Hydration Status on Soccer Players During a Match

Abstract

It is well established that fluid replacement during exercise will optimize performance and minimize the risk of heat illness. Depending on environmental conditions and fluid intake during the match, a soccer player can have a weight loss of 2 kg at least. As soccer do not have breaks that allows players to drink fluids during the match there is a great risk of developing dehydration and hyperthermia. PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to evaluate hydration status on soccer player's during a match. METHODS: 20 players of the Military Organization of the Brazilian Army who were part of soccer team's corporation were studied. They formed 2 teams and, by chance, according to their positional rules were divided in three groups, depending on the hydration condition. All the players were submitted to the same conditions, so 3 soccer games were accomplished with those groups: 1) group CHO (ingested (150 ml), in intervals of 15 minutes, a drink with carbohydrate (6%) and electrolytes); 2) group Placebo (ingested (150 ml), in intervals of 15 minutes, with placebo solution) and; 3) group control (they did not ingest any fluid during the game). It was verified: density of the urine, body weight, hematocrit, hemoglobin, before and after each game. RESULTS: The loss of body weight (group CHO: 1,72 kg; group PL: 1,63 kg and control group: 2,25 kg), dehydration degree (group CHO: 2,31%; group PL: 2,24% and control group: 3,14%) and sweat rate (group CHO: 1,84 L/h; group PL: 1,79 L/h and control group: 1,72 L/h) were larger statistically significant in control group. The others variables were not statistically different among the groups. CONCLUSIONS: As general conclusion our data suggest that players had a better hydration status during the match when a drink was offered, despite the fact that the protocol adopted was not able to prevent dehydration.