How young athletes can beat the summer heat

Heat can devastate young athletes unaccustomed to performing in high temperatures.

Especially at risk are athletes working out or playing for extended periods in facilities without air conditioning such as school gymnasiums or when practicing or playing under the direct sun. While recent statistics are unavailable, it has become all too commonplace to hear of young athletes collapsing, and in extreme cases dying, from overheating.  It is known, however, that 20 to 22 young athletes died between 2010 and 2014 from heat exhaustion or heat stroke.

Football players make up a majority of the athletes who have died as a result of overheating.

Here are some facts to keep in mind if your athlete expects to participate in activities which could expose him or her to unfamiliar conditions, whether at a camp, game, match, meet. combine, tournament other athletic event:

• From a physiological standpoint, the most severe stress an athlete can encounter is exercise in the heat.
• About 75 percent of the energy spent during exercise is wasted as heat, inevitably causing one’s body temperature to rise.
• Heat results in a higher heart rate and a higher cardiac output, as well as higher core and skin temperatures compared with the same exercise in a cooler environment.
• Athletes can do their part to prevent heat illnesses by slowly building up heat endurance, getting enough sleep and drinking enough fluids before, during and after workouts.
• Acclimatization will reduce the negative impact of heat on athletic performance.
• Acclimatization is most effectively achieved by exercise in the heat; heat without exercise and exercise without heat are less effective.
• Acclimatization can be carried out by exercising in a hot room or by training in a hot climate.
• The major physiological adjustments to heat acclimatization take about 7-14 days.
• Training volume and intensity should be reduced on first exposure to the heat and then gradually increased. Some high-intensity training should be maintained throughout the acclimatization period.
• Reducing the intensity and duration of the warm-up may be necessary to keep core temperature from rising too high before training and competing in the heat.
• Acclimatization increases the athlete’s need for fluid to match the increase in sweat rate.
• Dehydration impairs performance and negates the beneficial effects of acclimatization.
• An adequate intake of an appropriate fluid before, during, and after training and competition is essential to ensure an optimal response to exercise in the heat.

“A combination of speed and immersion in ice water has the best chance of saving an athlete with heatstroke, says Douglas Casa, director of athletic training education at the University of Connecticut and chief operating officer of the Korey Stringer Institute. The institute is named after a former Minnesota Vikings player who died of heatstroke in 2001.

Heatstroke — a body temperature above 104 degrees accompanied by symptoms such as confusion and rapid pulse — “is one of the only medical conditions where you want to be treated on-site. You can’t waste time waiting for an ambulance,” Casa says. When proper protocols are followed, he says, deaths are 100 percent preventable.

Seek medical advice prior to engaging in extreme, heat-related conditions.

Sources: Gatorade Sports Science Institute; Kim Painter for USA Today.