By Brian Davidson
One of the most exciting times of the football season is the first few practices when starting jobs are won and roles are defined. It is extremely important for you to remain confident and focused throughout your team's two-a-days. Here are some tips on surviving two-a-days.
Hydration: Staying hydrated throughout camp is extremely important to keep your body in peak condition. Dehydration impairs athletic performance whenever body fluid level falls below 98% of normal. The primary cause of dehydration is sweat loss, when you don't replace what you lose in sweat, your performance and physical well-being at risk.
How do you make sure fluid intake is adequate? You should start their day with 16 ounces of fluid and make it a point to drink at every meal, before, during, and after practices. Drinking fluids not only prevents heat-related illnesses but also helps them sustain performance. When practice is grueling, being fully-hydrated will help you get through it. Here are some specifics to follow:
- Drink 16 ounces of a sports drink one hour before exercise as it takes one hour for one liter of fluid to leave the gut.
- Drink 20 to 40 ounces of fluid (sports drink/water) per hour of practice.
- Drink 24 ounces of fluid (based on recent studies) for every pound of body weight lost during exercise, immediately post exercise.
Ideally, you should weigh yourself before and after practice and drink enough fluid to replace the lost weight. That is, 150 percent of the lost water weight should be consumed. A player who loses five pounds during a practice would need to drink 120 ounces of fluid to replace the water weight loss.
During two-a-days, sports drinks provide an edge over straight water. When sweating you lose electrolytes such as sodium, potassium, and chloride that are essential to hydration and muscle function. Sports drinks provide a total package to keep you body running.
At the same time, you should not over-hydrate. Although consuming enough fluid is essential, it is possible to drink too much. Overhydration can cause hyponatremia, or low blood sodium levels. This can result in headache, apathy, fatigue, nausea, and cramping.
Nutrition: During two-a-day practices, skipping breakfast is not an option. If you don't eat breakfast, you will not have the energy to make the most of practice.
An ideal diet for football players requires 55 to 60 percent of their daily caloric intake to come from carbohydrates, 15 percent from protein and 30 percent from fat. This translates that each meal should be two-thirds carbohydrate and one-third protein, with an emphasis on moderate fat. Each meal should look like a peace sign, with one-third of the plate as protein (red meat, poultry, fish, eggs, cheese, milk, yogurt, dried beans, nuts, soy products), one-third as a starch (rice, pasta, potato) and one-third as fruits and vegetables.
Emphasize carbohydrate-containing foods with lower fat: bagels over doughnuts, mashed potatoes over fries, grilled chicken over fried, frozen yogurt over ice cream. Upping the amount of carbohydrate in your diet will provide them with more available energy during practice and games. Eliminating fried foods decreases the chance of an upset stomach, which may also boost performance.
Our recommendation is that you begin working on hydration and fueling one month prior to training camp. Just like you need to get your muscles in shape for two-a-days, you also need to get your digestive tract in shape one month before training camp. This will help the body be better acclimated and adjust more quickly to the demands of preseason, which will minimize injuries and maximize performance.
You should schedule beverages at every meal, as well as before, during, and after exercise. You should also practice drinking larger volumes before and during exercise-gulps instead of sips.
Confidence: Finally, everyone needs to be ready to work hard on every snap to separate yourself, not only from the competition on your team, but around the country. Indiana's late Football Coach, Terry Hoeppner was fond of quoting the following poem to his players:
DON'T QUIT
When things go wrong as they sometimes will,
When the road you're trudging seems all uphill,
When the funds are low and the debts are high,
And you want to smile, but have to sigh,
When care is pressing you down a bit-
Rest if you must, but don't you quit.
Life is queer with its twists and turns,
As everyone of us sometimes learns;
And many a fellow turns about
When he might have won, had he stuck it out.
Don't give up though the pace seems slow-
You may succeed with another blow.
Often the goal is nearer than
It seems to a faint and faltering man;
Often the struggler has given up
When he might have captured the victor's cup;
And he learned too late when the night came down,
How close he was to the golden crown.
Success is failure turned inside out-
The silver tint of the clouds of doubt,
And you never can tell how close you are,
It may be near when it seems afar;
So stick to the fight when you're hardest hit-
It's when things seem worst that you mustn't quit.
~Leo Piggott
