Beating the heat

[leatherneck]

Ru make an excellent decision to close the Rowan/heat thread and had an excellent suggestion when he posted:

 

If someone would like to start another thread addressing the issue of the heat and what we can all do about it to be as safe as possible that would be ideal.

 

Let's use this thread to share ideas as to what can be done to deal with the heat; not to attack or criticize a coach or something that happened in the past.

 

Obviously complying with the heat index requirements and having the kids hydrate are no brainers.

 

But is there any thing the coaches can do to make sure the kids hydrate the night before short of visiting every household and make sure they drink water? If we have any knowledgeable medical folks out there: if a coach required each kid after the last practice to consume a certain amount of water before leaving to go home for the night, would that dramatically help kids be hydrated in the next morning for practice? Any guidelines for the amount to have them consume? Is there any way of checking before practice to see if a kid is sufficiently hydrated?

 

There are a bunch of great and wise coaches out there on this site. This would be a great time and place for those coaches to share their ideas and "best practices" for how they deal with the heat.

[oldonetechnique]

Water bottles available at each drill, encouraged to drink water while in line for drills.

 

Buy each player a locker cup and keep gatorade in locker room to be drank before practice

 

Make fruit available after practice and drinks

 

Require each kid to drink a certain amount of water after practice

 

Weigh kids in and out of practice chart weight loss

 

have an effective off-season program

 

have a parent meeting, educate on dangers

 

ask for medicine information and side effects

[3wishes]

 

Make fruit available after practice and drinks

 

 

Great idea, but not sure schools have those resources financially and/or time.

[Ram]

I fall under the "knowledgeable Medical Professional". First and for most, coaches should include hydration education in the player/coach meetings and in parent/coach meetings. Everyone should be instructed to begin pre-hydration the day before practice, it should be stressed and players advised to drink water not carbonated/caffeine drinks. Gatorade and water should be available for all players during and after practice. Players should be advised to drink after practice. Weighing in and out is not a bad idea, if it is followed. Players should have to be back at the weight in weight before the next practice, especially two a days.

 

Training staff should be on site. In addition, coaches should be instructed in what warning signs and symptoms to be looking for for heat related emergencies. Having an ice bath ready could be a nice addition. It won't be needed the much, but if it is it would be nice to have it ready on the field. If not a ice bath, have ice packs on the field, if a player begins experiencing sings of problems ice the neck, arm pits, and great vessels of the lower legs. Misting fans if your program has the means to have one are great and do more then most would think, have them set up on the practice field.

 

A proactive approach is never stop working out. When school is out, begin the conditioning program OUTSIDE. Have players running and doing agility drills OUTSIDE to keep them acclimated the heat. Only take the Dead Period off. And ask players to continue to run OUTSIDE during the Dead Period. That will help with the acclamation to the heat.

[Ram]

If we have any knowledgeable medical folks out there: if a coach required each kid after the last practice to consume a certain amount of water before leaving to go home for the night, would that dramatically help kids be hydrated in the next morning for practice?

Yes. Would it be all the player needed? No. But if a coach required a player to say drink 16 ounces of water after practice, that would begin the re-hydration process.

Any guidelines for the amount to have them consume? Is there any way of checking before practice to see if a kid is sufficiently hydrated?

Weighing in and out. By doing this you can see what water loss occurred during practice. By keeping this record and making players be back at the weight before next practice you can assure that water weight was replaced. Say a player weights 200 pounds before practice on Monday, and 196 after that same practice. Then when he reports to practice on Tuesday, he should weight 200 pounds at the beginning of practice. Or, he doesn't practice until he does.

[Ram]

Prevention:

 

To prevent dehydration, consume plenty of fluids and foods high in water such as fruits and vegetables. According to the Institute of Medicine, letting thirst be your guide is an adequate daily guideline for most healthy people. Fluids can be obtained not just from water but also from other beverages and foods. But, if you're exercising, don't wait for thirst to keep up with your fluids.

Under certain circumstances, you may need to take in more fluids than usual:

• Illness. Start giving extra water or an oral rehydration solution at the first signs of illness — don't wait until dehydration occurs. And although they might sound appealing, traditional "clear fluids" such as ginger ale or other sodas contain too much sugar and too little sodium to replenish lost electrolytes.
  
