CASTILLA, Spain, Oct. 21 (UPI) -- Most professional athletes who play indoors are dehydrated before they begin practice, researchers in Spain say.
Ricardo Mora-Rodriguez of the Universidad de Castilla la Mancha says many studies have tested dehydration in athletes who play their sport outdoors, but there is little scientific information on indoor sports such as basketball, volleyball, handball and soccer.
"Dehydration negatively affects sporting performance, even when the level of dehydration is low -- such as a 2 percent loss of body weight through perspiration," Mora-Rodriguez says in a statement. "Despite being indoor sports, the pace these professionals play at makes them sweat a great deal."
The researchers studied how much athletes at four professional teams -- basketball, volleyball, handball and indoor football -- dehydrated and rehydrated.
The study finds, 43 players adequately re-hydrated, recovering 63 percent of the fluid they had lost through perspiration during practice -- 1.4 liters per hour, or about 6 cups.
The researchers used urine specific gravity data and found 91 of the players began practice slightly dehydrated and total sodium losses via perspiration amounted to an average of 1.3 grams per person.
"Professional indoor sports persons sweat profusely when playing their sports, but their rehydration habits prevent them from reaching levels of dehydration that would affect their sporting performance," the researchers say in a statement.
The findings are published in the European Journal of Sport Science.
