It is not uncommon to see an athlete on the sidelines with muscle cramps especially towards the end of an athletic event. This is a common sign of dehydration. Other symptoms of dehydration include increase thirst, fatigue, irritability, loss of performance, nausea, and vomiting. Dehydration occurs when an athlete sweats and fails to replace the fluids and electrolytes lost during this process. Sodium is the most frequent electrolyte depleted which results in muscle cramps. Athletes often underestimate their fluid needs because they rely on thirst, which is actually a sign dehydration is already present. A loss of 1-2% body weight (1.3-2.6 pounds for a 130 pound athlete) during activity can lead to premature fatigue and impaired physical and/or mental performance.
Dehydration is a simple thing to prevent with proper hydration. Many athletes come to practice and games already dehydrated. It is recommended the athlete drinks plenty of fluids 2-3 hours before activities, every 15-20 minutes during activities, and replace every pound lost during activity with 20 oz of fluid per pound at completion of the activity.
Recommended beverages for fluid replacement are sports drinks such as Gatorade or Powerade. These sports drinks help provide energy to the working muscles and replaces the electrolytes lost in the sweat, particularly sodium. Water is a good beverage, but lacks the energy boost to the muscles. Further, water can be a hazard because it lacks flavor and sodium so athletes stop drinking prematurely.
If an athlete has a tendency to sweat excessively or have a high sodium content in their sweat, fluid replacement alone may not prevent the muscle cramps. It is suggested these individuals increase their salt intake which may include lightly salting food or eating food with higher salt content such as a salted nut roll, sunflower seeds, pretzels, canned soups, or tomato juice.
Keeping athletes well hydrated will increase their performance and help prevent dehydration and muscle cramps.