• Your Performance
• Energy Utilisation
• A Balanced Diet
• Carbohydrates & GI
• Protein
• Fats
• Hydration
• Pre-training & pre-game strategies
• Plan to drink
• Half time Strategy
• Recovery snacks
• Sample Daily meals
• Sample Meal Plan

Nutrition

The importance of being hydrated.

The difference between a good performance in a game and a bad performance can often be due to your state of hydration. This is something that is well within the control of you - the player. Hydration is not just simply about drinking water. Hydration in sport is more like a strategy for maintaining performance and ensuring a speedy recovery following training and playing. This section discusses the best practices and routines currently available for ensuring good hydration before, during and following exercise.

Importance of staying hydrated during Sport

The amount of water in a lean healthy adult such as a trained games player is nearly 70% of body weight. Scientists tell us that being under-hydrated by as little as 2% of your body weight can result in significant decreases in performance (20,34,49). Thus the average player weighing 85 kg and who loses 1.7 kilos of water (or body weight) will likely display the effects of dehydration. We have measured hundreds of players' body weight before and after playing and have found body weight losses as high as 4.5 kg (10 lbs) after a 90 minute game! Some players also tend to lose more body weight and thus body water during training and playing than others. The rate and extent of fluid loss is very individual. Calculate your own body weight loss (weighing-in after training or playing) in relation to your pre-match weight. If it is 3% or more then you were likely dehydrated before the game ended. For each 1 kg lost during exercise you should consume at least 1.5 litre of fluid. The following table helps us understand the effects of progressive dehydration on performance

Table 4. Effects of dehydration on Performance. Assume player's body weight in hydrated state = 85KG
Percent Bodyweight reduction	Body weight loss (kg)	Actual symptoms	Performance Reduction (est) 100% = optimum
1%	0.85	Increase in thirst: heat regulation altering: performance declining - player slowing down	99%
2%	1.70	Endurance and quickness affected	90%
3%	2.55	Considered clinical dehydration. Symptoms include reduced ability to concentrate and to react: player will cover less ground during training or playing	85%
4%	3.40	Clear performance decrement: Pace slower, poor concentration, reaction slower	75%
5%	4.25+	Weakness, headache, irritability, severe effect on heat regulation	60%

Remember that if you arrive to training in a state less than normal hydration you are likely not to benefit from the training. More significantly, if you arrive to the dressing room 1-2% dehydrated then you will almost certainly not perform to you optimum during the game.

Have a pre-hydration strategy in place

Believe it or not some players attend training or turn up for a game often in a dehydrated state. Pressure of work, study and travel to the training ground often limit the opportunity for players to be well hydrated before training. Therefore it is essential to have a pre-training plan in place so that you arrive to the training ground well hydrated or pre-hydrated. Don't leave it to the last minute before training or playing to take fluids (water or sports drink). It can actually take 24 hours to bring back a dehydrated player to a well-hydrated state (2,5). So maintain sound hydration habits throughout the day. In addition, many players don't realize that alcohol consumed during the day or night before training of playing will have a dehydration like effect on the body. This means that any player who drinks alcohol regularly is likely to compromise their recovery from training and playing.

Get to know your daily hydrated bodyweight

This is a key first step to monitoring your recovery and hydration status. Do you know what your actual body weight is when you are hydrated? A simple method of assessing this is to check the colour of your urine. If it is a light straw colour then you can consider yourself hydrated. Weigh yourself and you have now established your 'hydrated' weight. If your urine colour was a dark colour then you are likely to be somewhat dehydrated. So drink 300-500 mls of water and then reweigh. If your urine has turned to a light staw colour then you are hydrated. A good habit to develop is to weigh yourself each morning before breakfast. This can be called your baseline weight. By doing this each morning you will soon understand that some mornings you will weigh-in at a lower than normal body weight. This may indicate that you did not hydrate well or eat well enough to restore lost fluid and fuel the day and evening before.

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