Nutrition
- Game Day
Heat can be a serious problem especially during
August practices and during the first several weeks of the season. If you
listen to your body you can prevent most problems with heat. If you fail
to listen, you can have serious problems. The first step in avoiding heat
problems is to drink plenty of liquids. The three major problems that heat
can cause are: heat cramps, heat exhaustion, and heat stroke. If you get
in trouble, stop exercise, get out of the sun, get fluids, and cool off.
Heat
related problems
|
Heat
cramps. These occur in the voluntary muscles and are usually the first
sign of trouble. If you get heat cramps, quit exercise and get out of
the sun. Message usually helps as does drinking water or sports drink.
|
Heat
exhaustion. This is brought on by fluid loss and partly by the fact that
the body's cooling system has sent so much of its blood supply to the
skin. This reduces blood flow to the brain and can produce confusion and
even unconsciousness. A person with heat exhaustion has a wet skin. If
you get heat exhaustion stop at once, get out of the sun, lie down, raise
your feet, and cool off. Drink plenty of fluids.
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Heat
stroke. Heat stroke is life threatening. In heat stroke the body temperature
is extremely high and the skin is usually (though not always) hot and
dry. Other symptoms are dizziness, vomiting, diarrhea, and confusion.
Immediate medical attention is required. The body temperature must be
reduced at once with cool water, rubbing alcohol, or by putting the victim
into a tub of cold water.
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Listen
to your body. When you start to feel overheated stop exercising. If you
are in the middle of a game, drop to the ground to let the referee know
that you need to come out of the game. As soon as you get of the field,
pour water on your head, get out of the sun, and drink plenty of fluids.
You can prevent most heat related problems by drinking plenty of fluids
before, during, and after exercise or a game.
Failure to drink adequate fluids leads to dehydration.
Dehydration can lead to fatigue, headaches, and even muscle cramps. Even
if you don't have any of these symptoms, you still need to be sure that
you get adequate fluids. This is especially important during the August
practices and the early games in the season.
This year the American College of sports Medicine (ACM) released advise
on fluid intake for health and performance.
The day before practice or a game, eat well and drink plenty of fluids Drink
more fluids than you think you need. Thirst is not a good indication of
needing fluids. Drink fluids before practice or a game. During practice
or during a game, drink plenty of fluids. Be sure to drink at least one
glass of water or sports drink at half time. Remember to drink at half time
even if you are not thirsty. Thirst is NOT a good indication of need for
fluids. Keep your beverage cool. Studies show that cooled beverages are
more palatable and that you will tend to drink more.
Try to drink a sports drink during games--especially the first game of the
day. Studies show that if exercise lasts over an hour (a soccer game is90
minutes for U18), a drink with electrolytes and carbohydrates is better
than plain water. For shorter periods of exercise, water is just as good
as sports drink. Avoid drinks that are too high in electrolytes or carbohydrates.
Consume carbohydrates at the rate of 120 to 240 calories per hour during
exercise lasting over an hour. This will delay fatigue. Drink 5 to 12 ounces
of a typical sports drink every 15 to 20 minutes during a game to meet both
fluid and carbohydrate needs.
Sports drinks with some sodium are recommended for exercise lasting over
an hour.
If you suffer from cramps, drink several glasses of sports drink the day
before a game or practice.
| Brand
|
Calories/8
oz |
Carbohydrates
(gm/8 oz) |
| All
Sport |
70
|
19
|
| Endura
|
62
|
16
|
| Exceed
|
70
|
17
|
| Gatorade
|
50
|
14
|
| Hydra
Fuel |
70
|
17
|
| Power
Ade |
70
|
19
|
| Sports
Toddy |
46
|
9
|
| 10-K
|
60
|
15
|
| XLRB
|
62
|
15
|
From the NCAA Sports Sciences Education Newsletter
(Fall 1996). The article is from the Sports Medicine meeting May 29 - June
1 in Cincinnati.
Eating before endurance exercise greatly improves lasting power. A British
study suggests that eating 1.1 grams carbohydrate/ lb. of body weight (700
calories/150 lbs.) three hours before, plus consuming a sports drink during
an endurance run significantly extends running time to exhaustion. The subjects
ran 147 minutes with the prerun meal and sports drink; 125 minutes with
no breakfast and only sports drink; and 115 minutes with no calories before
or during the run.
Sports drinks improve not only endurance but also performance of high intensity
exercise that lasts less than an hour. When 19 trained cyclists consumed
a sports drink (about 240 calories per hour) during a time trial, they improved
their performance by 2.3%. This knocked more than one minute off their approximately
one-hour event.
Exercise induced muscle cramps are thought to be caused by dehydration and
loss of sodium and potassium, but that may not be true. Runners who suffered
muscle cramps after a 35 mile race had similar serum sodium, potassium and
glucose levels as well as similar hydration status compared to a runner
with no cramps. But the runners with cramps had a higher EMG (electromyograph)
activity, suggesting that the cause may be malfunctioning nerves.
Drinking alcohol after exercise results in reduced muscle glycogen storage
when athletes displace carbohydrate calories with alcohol (that is, they
drink beer, but don't eat enough food). If you are going to drink alcohol,
be sure to eat a high carbohydrate diet.
Recovery carbohydrates are important not only for endurance athletes, but
also for those who train for strength. When eight healthy men (age 22) consumed
.5 carbohydrates/ lb. body weight immediately after performing heavy resistance
exercise and then again one hour later, they had significantly less muscle
protein breakdown than when they ate nothing.
For all you Breathe Rite fans, three researchers reported no performance
benefits with using these nasal strips. This demonstrates yet another example
of how we should not believe every ad we see in popular sports magazines.
Leg cramps can bring even the best player to
the ground in pain. There are several suggestions for avoiding cramps. The
most common suggestions are:
Drink plenty of fluids before exercise.
Eat high potassium foods such as bananas.
Recent research in South Africa suggests that the best way to avoid cramps
is to spend 15 minutes stretching before competition with emphasis on the
problem area. Although everyone stretches before competition, most don't
spend 15 minutes. The South African researchers reported that cramp-prone
athletes can greatly reduce the chances of cramps with a stretching program.
References
http://www.gaia-ultimate.com