• Exercise. In general, it's best to start hydrating the day before strenuous exercise. Producing lots of clear, dilute urine is a good indication that you're well hydrated. Two hours before an endurance event such as a marathon or half-marathon, drink 2 cups of water. One to 2 cups of water is usually adequate before shorter bouts of exercise. During the activity, replenish fluids at regular intervals, and continue drinking water or other fluids after you're finished.
  Keep in mind that drinking too much not only can cause bloating and discomfort, but may lead to a potentially fatal condition in which your blood sodium becomes too low (hyponatremia). This occurs when you drink more fluids than you lose through sweating.
  
• Environment. You need to drink additional water in hot or humid weather to help lower your body temperature and to replace what you lose through sweating. You may also need extra water in cold weather if you sweat while wearing insulated clothing. Heated, indoor air can cause your skin to lose moisture, increasing your daily fluid requirements. And altitudes greater than 8,200 feet (2,500 meters) also can affect how much water your body needs. If dehydration occurs when you're exercising in hot weather, get into a shady area, recline, and begin your rehydration.
  

Mayo Clinic

[Ram]

Symptoms:

 

Mild to moderate dehydration is likely to cause:

• Dry, sticky mouth
  
• Sleepiness or tiredness — children are likely to be less active than usual
  
• Thirst
  
• Decreased urine output — fewer than six wet diapers a day for infants and eight hours or more without urination for older children and teens
  
• Few or no tears when crying
  
• Muscle weakness
  
• Headache
  
• Dizziness or lightheadedness
  

Severe dehydration, a medical emergency, can cause:

• Extreme thirst
  
• Extreme fussiness or sleepiness in infants and children; irritability and confusion in adults
  
• Very dry mouth, skin and mucous membranes
  
• Lack of sweating
  
• Little or no urination — any urine that is produced will be dark yellow or amber
  
• Sunken eyes
  
• Shriveled and dry skin that lacks elasticity and doesn't "bounce back" when pinched into a fold
  
• In infants, sunken fontanels — the soft spots on the top of a baby's head
  
• Low blood pressure
  
• Rapid heartbeat
  
• Fever
  
• In the most serious cases, delirium or unconsciousness
  

Unfortunately, thirst isn't always a reliable gauge of the body's need for water, especially in children and older adults. A better barometer is the color of your urine: Clear or light-colored urine means you're well hydrated, whereas a dark yellow or amber color usually signals dehydration.

When to see a doctor

If you're a healthy adult, you can usually treat mild to moderate dehydration by drinking more fluids. Get immediate medical care if you develop severe signs and symptoms such as extreme thirst, no urination for eight hours, shriveled skin, dizziness and confusion.

Treat children and older adults with greater caution. Call your family doctor right away if your child:

• Develops severe diarrhea, with or without vomiting or fever
  
• Has had episodes of vomiting for more than eight hours
  
• Has had moderate diarrhea for three days or more
  
• Can't keep down fluids
  
• Is irritable or disoriented and much sleepier or less active than usual
  
• Has any of the signs or symptoms of mild or moderate dehydration
  

Go to the nearest hospital emergency room or call 911 or your emergency medical number if you think a child or older adult is severely dehydrated. You can help prevent dehydration from becoming severe by carefully monitoring someone who is sick and giving fluids at the first sign of diarrhea, vomiting or fever and by encouraging children to drink plenty of water before, during and after exercise.

 

Mayo Clinic

[ChiefSmoke]

I think the following have helped us:

 

Beginning the first Monday after the end of the dead period, we go 3 nights a week for 3 hours. We try to get more "football" done earlier than we use to so that we are not crunched for time as it gets closer. In those nights we try to alternate "bursts" with short breaks. Those 3 bursts are county fair, lifting/circuit on the whistle and then conditioning(we call them Royals- they are Coach Duffy's jingle jangles). It gives our kids a chance to exert energy at a high level, then recover, get fluids, and get acclimated to the heat.

 

We use to do the 3-a-day practices(something else we copied from Coach Duffy) but found ourselves having to cancel/alter afternoon practices frequently because of the heat index. Now, when we get to "official" practice, some time in late July, we practice in the morning from 8 am until noon. Then we have meetings, walk-throughs, video, and lifting in the afternoon. We try to keep them fed and full of Gatorade and water.

 

Once the all day type stuff is behind us, we go from 8 am until 11 am. So far, this has worked well to acclimate our kids, keep them hydrated, etc.

