What Do Athletes Drink During Competitive Sporting Activities?

Abstract

Although expert groups have developed guidelines for fluid intake during sports, there is debate about their real-world application. We reviewed the literature on self-selected hydration strategies during sporting competitions to determine what is apparently practical and valued by athletes. We found few studies of drinking practices involving elite or highly competitive athletes, even in popular sports. The available literature revealed wide variability in fluid intake and sweat losses across and within different events with varied strategies to allow fluid intake. Typical drinking practices appear to limit body mass (BM) losses to ~2 % in non-elite competitors. There are events, however, in which mean losses are greater, particularly among elite competitors and in hot weather, and evidence that individual participants fail to meet current guidelines by gaining BM or losing >2 % BM over the competition activity. Substantial (>5 %) BM loss is noted in the few studies of elite competitors in endurance and ultra-endurance events; while this may be consistent with winning outcomes, such observations cannot judge whether performance was optimal for that individual. A complex array of factors influence opportunities to drink during continuous competitive activities, many of which are outside the athlete's control: these include event rules and tactics, regulated availability of fluid, need to maintain optimal technique or speed, and gastrointestinal comfort. Therefore, it is questionable, particularly for top competitors, whether drinking can be truly ad libitum (defined as "whenever and in whatever volumes chosen by the athlete"). While there are variable relationships between fluid intake, fluid balance across races, and finishing times, in many situations it appears that top athletes take calculated risks in emphasizing the costs of drinking against the benefits. However, some non-elite competitors may need to be mindful of the disadvantages of drinking beyond requirements during long events. Across the sparse literature on competition hydration practices in other sports, there are examples of planned and/or ad hoc opportunities to consume fluid, where enhanced access to drinks may allow situations at least close to ad libitum drinking. However, this situation is not universal and, again, the complex array of factors that influence the opportunity to drink during an event is also often beyond the athletes' control. Additionally, some competition formats result in athletes commencing the event with a body fluid deficit because of their failure to rehydrate from a previous bout of training/competition or weight-making strategies. Finally, since fluids consumed during exercise may also be a source of other ingredients (e.g., carbohydrate, electrolytes, or caffeine) or characteristics (e.g., temperature) that can increase palatability or performance, there may be both desirable volumes and patterns of intake that are independent of hydration concerns or thirst, as well as benefits from undertaking a "paced" fluid plan....

The influence of hydration status during prolonged endurance exercise on salivary antimicrobial proteins

“…However studies suggest that commencing exercise in a mild state of hypohydration is not uncommon across athletic populations (Garth and Burke 2013, Volpe et al 2009, Maughan et al 2005. Furthermore, it has been shown that many athletes fail to consume sufficient fluids during exercise to offset fluid loses, resulting in levels of dehydration in excess of 2% BM loss (Gore et al 1993, Kurdak et al 2010.…”

Why do team-sport athletes drink fluid in excess when exercising in cool conditions?

“…training or match play) within cool environmental conditions (~12˚C) are effective at maintaining hydration to <2% BM loss (Garth and Burke 2013). However, it is apparent within these data that change in BM did not reflect the changes in POsm due to the observation of some BM loss arising without the occurrence of an increase in POsm (Table 1).…”

“…Comprehension of the mechanisms that regulate fluid balance in varying sporting and environmental situations is vital to ensure the implementation of appropriate hydration strategies. Typically during exercise in temperatures less than 25˚C, team sport athletes appear to lose between ~1% and 1.5% of pre exercise body mass (BM) (Garth and Burke 2013). This magnitude of BM loss is well within the 2% threshold often proposed to impair performance in high-intensity, intermittent sport (Judelson et al 2007), however inconsistencies surrounding this threshold are evident within the literature (Judelson et al 2007;Sawka et al 2007;Kraft et al 2012).…”

“…In contrast to the plethora of studies reporting fluid losses sufficient to cause a decrease in BM (reported as 'dehydration') (See review: Garth and Burke (2013)) other studies have reported potential cases of over-drinking in team sports (Horswill et al 2009;MacLeod and Sunderland 2009;Black et al 2013;Cosgrove et al 2014;Jones et al 2015). Over-drinking appears to be reported when athletes consume fluid in the absence of body fluid deficits to magnitudes which would stimulate the physiologically driven responses for compensatory water acquisition (≥2% change in plasma osmolality (POsm) and / or ≥10% change in blood volume) (Cheuvront et al 2013;Cheuvront and Kenefick 2014) and thus in excess of homeostatic needs.…”

Changes in Intragastric Temperature Reflect Changes in Heat Stress Following Tepid Fluid Ingestion But Not Ice Slurry Ingestion

“…The beverages were made from sports drink (Gatorade, PepsiCo, New York, USA) and a commercial machine was used to make ice slurry (Sorby Dream 2, SPM Drink Systems, Spilamberto, Italy). The tepid fluid condition was designed to simulate common drinking practice among athletes and the ice slurry condition was designed to simulate the use of a pre-cooling strategy (Garth & Burke, 2013;Ihsan et al, 2010). During the ingestion period, participants sat on a massage table in an air-conditioned room (23˚C).…”