The Importance of Water for the Competitive Athlete

Proper hydration for athletes is extremely important in allowing athletes to perform safely while competing and working hard. The body is made up of 70% of water and is the most important nutrient athletes need while competing. Water has several main functions including the transportation of nutrients, elimination of wastes, lubrication of joints and tissues and temperature regulation through sweating. When an athlete sweats, water is lost and that water must be replaced to allow the body to keep going at maximum performance.
Fluid intake for athletes is different from individual to individual depending on such factors as sweating and exercise intensity. Athletes can monitor their own fluid intake by monitoring urine output and color. A large amount of diluted urine means proper hydration while dark concentrated urine means you are dehydrated. Another way to measure adequate hydration is to weigh yourself before and after exercise. Any weight lost after practice, means fluid loss.
There are many different guidelines out on the web about the general guidelines of proper hydration for before, during and after exercise. Here are a set of proper hydration guidelines that I found:

• Before Exercise: 15-20 fl oz; 2-3 hours before, 8-10 fl oz; 10-15 minutes before
• During Exercise: 8-10 fl oz; every 10-15 minutes, exercise longer than 90 minutes drink 8-10 fl oz of sports drink every 10-15 minutes
• After Exercise: Weigh yourself before and after exercise to replace fluids, drink 20-24 fl oz of water for every pound lost
• (www.fitness.gov/)

Overall, athletes need to hydrate on a daily basis to stay on top of there game. As an athlete myself before practices and especially before games I try to drink lots of water and sometimes sports drinks to prepare my body for exercise. I believe it is important that every athlete have an understanding and have some knowledge about proper hydration so they do not let their bodies fail them while competing in sports.