Sweat Loss and Hydration Habits of Female Olympic, Varsity and Recreational Ice Hockey Players

Abstract

This study measured sweat losses, voluntary fluid intake, sodium balance, and carbohydrate intake of female ice hockey players during on-ice practices at the Olympic, varsity, and recreational levels. Testing was conducted on 25 Canadian Olympic players, 21 varsity, and 21 recreational players. The average sweat rate for the Olympic players (0.99±0.08 L/h) was significantly greater than both the varsity (0.67±0.05 L/h, p=0.001) and the recreational players (0.42±0.03 L/h, p<0.001), and the varsity players also had a significantly greater sweat rate than the recreational athletes (p=0.016). Total fluid intake was significantly greater for both the Olympic (p=0.001) and varsity players (p=0.007) compared to the recreational group. Only 3 of 25 Olympic players lost>1.5% BM and 4 others lost>1% BM, with no players in both the varsity and recreational teams losing>1% BM. Half of the Olympic players consumed some carbohydrate during practice, but most of the varsity and recreational players did not. In conclusion, sweat rates in female ice hockey players during practices were proportional to competitive level. Fluid intake was similar between groups and resulted in only a few athletes at the Olympic level being at risk of excess body mass loss.

Internal Load of Female Varsity Ice Hockey Players During Training and Games During a Season

“…It has been previously reported that goalies have comparable or higher sweat rates than defence or forward players in male junior ice hockey players during practices and games 28 29 , male professional players 30 , and female varsity and Olympic ice hockey players 25 . This highlights the point that there are differences in the practices and games for goalies compared to the forwards and defence.…”

“…And there were no differences found between the forwards and defence. It has been noted that differences between forwards and defence may be expected given previous findings that defence spend greater amounts of time at stationary or low velocities compared to forwards and sweat rates of female varsity defensive players was significantly lower than forwards 19 24 25 . However, in the current study, the three lines of defensive players (n=6) had higher individual time-on-ice values compared to the four lines of forwards (n=12) throughout games.…”

The physiology of ice hockey performance: An update

“…However, no effect of mild dehydration on muscle metabolism was observed by Palmer et al 98 during a cycling‐based ice hockey simulation in men. Finally, in contrast, to the fluid losses observed in males during ice hockey match‐play, female players at recreational to Olympic level were shown to adequately replace their fluid loss during on‐ice practices 138 (despite higher sweat rates for the highest level of players) and games 139 (only measured for varsity level players) and with only few individual players at risk of mild dehydration.…”

Heat Acclimation Knowledge among Recreational Runners

“…Furthermore, multiple studies across recreational to elite endurance athlete populations have reported that >40% of athletes surveyed experienced symptoms of exertional heat illness [ 8 , 11 , 12 , 13 ]. With the prevalence of exertional heat illness among recreational athletes, in addition to data showing both college and even professional athletic populations often engaging in physical activity in dehydrated states, it is important that athletes are made aware of strategies to mitigate heat stress and reduce the risk of exertional heat illness during physical activity [ 14 , 15 , 16 , 17 , 18 , 19 , 20 ]. Additionally, it is especially important to educate the recreational athlete population as it could be speculated that these individuals are at a greater risk of injury due to lack of guidance from sports medicine professionals.…”