Abstract
Numerous studies have reported that athletes’ pre-training/-game hydration status is of concern. Up to now, only two cohort studies have examined the effect of an intervention aimed at improving pre-training/-game hydration status; however, without including a control group. Therefore, the aim of this quasi-experimental study was to examine whether and to what extent an individually tailored intervention focused on the benefits of being optimally hydrated before training or game would alter the hydration status of female soccer players. Two teams of young adult female soccer players were allocated to an intervention (n = 22; 19.8 ± 3.0 years) or a control group (n = 15; 22.8 ± 4.0 years). Players in the intervention group received an individually tailored intervention, based on Urine Specific Gravity (USG) measurements, which took place in between two training weeks. Before each training and match play, a urine sample was collected to determine players’ hydration status. Mixed modelling was applied to assess within and between differences in hydration status over time. The pre-training/-game hydration status of the intervention group improved significantly, with players’ mean USG-value decreasing from 1.013 ± 0.001 g/mL to 1.008 ± 0.002 g/mL (p = 0.005). In contrast, the mean USG-value in the control group increased significantly from 1.012 ± 0.002 g/mL to 1.016 ± 0.002 g/mL (p = 0.023), indicating a deterioration of their pre-training/-game hydration status. The individually tailored intervention did show a positive effect even though female soccer players in the present study were already reasonably well hydrated before the start of the intervention.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 131-140 |
Number of pages | 10 |
Journal | Journal of Human Kinetics |
Volume | 78 |
Issue number | 1 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 31 Mar 2021 |
Bibliographical note
Publisher Copyright:© 2021 Kristien Van Campenhout, Laurent Chapelle, Tom Deliens, Eva D'Hondt, Peter Clarys, published by Sciendo 2021.
Copyright:
Copyright 2023 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.
Keywords
- USG
- football
- quasi-experiment
- athlete
- women
- intervention