Padilla 1

Estevan Padilla
Pamela Reed
Composition 1
05 November 2015
Nicely done. Im not sure if Natashas feedback was in humor, but Im glad that you didnt
include it in your paper. There are still a few grammatical errors in the paper, but you have stated
a claim and supported it with good reasons and evidence.
Hydration is Key for High School Athletes
Every year millions of athletes across the nation compete in a school sanctioned event.
Most of these athletes do not understand the importance of hydrating. Most of these athletes go
through their athletic event dehydrated in some form, such as insufficient fluid and nutrients
being taken into their bodies to sustain these athletes for the duration of the event in which they
are participating. If these athletes were to hydrate properly, they would be able to perform to the
best of their abilities.
According to the Nutrition Reviews, article entitled Dehydration and endurance
performance in competitive athletes, many scientific papers have extensively reviewed and
assessed the effects of exercise-induced weight loss. Normally this weight loss is attributed to
improper hydration before, during, and after an athletic event or training. It is commonly
recognized that an athlete should consume enough fluids to replace the amount that they lose
during practice or competition, however, depending upon the sport in which the individual is
participating in, this may not always be an option.

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The current understanding of proper hydration prior to and during an activity is to prevent
experiencing more than a 2% decrease in body weight. This decrease in body weight may or may
not affect an athletes performance and endurance, while participating in an activity over an
extended period of time. There are athletic activities where an athletes performance and
endurance displayed no decrease, but actually reported an increase, such as in long distance
running and triathlons. This was not previously detected in studies that were conducted, as those
studies were conducted within a laboratory, which were controlled with fixed-power outputs and
were time based. These type of test would not be applicable for athletes participating in longdistance, endurance activities, such as marathons and triathlons. The studies do not take into
consideration that when participating in these type of activities that an athlete has to make
adjustments to the intensity of their actions, such as running slower, faster, throughout these
types of competitions to compensate for the length of time required while participating.
All of this being said, a decrease in body weight versus no decrease in body weight
during and after participation is not necessarily a clear indication that an athlete has maintained
proper hydration. The mistake is made when an athlete assumes that they can consume mass
quantities of liquid, just prior to participating in an event or even during an event that will meet
the physiological needs of their bodies. For example, an individual that is participating in a
marathon would not be able to consume enough fluids just prior to the event that will sustain
their bodys physiological needs for the duration of that event.
The National Athletic Trainers Association states that hydration protocols should be
established for student athletes, which include a rehydration strategy that takes into consideration
the individual athletes needs. These protocols need to take into consideration not only
environmental conditions, but the type of activity in which the athlete will participate. Your

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hydration, rehydration strategy for a sport such as football, would not be the same for someone
that was participating in long distance running. To promote hydration and rehydration, coaches
and trainers, should make the appropriate fluids readily available to their athletes. This can be
accomplished by providing water and sports drinks that are easily accessible during the event.
Athletes should begin all sessions properly hydrated. This may be accomplished by
beginning to consume the necessary fluids over an extended period of time. According to the
Iowa State Universitys Department of Human Sciences, an athlete should begin consuming at
least 1 ounce of fluid for every 10 pounds of body weight at least 4 hours prior to an athletic
session. If 2 hours prior to the session this fluid consumption does not produce urine or the urine
produced is dark in color, then the athlete needs to consume an additional 1 ounce of fluid for
every 15 pounds of body weight before beginning the session. Rehydration will be determined
by the needs of the individual athlete, taking into consideration that athletes sweat and urine
output. Where it is important to make sure an athlete does not become dehydrated, it is just as
important to make sure an athlete does not consume too much fluid, becoming hyperhydrated, as
this can be just as dangerous because the body would not be able to release the required fluids
from the body, through sweat, which acts as a cooling system to lower the bodys core
temperature.
Keep in mind that an athlete may experience physiological changes after several days of
participation in the activity that will alter the amount of fluids an athlete will need to intake to
remain properly hydrated. This occurs because the body continuously is going through
physiological changes. This makes it extremely important for those supervising the athletes to be
aware of the signs and symptoms of dehydration; "thirst, irritability, and general discomfort,
followed by headache, weakness, dizziness, cramps, chills, vomiting, nausea, head or neck heat

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sensations, and decreased performance. (Casa, Armstrong, Hillman, Montain, Reiff, Rich,
Roberts and Stone, 213) Once an athlete has been identified, quick assessment is paramount so
that he or she may be transported to the nearest medical facility for appropriate treatment.
There are several things to remember when trying to assure that an athlete is properly
hydrated. Rapid weight loss that indicates loss of body water, athletes with high body fat
percentages can become dehydrated faster than those athletes with low body fat percentages. An
athlete with higher body weight has to sweat more to cool down their bodys core temperature,
resulting in rapid weight loss. Athletes sweat at different rates, which can cause some to lose
more salt through their sweat than others.
The clothing an athlete wears can contribute to the amount of sweat they release. An
athlete that is wearing excessive or even darker clothing will sweat more than an athlete that is
wearing less clothing or clothing that is light in color. An athletes acclimatization to an activity,
in addition to medications and illness can also affect an athletes hydration. If an athlete is
suffering from a viral infection, this could cause them to suffer fluid loss that will keep them
from being hydrated. An athletes color of and output volume of urine can be used as a way to
track an athletes hydration or dehydration. Remember too, that the environment is also a
contributing factor and should be monitored before, during and after practice and events.
Coaches, athletes and parents need to arm themselves with the tools and resources that
will allow them to hopefully prevent an athlete from becoming dehydrated to avoid long term
injury. They all will have to be involved in the process. Studies and experiences have
demonstrated that ignoring this issue can be catastrophic, possibly leading to permanent physical
damage or death.

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Works Cited
Goulet, Eric Db. "Dehydration And Endurance Performance In Competitive Athletes." Nutrition
Reviews 70.(2012): S132-S136. Consumer Health Complete - EBSCOhost. Web. 5 Nov.
2015.
Casa, Douglas J., PhD, Lawrence E. Armstrong, PhD, Susan K. Hillman, MS, MA, ATC, PT,
Scott J. Montain, PhD, Ralph V. Reiff, MEd, Brent S. E. Rich, MD, William O. Roberts,
MD, and Jennifer A. Stone, MS. "The National Athletic Trainers' Association." Choice
Reviews Online 36.12 (2000): 212-24. National Athletic Trainers' Association. National
Athletic Trainers' Association. Web. 07 Nov. 2015.
<http://www.nata.org/sites/default/files/FluidReplacementsForAthletes.pdf>.
"Saint Thomas Aquinas High School." St. Thomas Aquinas High School. National Federation of
State High School Associations, 2015. Web. 08 Nov. 2015.
<http://www.stalux.org/podium/default.aspx?t=141670>.
"Fluids." Iowa State University Extension and Outreach. Iowa State University, n.d. Web. 20
Nov. 2015. <http://www.extension.iastate.edu/humansciences/fluids>.

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Peer Review
Kristopher Charles: He helped with re-wording some of my sentences, helped with grammar,
and helped me with citing a few things in the paper.
Ronjunae DeGray: She helped with grammar, and helped with stating who at first such as
athletes rather than me using them. She also encouraged the use of more examples throughout
the paper.
Natasha: Stated that I need to use more of my opinions instead of just providing information.