Skip to main content

ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Sports Act. Living
Sec. Sport and Exercise Nutrition
Volume 6 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fspor.2024.1479879

Fluid balance of female para hockey players during simulated competition Original Investigation

Provisionally accepted
Erica Heidi Gavel Erica Heidi Gavel *Samantha Rae Samantha Rae Heather M Logan-Sprenger Heather M Logan-Sprenger
  • Ontario Tech University, Oshawa, Canada

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Purpose: The purpose of this study was to characterize the hydration habits and fluid balance of female para-ice hockey players. Methods: Fifteen players (5 defense (D), 8 forwards (F), and 2 goalies (G)) volunteered to participate in the study (age: 26.3 ± 10.9 y; ht:155 ± 11 cm; arm length: 65 ± 8 cm; leg length: 88 ± 11 cm; trunk length: 66 ± 14 cm). Players were weighed preand postgame, while fluid intake and individual playing time (PT) was monitored throughout the game. Results: On average, athletes arrived hydrated to the game (USG 1.019 ± 0.006) with 40% of players arriving dehydrated (USG >1.020). Mean playing time for forwards was 11:47-28:49 min:s (18:52 ± 5:48 min:s) and for defence 13:10-18:24 min:s (15:10 ± 2.05 min:s). Sweat loss was 0.96 ± 0.64 L (0.10 -2.50 L) which exceeded net fluid intake (0.61 ± 0.37 L). Mean BM loss was 0.44 ± 0.9% (-2.1 to +0.9 %) with 4 of 15 players (2 D, 1 F, 1 G) losing between 1.4 to 2.1% BM. Players preferred to drink water during the game compared to a carbohydrate electrolyte solution. Conclusion: 60% of athletes arrived hydrated to the game and drank enough fluid to prevent a BM loss < 1%. Of note is that 40% of players arrived at the arena mildly dehydrated based on USG, and despite abundant opportunities to drink fluid during the game, 25% of players lost >1.3% BM due to sweat loss which may compromise physical and cognitive performance.

    Keywords: sledge hockey, Para Ice Hockey, hydration, impairment, Performanc

    Received: 12 Aug 2024; Accepted: 12 Nov 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Gavel, Rae and Logan-Sprenger. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Erica Heidi Gavel, Ontario Tech University, Oshawa, Canada

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.