Football players: Lose the uniforms

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn., March 29 (UPI) -- For the first days of summer football workouts, football players should avoid wearing uniforms and protective equipment, U.S. researchers say.

Two studies conducted at the University of Connecticut finds football uniforms -- versus shorts, socks, sneakers and a T-shirt -- significantly increased heat-stroke risks including raised body temperature, abnormally low blood pressure and early exhaustion during heat stress, and many football players have difficulty knowing if they are reaching a potentially dangerous body temperature.

One of the study's authors, Brendon P. McDermott of the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, says although football uniforms, including shoulder pads and helmets, protect players from impact, they also trap body heat, increasing the risk of heat illness secondary to cardiovascular strain and hyperthermia.

"The addition of a football uniform with or without pads increases body and skin temperature, but does not increase perceived stress at a given workload and decreases the amount of exercise an individual can safely perform," McDermott says in a statement.

"The athletic training staff and coaches, must be highly attentive to this, because an athlete may not be aware that he is experiencing a life-threatening rise in body temperature."

McDermott advises no "double-session" practices in the first five days of activity and should not last more than three hours in the heat and be separated by at least three hours.

The findings are published in the Journal of Athletic Training.