The
Dr. Jeff Konin, The Rehab Doc
There are a lot of moving parts associated with a
successful youth hockey career. The hockey bag,
whether on wheels or carried, serves as the keeper of the
necessities for every practice and game. How many times have you loaded
your hockey bag and gone through your checklist, only to learn when you get
to the rink that you forgot something? While every item in the hockey bag is
important, the water bottle is near and dear to every player.
Why is The Rehab Doc writing a column on a water bottle? It’s simple.
The water bottle can be one of the reasons why a youth ice hockey player
gets sick or feels fatigued. Let me explain both of these scenarios.
The purpose of the water bottle is to keep you hydrated with liquids, of
which on most occasions is regular water. If you choose, you can fill your
bottle with a sugar type drink, though most don’t because it is a different
color and spills all over your jersey and is not as fun to squirt into your
mouth while wearing a cage or a shield!
Hydration is important as it serves as an important fuel for the body. It
provides you energy, especially for your muscles. Drinking fluids during
a practice and especially a game not only assists during that particular
activity, but it also serves to help begin the refueling process in your body
for hours later and even the next day.
This is most helpful when you are playing back-to-back games on any
given weekend or during a tournament. Forgetting your water bottle or not
drinking from it during a game will more than likely contribute to you feeling
more tired later in the day or the next day.
Fluids are important, and they really do not need to be any specific type
of fluid, so long as you enjoy the taste and are re-hydrating your body in a
timely manner.
What usually happens if you forget your water bottle? Aside from the options
of parents buying another water bottle, a common tactic is to simply share
a bottle with a teammate while on the bench. Water bottles are usually
lined up on the boards of a bench during a practice, and on the inside shelf
of the bench during games.
The goal is always to drink from your own water bottle, but that doesn’t
always happen. When you drink from someone else’s water bottle you run
the risk of getting sick. This is one of the main reasons why each player is
encouraged to have his/her own water bottle and label it clearly.
The so-called germs of a sick player can be spread, and before you know
it a couple of kids on the same team get sick. So always have your own
water bottle, wash it often to keep it clean, remember to bring it each time
to practices and games, and always drink from your own!
Here are some simple tips to consider regarding proper hydration:
rehydrate
Another simple way to know if you are hydrated
or dehydrated is by the color of your urine.
It is very simple to compare the color of urine
to a urine chart that will tell you if you are
adequately hydrated or dehydrated.
When your urine matches the very light colors
of the chart, you are well hydrated.
When you are not adequately hydrated, your
urine appears as a darker color, and we
jokingly say “urine trouble”.
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