 

I am not a "wise" coach that leatherneck referred to, but this has worked for us. If this will help someone or a kid, wanted to share it.

 

I mentioned Coach Duffy twice. When I was at Mercer as an assistant he was at Danville and I was fortunate to interview with him when he went to Highlands. He was a great coach- very tough, but a great coach. The jingle-jangles, etc. have all helped make us better.

[CoachJ]

In June, while things are still kind of 'light' (not a lot of equipment or long conditioning; most rigor is in weight room) we try to go in the HOTTEST part of the day. We stress to the kids the entire month of June (and send a LOT of communication home to parents) about the importance of getting outside during the hottest part of the day just to get used to it (we ask the parents to kick them out of the house if they can!).

 

Once 'real practice' (July 15) comes and the rigor is OUTSIDE, we practice either early-early morning or late-late at night (pushing to the edge of daylight).

 

We condition our kids pretty tough...so that comes at a time in practice when it's most likely to have the LOWEST Heat Index (mornings: first 1/3 of practice; nights: last 1/3 of practice)

 

I believe it's air conditioning and X-box that have done more to hurt our kids than anything. "Back in the day" we practiced harder, the heat wasn't any more than today, and we had fewer problems -- we also had an exhaust fan in our house if we were lucky and Frogger (which got old pretty quick!).

[beverlybubba]

During hot days, I like to see water/Gatorade available to the players at all times. And, every player should feel free to get a drink whenever they want. I hope coaches remember that a well hydrated, "cool" team can go harder during drills.

 

In the old days, coaches felt players should drink a minimal amount and that anyone wanting more or complaining was a wimp. I worry that this attitude still lives in some coaches. I saw it at at least one college camp this summer. Coaches need to remember that dehydrated, over-heated players don't play well and don't practice well. This is general knowledge nowadays, but I think during the heat of a game or practice it's easy to forget. (No pun intended but I couldn't think of another way to say it.)

[jude]

I think a state mandated video about proper hydration would help to educate the players. Show them some clips of players that have had de-hydration problems and lived talking about what the symptoms are and what their hospital visit was like. Have some Doctors talking about the methods of detecting and treating it. Make this video a mandatory thing just like the physical with the same penalties in place if it's not watched. If the state won't make and mandate a video like this then maybe the powers that be at BGP should try to put something together? I know there are some Doctors on this site and I know there are some video GURUS. Just a thought?

 

I know the coaches at LC have a great program of weighing at every practice and educating players but I think all the teams would use a video like this voluntarily even if not mandated.

[quickslick]

Here is a different thought .... the only way that the heat issue will change at this point in this state is simple:

 

HOLD THE PARENTS ACCOUNTABLE.

Coaches are accountable for extra training.

Coaches (most of them anyway) have moved past the "old" way of thinking from the past where water = weak.

Coaches spend practice/preparation time speaking about hydration and nutrition.

Coaches are also responsible for work within the rules of the KHSAA heat rules.

 

Yet--when it comes down to something happening to a kid--the first thing that people do is blame the coach.

Well ... sorry ... wrong answer.

The coach can not babysit 50 to 100 kids when they go home.

If the athlete is not doing what they are supposed to do at home--then why do the parents get off scott free?

Why are they not accountable.

 

Parents should have to sign a piece of paper with the school and the coach stating that they will ensure that the athlete will prepare properly when that are NOT within the arms of their respective programs.

 

Parents are so "sue happy" now-a-days that they are blind to the fact that heat illness is something that can prevented the night before--when they are at home (not to mention the endless cycle that kids can get into when they continously neglect their hydration/nutrition needs day after day ... night after night).

 

As a parent (whether you like it or not) you should be SENDING YOUR ATHLETE to practice prepared. That is your (and the athletes) responsibility. It is the responsibility of the coach to continue to educate and enforce those practices AT PRACTICE.

 

Things won't get better until that happens.

[2 Humped Camel]

Our coach used to tell us to "drink until your pee is clear and then drink some more"

[Colonels_Wear_Blue]

Are there any high school teams out there who have tried misting fans? They're surprisingly inexpensive and are EXTREMELY effective at quick cool-down.

[Ram]

Are there any high school teams out there who have tried misting fans? They're surprisingly inexpensive and are EXTREMELY effective at quick cool-down.

 

We have one. The players seem to like it.