The heat can be overwhelming, even if you’re just outside for just a minute. So imagine playing football in full pads, which is what the WSU Cougars are doing right now in triple digit heat in Lewiston, Idaho.
It takes a team just to make sure these guys stay hydrated and healthy and the athletic trainers and nutritionists take the hot days seriously because they know a dehydration injury could spell disaster down the road.
“Water, water, water, you know push it on the guys and make sure everyone gets hydrated,” WSU student trainer Damon Garnas.
Garnas said when you’re dealing with the heat it’s serious business.
“They need to be hydrated so they are moving properly, they feel good you know, they are not getting too hot and not getting worried about heat exhaustion and other heat illness and stuff like that,” he added.
Garnas and his fellow tea mates are constantly on the move keeping the Cougs quench for thirst satisfied.
“We have two or three students at each one just to make sure that we are really pushing the water on the guys, making sure every single guy you know, no matter from the star players to the last guy everyone gets a lot of water,” he said.
Lindsay Brown is the coordinator of sports nutrition and says hydration is so key they weigh the athletes before and after practice looking for excessive fluid loss.
“Some of them can lose up to 10 pounds in a practice, those are the bigger individuals but we want to prevent that we don’t want them to lose more than two percent of their body weight,” Brown said.
She says if they notice a drastic change they begin a dehydration regimen.
Just know that the depth of the the team isn’t limited to the running backs but a whole army on the sidelines making sure everyone is playing at their best.
ORIGINAL ARTICLE:
http://www.kxly.com/news/north-idaho-news/trainers-nutritionists-help-cougs-stay-healthy-in-triple-digit-heat/34683470