Sleep, Hydration, and Outdoor Exposure. The Keys to A Successful Recovery

In the previous article John addressed MAD’s High Performance Health survey (Link back to article 1). Our staff has identified 3 areas where our athletes need improvements to raise their HPH score during Shelter-in-place. This is based on 2 months worth of data from IPC online and Lincoln High Basketball.

The areas in which our athletes need improvements are

This piece will briefly address why these areas are important to performance and how to improve those scores.

Let’s start with sleep. Whether you’re an athlete or not, sleep is the most important thing we can do for our bodies. To keep it simple, when we are sleeping our bodies are recovering from the previous day and preparing for the next day. Lack of sleep will negatively affect us both mentally and physically throughout the day. Sleep is even more important for athletes who are constantly pushing their bodies in training or competition. Both training and competing lead to damage and breakdown of muscle tissue. Assuming an athlete has proper nutrition and hydration habits, our bodies are rebuilding and repairing during sleep. Thus athletes need at LEAST 8 hours of quality sleep each night, and should strive for 8-10 hours of sleep nightly. A good night's sleep will help an athlete recover from a training session/game the previous day, and leave prepared for the next training session/game the following day.

Pointers for those who struggle to fall asleep or stay asleep.

1. Make sure your room is cool and dark, with no tv or bluelight (computer/ipad/ etc).

2. Ditch technology 1 hour prior to going to bed

3. Set a consistent bedtime

4. Meditation during the day or prior to bedtime

The next area to address is hydration. Proper Hydration is vital to performance and one of the easier health habits for an athlete to achieve. Dehydration occurs when our bodies lose more fluid than they take in. Negative impacts on performance can be seen with as little as 2-5% loss in body weight. Physical work capacity can be decreased up to 30%, anaerobic energy capacity (high intensity work- sprinting, jumping, throwing, swinging etc) can be decreased to 45%. Mental acuity and heat tolerance are also greatly compromised by dehydration.

Hydration guidelines for athletes from USADA (US Anti Doping Agency)

1. The athlete should drink 7-12 ounces of cold fluid about 15-30 minutes before workouts. If the workout is prolonged, add carbohydrates to the beverage at a 6-8 percent concentration.

2. Drink 4-8 ounces of cold fluid during exercise at 15-20 minute intervals.

3. Start drinking early in the workout because thirst does not develop until 2 percent of body weight has been lost, by which time performance may have begun to decline.

4. Avoid carbonated drinks, which can cause GI distress and may decrease the volume of fluid consumed.

5. Avoid beverages containing caffeine, alcohol, and those promoted as energy drinks.

6. For intense training and long workouts, a fluid replacement drink containing carbohydrates may provide an important source of energy. A 6-8 percent carbohydrate beverage is typically most effective in maintaining fluid balance while supplying the muscles with fuel. Ie. WATER DOWN YOUR SPORTS DRINK!

7. The fluid consumed during activity should contain a small amount of sodium and electrolytes. The sodium may be beneficial for quicker absorption and replacement of sweat loss.

The last area where our athletes need improvement on their HPH scores is time spent outside. It doesn’t have to be a long time outside, but our bodies need to be outside daily. Being outdoors exposes your body to sunlight, our skin uses sunlight to create and activate Vitamin D. Vitamin D plays an important role in our bodies calcium regulation and bone density. Vitamin D has been linked to help fighting many conditions, including depression/anxiety, osteoporosis, and heart attack. This score is very easy for athletes to improve. Simply put, spend more time outside. Be safe given the current CoronaVirus Climate, but get outside for a walk, a meditation, read a couple chapters of a book. Try to spend at least 30-1 hour outdoors in nature daily.