Examination of Preseason Hydration Strategy of NCAA Division I Men's Soccer Athletes

<p><em>Context:</em> Dehydration can have negative effects on performance and mood during intense exercise.</p> <p><em>Objective: </em>To examine a soccer program to determine the effectiveness of their hydration protocol during preseason training.</p> <p><em>Design:</em> 9-day mixed methods study of preseason training sessions (97.3±21.3 min) and scrimmages (123±14.1 min) for men’s soccer athletes on an NCAA division I soccer team with post-hoc interviews of staff members.</p> <p><em>Setting: </em>Outdoor soccer field and indoor training facility.</p> <p><em>Participants:</em>21 male NCAA division I soccer athletes (age 20±1 years, height 187.5±2 cm).</p> <p><em>Main Outcome Measures:</em> Hydration (BML ,U_col­,USG, U_osmo), Mood (thirst, thermal, ESQ, POMS), Performance (distance covered, total efforts, max velocity, T_gi, HR_avg, HR_max), and interview.</p> <p><em>Results:</em> No differences between first year players vs. returning players or training sessions vs. scrimmages for BML, U_col, USG, or T_gi (pcol­ 5±1; post-practice USG 1.021±0.001; pre-practice U_osmo 746±159.8). Performance was lower than professional male soccer players (distance 5463.32±1088.26 m; HR_avg 132.39±14.18 bpm; HR_max­183.6±5.99 bpm; total efforts 250±58; max velocity 25.51±1.84 km/h; average T_gi 38.11±0.35 °C). Mood did not significantly change over the preseason period (pre-practice thirst 3±0l; pre-practice thermal 3.8±0.4; pre-practice POMS_TMD 5±4; pre-practice ESQ 5±1). The interview revealed major themes: education and importance placed on hydration, with minor themes: testing, during practice, and outside of practice.</p> <p><em>Conclusions:</em> Mild dehydration occurred during intense preseason training. Performance and mood did not decline over the preseason period. This is likely due to emphasis placed on hydration by staff.</p>

Name thesis:degree_name

Master of Science

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Kinesiology

Year dc:date.available

2012

Author dc:creator

• Willis, Lesley

Contributors dc:contributor

• Lawrence E. Armstrong, Carl M. Maresh
• Douglas J. Casa

• dehydration
• training
• recovery
• core temperature
• mood
• perceptual
• performance

Repository record dc:identifier

https://digitalcommons.lib.uconn.edu/gs_theses/286

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:digitalcommons.lib.uconn.edu:gs_theses-1312