Central Nebraska has experienced hotter summers than 2015, but that doesn’t mean athletes need to stop monitoring hydration.
“The heat and humidity combination is the thing you have to pay most attention to,” said Doug Long, certified athletic trainer for Great Plains Health Sports and Therapy Center in North Platte. “In 100 percent humidity, if the ambient temperature is 75 or 78 you’re at high risk for heat illness. It’s the humidity that doesn’t allow the sweat to evaporate off the skin.”
Long was part of the Nebraska School Activities Association committee that drafted new practice rules for the 2015-16 school year. Those new guidelines are aimed at reminding coaches to be aware of the heat and humidity during August practices and the risks it poses for their players.
“The goal was to keep that in the forefront of coach’s minds,” Long said. “Out here, our coaches do a great job. We don’t spend a long time barking at them about adding more breaks. They are all pretty conscious of doing those things.”
Two-a-days, once a staple of the training regimen for preseason programs, are mostly gone now. Those have been replaced with walk-throughs and film studies. For example, the new NSAA rules restrict padded practices to four each week.
“One of the schools [in our area] does a walk through in the city park where they can do it in the shade under the trees. They can do that and keep the kids a little cooler,” Long said.
Those types of regulations have trickled down from the NFL and the NCAA as governing bodies become more conscientious of the effects of heat and dehydration.
While athletes are urged by coaches and health professionals to take more breaks during practice and drink plenty of fluids, Long said it doesn’t stop there. Athletes also need to continue to drink low-carbohydrate liquids throughout the evening hours in preparation for the next day’s practice, as well.
To help monitor that, Long encouraged athletes to watch the color of their urine — the clearer, the better — and to weigh themselves before and after each practice.
“Make sure they drink that weight back so they don’t start the next practice in a pre-dehydrated state,” he said.
Long encouraged parents to watch athletes when they get home for dizziness, nausea or muscle cramps, which can all be signs of heat illness.
While the focus is primarily on football athletes at this time of year, athletes in other sports also need to make sure they are hydrated.
“We think football, football, football, but volleyball, softball and cross country are running the same risks,” Long said.
ORIGINAL ARTICLE:
http://www.nptelegraph.com/sports/local_sports/beat-the-heat-staying-hydrated-after-between-practices-also-important/article_dc12db14-c90d-5958-b114-e9949449fa5b.html
MORE ABOUT DOUG LONG: