How athletes can be efficient before training begins
AUSTIN, TEXAS (KXAN) -- Summer workouts for high school and college student-athletes will begin in a few weeks. Football and soccer players, among others, will be outdoors in the heat of what has already been another sweltering summer with day after day of triple-digit heat.
Dr. Lee Chilton of Ally Medical says one of the things the athletes have to do, and what coaches and other staff personnel have to monitor, is to make sure of proper hydration. Even the players who are in the best of shape should be drinking water or accepted sports drinks.
Dr. Chilton says hydrating the body should begin as early as two days out from the strenuous workouts they face. His suggestion is an ounce of water for every pound-and-a-half of body weight. The example he used was 120 ounces for a player weighing 180 pounds.
Hydrating with water will be enough if the practice is going to last an hour or less. But those workouts that last longer need more than water. The athlete needs to start replacing electrolytes.
He also mentioned that getting out of the sun and into the shade to cool off is also important.
Amy Culp, the University of Texas Assistant Athletics Director for Performance Nutrition, says before the athletes step onto the field to start their practice sessions, they are educated on not only proper hydration but also nutrition. One is just as important as the other.
She says that in addition to drinking water for hydration, other sources that will aid in this area are fruits and vegetables as well as pasta, rice, and grains due to their water absorption.
One baseline to make sure hydration is done correctly is to monitor the color of the urine. She says they want it the color of lemonade, not apple juice.
There are some foods to avoid close to practices and workouts. Foods that are high in fat as well as foods high in fiber.
Salt is encouraged because of the loss of sodium loss when sweating.
The suggestions made by both of the experts with whom we spoke apply not only to the student-athletes but to all who train in this summer heat.