Elite Sports Stars And The Science Of Hydration

The life of a star athlete seems glamorous, with millions of dollars earned from competing in games they loved since childhood. Their life-styles are often filled with glitz and glamour, especially when you look at basketball players and footballers. They enjoy the finer things in life, but that doesn’t mean it all comes without hardship.

Wherever we look, there seems to be amazing feats of physical, mental and skilled prowess in sport. Sport geneticists will say you need the right genetics combination to create a star athlete, but sport scientists and coaches will say you need a mix of favorable socio-economic factors, resources and hard work. In gambling, punters will also argue that looking at how much bets are placed on an elite sports person or the team may be motivation enough to crank up performance. If I were one such elite sports star, looking at the Unibet odds would surely get me fired up.  

Taking the view of the coaches and sports scientists, we realize that athletes put their bodies through torture to push the limits of what is possible. Elite sports stars take this to the extreme to function in the top 1% of the global population. To do this, elite sportsmen need to focus on what they put in their bodies as this will greatly affect their output come game day. In this article we will be looking at the importance of proper hydration for elite sports stars.

The need for proper nutrition and hydration
Elite athletes go through intense training regimes, which consists of breaking down muscle fibers and rebuilding them through recovery programs. To replenish energy stores, athletes are required to focus a lot of their attention on proper nutrition to increase how quickly they recover. Hydration is key not only to the recovery process but also to how well athletes perform during training and on game day.

During training it is also important to replenish energy stores through the use of specialized sports drinks, which contain electrolytes and other important minerals. Nutrition companies are constantly innovating and finding new ways to improve their products to best serve the needs of elite athletes. Gatorade and Powerade are budget friendly options that have been doing wonders for athletes for many years. Powerade in particular, has sponsored several top tier athletes with their sports drinks, such as Alex Morgan, Damian Lillard and Ali Krieger.

During training athletes lose a lot of fluid through sweat. This is why it is recommended that they drink plenty of water prior to exercising to ensure that their bodies are fully hydrated going into the session. According to Verywellfit, if an elite athlete loses just 2% of fluids during training, this can result in a decrease in blood volume, which makes it considerably harder for blood to move through the body. The effect of this is that the heart will be required to pump harder in order to circulate oxygenated blood throughout the body. This decrease in performance may be detrimental to the elite athlete where a split second can make the difference between winning and losing.

Using only the best products
So what is the best way to hydrate? Well, your starting point would be to drink plenty of water. However, it is important to note that too much water can lead to water intoxication which can cause serious health complications. Besides drinking water, there are also some amazing sports drinks that improve hydration both prior and during intense training.

The best sports drinks for hydration supply the body with copious amounts of sodium, magnesium and potassium. A good level of carbohydrates is also essential to fueling the body during extended high intensity training sessions.

Conclusion
To be an elite athlete requires mental as well as physical toughness. On top of this, athletes are required to focus a huge portion of their life into what they put into their body. Just as a high performance sports car requires the right fuel for maximum performance so too does an elite athlete. This is not only limited to elite athletes but also to the everyday sport head who wants to achieve the best in their training or sport. Keep pushing yourself to be the best, and more importantly stay hydrated!

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