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Introduction

Russell Smith 14th March 2011 Sport Nutrition Hydration Hydration has a significant effect on sports performance and can determine the success of training sessions or competition. It is a vital aspect of knowledge, which needs to be applied by sports performers and coaches/trainers to achieve top results, good health and recovery. I'm going to produce information for sports performers, making them aware of how to recognise different levels of hydration and how to effectively hydrate before, during, and after training/competition. First of all I am going to discuss the signs and symptoms dehydrations, hyper hydration, and hypo hydration. I will start with dehydration. Dehydration occurs when the body loses more fluid than it takes in. The signs and symptoms of dehydration are varied as to the severity, at about a 2% loss in fluid the symptoms are; thirst, this will diminish your performance as your concentration levels go down. It is common for athletes' performance levels to drop in the last 15 minutes due to a lack of fluid intake, loss of appetite this will lead to further fatigue and weakness other than that already associated with dehydration. This again will lead to a diminished performance, dry skin which will cause a problem with regards to heat loss. Heat loss is obtained commonly through sweating and from the sweat droplets evaporating off the skin, however if the skin is dry it will delay the sweating process, skin flushing is ...read more.

Middle

hypertonic, isotonic or hypotonic). Remember to describe why you have chosen a particular method of hydration. An athlete's fluid intake will vary depending on the situation that they are in. Pre- event, you should be looking to be fully hydrated. The easiest way to do this is to check the colour of your urine before training or competing; if you urine is a dark colour then you need to drink more. Before exercise you should be drinking about 15-20 fl oz, 2-3 hours before exercise and then you should drink 8-10 fl oz again 10-15 min before exercise. The best type of drink to consume before exercise is an isotonic drink; this is because they provide a lot of fluid which will help the circulation of oxygen within the blood plasma. Isotonic drinks also provide electrolytes (Sodium, Potassium, Chloride, Bicarbonate) and consist of between 6 to 8% carbohydrate which is the optimal amount. Isotonic drinks are very effective and encourage further drinking because of the sodium within them; this salty taste to the drink makes athletes come back for another drink approximately 10-15 minutes later. This ensures that during training or competition athletes will continue to drink. During training or a competition you should be drinking about 8-10 fl oz every 10-15 min during exercise. If exercising longer than 90 minutes, drink 8-10 fl oz of a sports drink (with no more than 8 percent carbohydrate) ...read more.

Conclusion

You perceived exertion will be at the right level when hydration levels are correct when dehydration occurs, this results in an increased body temperature, this makes the body work harder to lower the body's temperature. However, because blood plasma thickens when there is a lack of water in it, it makes it harder for the required hormones to reach the surface of the skin and release sweat (the sweat would usually evaporate off the skin taking the heat with it and thus cooling the body down). Your heart rate also increases as a result of dehydration and this puts a stress on your heart to supply more blood around the body. You also have a higher perceived exertion from dehydration, meaning that your think you have worked harder than what you really have- this is a bad thing for athletes who are trying to lose weight, for example, they think they have worked harder and thus lost more weight than what they really have. During hydration it is possible that there will be increased reliance on carbohydrate as a fuel source. An example of dehydration can be seen in the recent F.A Cup Final between Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur; Michael Dawson and Aaron Lennon both got cramp during extra time. Cramp is a common symptoms of dehydration at a fluid loss of 2% and occurs when not enough oxygen is supplied to required muscles. When a lack of water exists in the blood plasma, the blood struggles to transport enough oxygen to the required muscles fast enough ...read more.

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