Elite Nutrition and Performance Hydration Needs for Young Athletes
Hydration Needs for Young Athletes
Every summer I work with young athletes to help them understand their hydration needs, and to establish a hydration protocol for parents to help their athlete implement.
It’s a “hot” topic every summer (pun intended!), because it’s such a critical component of their health and performance, and the consequences of dehydration are so serious. Just a 1% body weight loss from dehydration is enough for a young athlete to feel the effects, and any other medical condition they might have can increase their fluid loss even more.
You might be surprised to learn that young athletes don’t cool down the same as adults do. Rather than by sweating and evaporation, they cool down more by radiation (transferring their heat to something else such as a cool towel). Tip – take a cooler with cold towels and cloths!
Radiation aside, drinking enough fluids