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Hydration Measurement

Why measure hydration?

There are many factors that can impact on the hydration status of sports people, such as social activities, diet, climate and activity level. It is very important for sports people to be well hydrated. For health reasons, dehydrated athletes competing in a hot climate are at greater risk of heat injury (Sawka 1992). For performance, research has shown that being dehydrated by 2% of body weight or greater can have a significant effect on performance (Armstrong et al. 1985). Hypohydration reduces aerobic performance (Barr 1999), the performance of intermittent sprints (Maxwell et al. 1999) and performance in team games (Burke & Hawley, 1997).



Hydration Testing and Urinalysis Methods

There are many methods for determining hydration status, including monitoring body mass changes, measuring sweat, various blood markers and analysis of urine. Here are more detailed descriptions of some of these methods:

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