Hydration and Timing

Recap

    The population we are focused on is male high school wrestlers. The past blog posts have offered the recommended micro and macro nutrients for this group. Now lets focus on applying these nutrients at the optimal times.

Energy and Macronutrient Comparisons 

    In this section we are going to compare high school male wrestlers, high school male altra-endurance runners, and high school male golfers. The difference in energy and macronutrient intake is compared below (Kreider, 2019): 

    Wrestlers

• 45 to 60 kcal/kg/day
• 5 to 8 g/kg/day of carbohydrates 
• 1.2 to 2.0 g/kg/day of protein
• .5 to 1.5 g/kg/day of fats

    Ultra-endurance Runners

• 60 to 80 kcal/kg/day
• 8 to 12 g/kg/day of carbohydrates
• 1.7 to 2.2 g/kg/day of protein   
• .5 to 1.5 g/kg/day of fats     

    Golf

• 41 to 50 kcal/kg/day
• 5 to 7 g/kg/day of carbohydrates
• 1.0 to 1.2 g/kg/day of protein     
• .5 to 1.5 g/kg/day of fats    

 Hydration Recommendations 

     A typical athlete sweats .5 to 1.5 liters/hour during intense training (Kreider, 2019). 6 to 8 ounces of water or sports drinks should be ingested every 15 minutes during exercise to maintain fluid levels (Kreider, 2019). Athletes should be weighed before and after a training session to monitor fluid loss. One pound of weight lost results in roughly three cups of fluid lost (Kreider, 2019). If an athlete losses 2% of body weight from fluid loss in a training session, performance can be reduced (Kreider, 2019). Before the next training session it should be encouraged that the athlete replenish the fluid lost in order to prevent the risk of heat illness (Kreider, 2019). 2% to 4% of weight reduction through fluid loss can result in an increased risk of heat stroke and/or death (Kreider, 2019). All wrestlers should be encouraged to maintain appropriate hydration levels to allow for optimal performance and reduce the risk of heat related illness.  

Nutrient Timing Recommendations

    This section will be broken into recommendation for wrestlers pre-, during-, and post- exercise (Kreider, 2019).

    Pre-exercise

• A meal 4-6 hours prior to exercise
• A snack 30-60 minutes prior to exercise (30-50g of carbs, 5-10g of protein)
• Hourly meals consisting of .8g/kg/hr of carbs and .2-.4g/kg/hr of protein. 

    During-exercise

• Fluid replacement of .5-1.0 liters/hour (water or sports drinks)      
• Exercise >90 min: 6-12 fluid ounces of carbohydrate-electrolyte solution every 10-15min   

    Post-Exercise

• Carb/protein drink (1g/kg carb and .5g/kg protein) within 30min after exercise     
• High carb/protein meal <2 hours after exercise     

    Timing the meals and the appropriate amount of fluid replacement throughout the day will ensure an athlete is well equipped to handle a competition or training session. A wrestler will want to make sure that their glycogen stores are full going into practice and that they are well hydrated. Dehydration within the sport of wrestling is very common due to the sports culture of making weight classifications. In order to make weight, dehydration and rapid fluid loss is typically utilized followed by a quick ingestion of fluids and food following weigh-ins. Appropriate weight loss over time should be utilized in order for optimal performance.   

Training and Recovery

    For wrestlers it is important to eat enough to keep up with energy expenditure from practice and competition. Meals and fluid replacement should be monitored to ensure adequate uptake. Spacing out these meals and timing them for before and after training session will reduce fatigue and improve performance. Hydration can be one of the biggest obstacles for this population. During the weekly training sessions it should be stressed to keep appropriate fluid levels to reduce the risk of heat related illness. Nutritional supplementation can be used if time is a limiting factor for these athletes or if availability to healthy foods throughout the day is lacking. Rest between training sessions and adequate sleep overnight is essential for these wrestlers to recover. The periods of down time should be used to refuel macronutrients and hydrate in preparation for the next competition or practice. A large portion of muscle damage recovery is conducted during sleep, wrestlers should be made aware of this and it should be emphasized in their programming (Kreider, 2019).

Wrap Up

    Nutrient timing, macronutrients, hydration and sleep should be the four main takeaways from this blog. Coaches working with this group should look at all four of these aspects when programming for this population. It can be difficult to prescribe nutritional recommendations to adolescent athletes. Most of these athletes are at the mercy of their environment when it comes to nutrition. Nevertheless, stressing the importance of macronutrients, hydration and sleep will allow these athletes to make educated decisions when options are provided to them moving forward. 

Cited Sources

 Kreider, R. B. (2019). Essentials of exercise and sport nutrition: Science to practice. Raleigh, NC: Lulu.