper amount of water will be hydrated and thus have clear urine output, which is the goal. Your pre-activity indicator is the color of your urine; this lets you know whether or not you are starting your activity well hydrated. If this is not the case for you then you need to change your habits, otherwise your performance on and off the field will suffer.

Hydration

The goal of hydration is to prevent excessive water loss through sweating. Individual perspiration rates can be estimated by weighing yourself before and after your workout. During exercise, teenagers can generate up to 20-25% more heat from their body weight than adults. Sunburn also increases this number, which is why sun protection is always recommended. Each pound of body weight equals one pint (8oz) of water lost. The goal is to prevent water loss in excess of 2% of your total body weight or you become dehydrated and your performance is impaired. A 200lb athlete should not lose more than 4lbs while exercising. Drinking 13-16oz of water 2 hours before exercise and 5-10oz every 15-20 minutes of exercise, depending on your total body weight, will keep you on target. A typical 1gal cooler will hold 128oz (8-16oz water bottles) of liquid which is plenty for 2 hours of activity. The key is to remember to DRINK it!

Experts also thought that sodium (salt) needed to be added to the water to replace salt lost through perspiration. What experts have discovered is that a traditional western diet contains more than enough salt, so there is NO need to replace it in any exercise lasting less than 2 hours. For a lengthy workout, a sports drink with electrolytes and carbohydrates can be consumed; although these drinks cannot replenish what was lost. Why? Because, hydrated cells are healthy cells and can absorb oxygen and nutrients, and dispose of toxins and waste efficiently. Dehydrated cells are highly inefficient and take much more time to recover. Therefore, if you are going to be working out for more than 2 hours, you should have an additional source of sports drinks available that are compatible to the length of your workout.

Dehydration

What does dehydration look like? We already discussed that gold urine output is NOT a good sign of adequate hydration, but there are other signs as well. Your body will send a "thirsty" signal to your brain, although by the time you feel thirsty you are already dehydrated. Your urine output will be less as your body is trying to conserve water. As the dehydration intensifies you will get a dry, sticky mouth, feelings of thirst, headache, your eyes will not water, and you will suffer severe muscle cramps, lightheadedness, nausea and vomiting. If the athlete shows signs of confusion or loses consciousness, CALL 911. If dehydration remains untreated it can result in organ failure, coma, and yes, even death. Severe dehydration is not to be taken lightly!

Over-hydration

Over hydration or EAH (hyponatremia) occurs when the body has too much water. This happens when more water is consumed than can be excreted. While many times this occurs in individuals with kidney problems and other maladies, it can also happen to athletes who drink too much too fast. If you weigh more than you did at the start of your workout, then you have too much water in your system. Believe it or not, it can happen very quickly to even those who are only modestly overdrinking. The symptoms of having too much water are those of brain dysfunction, change in mental status, sensory distortion, confusion, uncoordination, bizarre behavior, and ultimately seizures, coma and death. Normally excess water consumption does not lead to such serious consequences because your kidneys excrete the extra water. Only when fluid exceeds the kidneys’ ability to excrete it do these severe events have a chance of occurrence. Remember though that taking in more sodium does NOT make it OK to over drink. It is a common misperception that sports drinks will prevent the development of hyponatremia if you over drink. The sodium concentrate in sports drink is 5 to 7 times more diluted than that of your own blood. Therefore, it does little good to drink sports drinks and it is far better to stick with plain water during exercise.

A Word from the Pro's

Monica Seles

“I’m a big believer in drinking tons of water, especially before my matches, which is why I never cramped up during a match or at changeovers, but most importantly after the match so I could recover fast. In tennis I was only allowed to drink water and I tried to drink at least 8 glasses a day”, says Monica Seles. This is from a Tennis Hall of Fame athlete who won 9 grand slam titles from 1990 to 2003. NATS believes she has vast experience on this subject. If you would like to read more about Monica, her newest book "Getting a Grip: on my body, my mind, my self" is available in your local book stores.

 

Resources: Dr. Paul Stricker, MD - "Sports Success RX! Your child’s prescription for the best experience"
Monica Seles - "Getting a Grip: on my body, my mind, my self"


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