The Importance of being a well Hydrated Football Player
Proper nutrition is what contributes greatly to separating winners from losers in most sports and this definitely includes football. There are many parts to proper football nutrition. This article briefly addresses some of the reasons why proper hydration is crucial to your performance.
Football games and practices can be extremely demanding on your body. One of the key points to help you to perform well is to make sure your body is properly hydrated. This means that you are consuming enough healthy fluids in preparation for your game (and during the game) to replace the fluids you will lose while you are playing. The loss of fluid occurs when your body starts to sweat. Your body uses sweating to cool down.
More than half of your body is actually water. While sweat is a good thing it can also cause you problems if you are not hydrated properly. About 95% of our blood is water. When you dehydrate, your blood effectively becomes thicker making it harder for your heart to pump it around your body. This in turn will affect all of your body, including your muscles. This is why not drinking enough can lead to injuries. Your brain will also be affected so you will not be as alert and your reactions to situations on the field will be slower. Therefore the importance of drinking enough water in order to ensure proper hydration during your practices/games cannot be emphasized enough.
Many players will only start drinking when they begin to feel thirsty. Unfortunately this is too late. Thirst is actually a sign that you are already dehydrated and it is your body’s cry for fluid. If you want to perform well on the football field, it is vital to drink enough fluids, not only during a game but also before and after a game. Research has shown that a glucose containing sports drink can be more beneficial than water. Drinks also containing small sodium and other electrolyte concentrations are the best for football hydration. These drinks will not only speed up the rate at which fluids are absorbed, it also increases the amounts of fluids absorbed by your body.
There are other things that are useful to avoid which will impact negatively on your performance as they will actually dehydrate your body. Caffeinated drinks and Alcohol are among these.
