Padilla 1

Estevan Padilla
Pamela Reed
Composition 1
05 November 2015
Hydration is Key for High School Athletes
Every year millions of athletes across the nation compete in a school sanctioned event.
Most of these athletes do not understand the importance of hydrating. With that being said most
of them go through their athletic event dehydrated in some form. If these athletes were to hydrate
properly, they would be able to perform to the best of their abilities.
According to the Nutrition Reviews, article entitled Dehydration and endurance
performance in competitive athletes, which was published in 2012, many scientific papers have
extensively reviewed and assessed the effects of exercise-induced weight loss. Normally this
weight loss is attributed to improper hydration before, during and after an athletic event or
training. It is commonly recognized that an athlete should consume enough fluids to replace the
amount that they lose during practice or competition, however, depending upon the sport in
which the individual is participating, this may not always be an option.
The current understanding of proper hydration prior to and during an activity is to prevent
experiencing more than a 2% decrease in body weight. Then how a decrease in body weight may
or may not affect an athletes performance and endurance, while participating in an activity over
an extended period of time. There are athletic activities where an athletes performance and
endurance displayed no decrease, but actually reported and increase, such as in long distance

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running and triathlons. This was not previously detected in studies that were conducted, as those
studies were conducted within a laboratory, controlled with fixed-power outputs and time based.
These type of test would not be applicable long-distance, endurance activities, such as marathons
and triathlons. The studies do not take into consideration that when participating in these type of
activities that an athlete has to make adjustments to the intensity of their actions, running slower,
faster, during these type of competitions to compensate for the length of time required while
participating.
All of this being said, a decrease in body weight versus no decrease in body weight
during and after participation is not necessarily a clear indication of an athlete has maintained
proper hydration. The mistake is made when an athlete assumes that they can assume mass
quantities of liquid, just prior to participating in an event or even during an event that will meet
the physiological needs of their bodies.
The National Athletic Trainers Association states that hydration protocols should be
established for student athletes, which include a rehydration strategy that takes into consideration
the individual athletes needs. These protocols need to take into consideration not only
environmental conditions, but the type of activity in which the athlete will participate. Your
hydration, rehydration strategy for a sport such as football, would not be the same for someone
that was participating in long distance running. To promote hydration and rehydration, coaches
and trainers, should make the appropriate fluids readily available to their athletes.
Athletes should begin all sessions properly hydrated. This may be accomplished by
beginning to consume the necessary fluids over an extended period of time at least two to three
hours prior to the beginning of the session, not immediately prior to the beginning of the session.
Rehydration will be determined by the needs of the individual athlete, taking into consideration

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that athletes sweat and urine output. Where it is important to make sure an athlete does not
become dehydrated, it is just as important to make sure an athlete does not consume too much
fluid, becoming hyperhydrated, as this can be just as dangerous.
Keep in mind that an athlete may experience physiological changes after several days of
participation in the activity that will alter the amount of fluids an athlete will need to intake to
remain properly hydrated. This make it extremely important for those supervising the athletes to
be aware of the signs and symptoms of dehydration; "thirst, irritability, and general discomfort,
followed by headache, weakness, dizziness, cramps, chills, vomiting, nausea, head or neck heat
sensations, and decreased performance. (Casa, Armstrong, Hillman, Montain, Reiff, Rich,
Roberts and Stone, 213) Once an athlete has been identified, quick assessment is paramount so
that he or she may be transported to the nearest medical facility for appropriate treatment.
There are several things to remember when trying to assure that an athlete is properly
hydrated. Rapid weight loss that indicates loss of body water, athletes with high body fat
percentages can become dehydrated faster than those athletes with low body fat percentages.
Athletes sweat at different rates, which can cause some to lose more salt through their sweat than
others. The clothing an athlete wears can contribute to the amount of sweat they release. An
athletes acclimatization to an activity, in addition to medications and illness can also affect an
athletes hydration. An athletes color of and output volume of urine can be used as a way to
track an athletes hydration or dehydration. Remember too, that the environment is also a
contributing factor and should be monitored before, during and after practice and events.
Coaches, athletes and parents need to arm themselves with the tools and resources that
will allow them to hopefully prevent an athlete from becoming dehydrated to avoid long term

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injury. They all will have to be involved in the process. Studies and experiences have
demonstrated that ignoring this issue can be catastrophic.

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Works Cited
Goulet, Eric Db. "Dehydration And Endurance Performance In Competitive Athletes." Nutrition
Reviews 70.(2012): S132-S136. Consumer Health Complete - EBSCOhost. Web. 5 Nov.
2015.
Casa, Douglas J., PhD, Lawrence E. Armstrong, PhD, Susan K. Hillman, MS, MA, ATC, PT,
Scott J. Montain, PhD, Ralph V. Reiff, MEd, Brent S. E. Rich, MD, William O. Roberts,
MD, and Jennifer A. Stone, MS. "The National Athletic Trainers' Association." Choice
Reviews Online 36.12 (2000): 212-24. National Athletic Trainers' Association. National
Athletic Trainers' Association. Web. 07 Nov. 2015.
<http://www.nata.org/sites/default/files/FluidReplacementsForAthletes.pdf>.
"Saint Thomas Aquinas High School." St. Thomas Aquinas High School. National Federation of
State High School Associations, 2015. Web. 08 Nov. 2015.
<http://www.stalux.org/podium/default.aspx?t=141670>.