Fact : over 90% of regular soccer players start games with insufficient hydration levels. Avoid the pitfalls and boost your performance step by step.
1. Dehydration ruins your game
Playing football when you’re dehydrated not only hurts your physical performance, it also weakens your brain – making it harder to make good judgment calls during a game. A team of researchers from New Zealand measured the effects of moderate dehydration in soccer players who played over 45 minutes of play and found that both fitness and concentration levels decreased when fluids were not consumed.
2. Fluids: The A and Z of a footballer
The alternating flow of football places huge demands on the body – especially on your muscles but most importantly on the glycogen that feeds them. Research published in the International Journal of Sports Nutrition shows that soccer players can play over two-thirds of the match at 85% of their maximum heart rate. Scientists have found that to replace the fluids that are lost, a soccer player should take in 150-300ml of carbohydrate fluids at half time and take sips during breaks and throughout the match.
3. Sports Isotonic drinks the best choice
In the absence of anything else, water will do. But if your muscles run out of fuel, your endurance can drop by up to 50%. Muscle glycogen is formed from carbohydrates, so to replace that used you need to have a solution that will quickly deliver the right nutrients. New studies by scientists at the University of Edinburgh found that sports drinks containing a combination of carbohydrates, sodium, potassium and magnesium helped players stay on top of their game 24% longer than players who drank water.
4. Post-race beers won’t do any good
While many ‘weekend footballers’ may claim that a few beers after a game are ‘carb loading’, in reality, the type and quantity of drinks consumed after a match is as vital to your performance as the what is consumed during the 90 minutes. Studies published in the Journal of Science and Medicine in Sports show that post-workout alcoholic drinks leave muscles 15-20% weaker, preventing the body from converting carbohydrates to glycogen and stopping muscles from fully recovering.
5. Hydration between whistles
Studies investigating the role of post-match hydration found that those who did not replace the fluids and carbohydrates lost during the match suffered from muscle weakness for up to 60 hours after their last game. Even between matches is vital to consume fluids that contain nutrients for the body.
