How can you as the coach help keep your athletes adequately hydrated and ready to perform? Here are 10 effective tips:
- Make hydration a part of your game plan. Do that by always having fluids available during workouts and events, allowing your athletes to drink when thirsty, never restricting the amount of fluid they consume, and making sure they are actually drinking fluids even if they don’t yet feel thirsty.
- Start them well hydrated. Athletes carrying a fluid deficit from an earlier workout are at high risk for dehydration at their next exercise session. Combat this by ensuring that your players get into the habit of consuming about 2 cups (480 ml) of water 2–3 hours before exercise and that they continue to drink as needed right up until the action begins. In fact, advise your athletes to carry a water bottle or sports bottle to class or on the job and to drink from it regularly. If applicable, assign team captains to remind their fellow players about hydrating before practices and competitions.
- Teach how to monitor hydration status. By monitoring urine volume and color, your athletes can judge for themselves whether they’re sufficiently hydrated. Large amounts of clear or light-yellow urine equate to being hydrated. Small volumes of dark urine suggest more fluids are needed.
- Make a sports bottle required equipment. Make it a requirement that all athletes bring their own water bottle or sports bottle to practices and competitions. Having their own bottle will help them track their fluid intake as they exercise.
- Call frequent water breaks. Multiple water breaks, such as every 15 minutes, are better than one per hour. Also, start the rehydration process early. By the time your players feel thirsty, they’re already dehydrated. Set your watch to buzz you every 15 minutes as a water-break reminder.
- Drink it, don’t splash it. Point out to your athletes that pouring fluid into the body is more effective for cooling purposes than pouring it over the body.
- Explain what to hydrate with and when. Water is fine for short practices and mild temperatures. But a sports drink containing sodium and carbohydrates is the better option for long practices and whenever it’s hot or humid. Also, cool beverages are best, so suggest partially filling a sports bottle and freezing it the night before.
- Enforce a dress code. In hot/humid weather, minimize the amount of clothing covering the body. This will make the cooling effect of sweating more efficient. Also, ban the use of rubberized clothing and avoid heat-absorbing, dark-colored uniforms and workout clothes.
- Monitor fluid losses with weigh-ins. Have players weigh themselves before and after practices. Don’t allow an athlete to practice if they are much below their typical weight, as it is a sign that they may be underhydrated.
- Promote active rehydration after exercise. Advise your athletes after a practice or competition to gradually drink 2–3 cups of a sports drink, recovery beverage, or water for every lb (1,500 ml per kg) of weight lost, and remind them that consuming sodium sources after exercise helps the body rehydrate more effectively.
Topics:
Pre-Workout, During, Post-Workout, Hydration, Recovery
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