The Dangers of Dehydration

Dehydration is a dangerous thing, and can cause any number of unpleasant symptoms, and in extreme cases, death.

The human body can last for three weeks without food but only three days without water.

During a competitive tennis match, players can lose up 3 liters of water an hour through sweat. Sweating is your body’s way of lowering your temperature and cooling your skin and through sweating your body not only loses water, but also sodium which is an essential ingredient in your bodies cooling mechanism.

Given that tennis is usually played in a warm environment it is necessary to understand hydration in order to enhance your performance on the court.

If a car runs out of gas, it stops. Your body is the same, inadequately hydrated the main functions of your body shut down, ultimately stopping your body and making it imperative that you ingest plenty of fluids in order to maintain your body temperature.

It has been clinically proven that a loss of 5% of water from your body can impair athletic performance by 30%, and just because you do not feel thirsty does not mean that you are not dehydrated, as your body can sustain a loss of 1.5 liters of water before you start to feel the sensation of thirst.

Despite all of this it is important to regulate your intake of fluids directly before a match as drinking too much too quickly can induce stomach cramps and give you an uncomfortable sickly sensation during the match. Prior to the match you should drink enough liquids that your urine is a light or pale yellow color and during the match you should take in fluids at every changeover.

What should you drink? It is generally accepted that sports drinks, such as Gatorade, are preferable to drinking plain water as sports drinks contain electrolytes and carbohydrates, and are proven to replace sodium levels that are depleted through sweating. Carbohydrates attach directly to your muscles and it they have been proven to help tennis players maintain power and accuracy, even during a long match. Ideally you should have at least 2 liters of water or sports drink courtside.

Avoid all drinks containing caffeine as they have no hydration qualities at all, drinks like tea, coffee and cola drain your body and offer no nutritional benefits. If you have to drink caffeine, do not drink it within two hours of a match, both before or after, as after a match your body needs more water to replenish the fluids lost, and caffeine based drinks do more harm than good.

If at any time during a game you feel light headed, a headache of blurred vision, this is a sign that you are dehydrated and you should take a drink as soon as possible, sipping the water so as not to induce cramps. Different people have different hydration needs, genetics, fitness levels, age and gender can all affect how much you sweat, so it is important for you to be aware of your own needs.

Over time you will be able to judge your body’s requirements and adjust them accordingly, the easiest way of doing so is by weighing yourself before and after a match. If you notice weight loss directly after a match you have not taken in enough fluids and should drink to replenish your levels. Another way is to monitor how frequently you urinate, if you urinate on average every 3 to 5 hours and your urine is alight color the chances are that you are not dehydrated, if your urine is dark and you rarely need to urinate then you are dehydrated and need to up your liquid intake.