By Robin Yule

Since arriving in Sri Lanka on March 18th to take up my assignment as National Coach and Rugby Development Manager, I have observed a couple of key areas deserving of mention in this publication..

One of the fist things that struck me when working with the Sri Lankan Seven’s coaches preparing the squad for the Hong Kong Sevens was the fact that players were not factoring in the hydration and rehydration requirements of practicing and playing in tropical conditions such as we experience here in Sri Lanka.

I immediately requested a number of individual drink containers and more water to be on offer as I felt that players were being asked to train in a dehydrated state.

Maintaining ideal hydration levels requires attention before, during and after practices and game situations

Dehydration can make you fatigued, encourage muscle soreness, and affect your judgment on the field of play, cause cramps, heat stress or even heatstroke.

Even low levels of dehydration can affect your ability to fully participate in games or practices. Thirst is not a good indicator of fluid needs during rugby and all coaches and administrators at schools and clubs in Sri Lanka should be aware of the information I am providing and address the matter with priority

For players to be at their peak for a practice or game, we should understand and observe the following general hydration guidelines

2 hours before practice/game, Drink minimum 500- 600 mls of water

15 minutes before practice/game, Drink minimum 500mls of water

During the game or in training Drink 150mls per 10 minutes activity

After games / practices, 1 litre per hour for three hours. As stated, the above are guidelines and as I will explain needs to be considered further when playing in extreme heat and humidity as faced here in Sri Lanka.

It makes logical sense that you continue sweating after you stop exercising so you need to keep fluid levels up well beyond practice or a game finishing.

A good way to ensure that rehydration is occurring is to take an electrolyte sports drink after activity as these products generally contain 4 – 8% carbohydrate content and effects last longer than one hour.

However, in many situations, electrolyte replacement drinks may not be available so H2O must be considered an adequate replacement. It is important to recognise that under optimal conditions, our body can survive without food for up to 30 days but only 4 to 10 days without water. It becomes obvious that water is the most essential element in our body, with experts ranking water second only to oxygen as our sustenance.

Water takes up about 45% to 60% of an adult’s total body weight with the variation generally being explained by the difference in body tissue proportions between any two individuals. Muscle tissue consists of approximately 80% water, compared to fat that comprises of only 20% water. The lower a person’s percentage of body fat, the higher percentage of water in ones body.

Water also plays a vital role in all of our body processes as it provides a medium for chemical reactions to occur, lubrication, nutrient delivery, waste disposal, heat dispersion and overall body temperature regulation. Therefore, in order to maintain fluid balance in our bodies, water gain needs to equal the amount of water lost, which is heavily dependant on an individual’s activity levels, environmental temperature and level of humidity which is high in most parts of Sri Lanka.

In any adult, an expected water loss figure may be close to approximately 2500ml per day through urine, perspiration from the skin, water lost from the lungs and also the gastrointestinal tract while we may stand to gain 200ml a day through normal metabolic reactions occurring in the wonderful machine called our body.

Having absorbed the above data, it is clear that we need to drink about 2300ml of water a day if we do not engage in any physical exercise.

Clearly rugby players and coaches need to understand that once exercise begins, then obviously more than 2300ml per individual must be consumed in order to maintain water balance in our bodies.

The risks of dehydration should be taken seriously Researchers have found that 3% to 5% of fluid loss from your body can increase cardiovascular strain and impaired ability to dissipate heat.

If the fluid loss exceeds 7%, then collapses can occur but the more likely effects that rugby players will notice include cramps, heatstroke and generally poorer levels of sports performance.

Heat experienced here in Colombo and other parts of Sri Lanka rank as some of the most trying conditions for sport to be played in, hence the later start times unless we want to test the character of visiting national teams.

I guess for me the bottom line is that playing or practicing in a dehydrated state significantly impairs sports performance so it makes sense that education should be provided for players, coaches and administrators so that the issue can be understood better.

One way of gauging water loss after practicing or playing is to weigh players before and after physical activity. I did this during the national players preparation for the two match series recently played with disappointing results and for some players the information provided started to sink in. One player lost 3kg in a trial game and was only on the field of play 55 minutes.

As a general rule, for every pound (0.45kg) lost during exercise, approximately 0.5 litres of fluid is lost.

Sometimes, weighing players may not be practical and other ways of monitoring body hydration status could be used.

These include educating players to check the colour of their urine and if dark coloured, strong smelling or low volume then rehydrate until urine is clear

Being aware of our heart rates is another way and just checking our resting rate for 10 seconds and multiplying by 6 is a simple way of knowing your resting rate.

After exercise, 10 seconds is not long to measure whether our heart rates are increased through fluid loss. Chances are for most players that this will be the case.

As a general rule, if scales are available the following statistics can be used to calculate how much bodyweight players have lost and how much fluid they should be consuming post activity to return their bodies to a rehydrated state.

0.5kg weight loss = 0.8ml fluid replacement

1.0kg weight loss = 1.5litres fluid replacement

1.5kg weight loss = 2.3 litres fluid replacement

2.0kg weight loss = 3.0 litres fluid replacement

Other weight loss figures can be calculated from the above figures.

Generally and if possible, this rehydration should occur within 45 to 90 minutes of a game or practice finishing and should be completed prior to any protein, rapid recovery aids and certainly alcohol partaken.

Hopefully readers find this information is useful to better understand the effects of dehydration on sports performance and I look forward to seeing a lot more water containers being utilised than I am seeing at present as I move around the various games at club and school level. Who knows, if we embrace the information we might just see players with higher energy levels and able to make better decisions on the field of play, resulting in improved sports performances for
spectators, selectors, coaches and players to enjoy alike.

The other issue that struck me early on in my stay is the low number of players wearing protective mouth guards while playing the game here in Sri Lanka.

In New Zealand it is compulsory for all players to wear mouth guards and referees can order a player from the field if he is not wearing one.

A huge amount of education has occurred in recent years in many playing countries about the effects of concussion and the potential long term effects.

While not wanting to discourage anyone playing our great game, I feel it is only pertinent for me to point out that mouth guards can certainly prevent dental injuries and concussion happening during a practice or game and with the high level of contact play now occurring at increasing velocities, it makes good sense to be wearing a mouth guard to prevent teeth being damaged and also limiting the concussion risk.

I accept that cost is an issue in a country like Sri Lanka but I would suggest that for top level schools and clubs that are serious about safeguarding their player’s welfare, then an investment of mouth guards for their players makes a lot of sense.

I am currently talking to dental professionals and other parties to try and find ways of exploring solutions to this dilemma and I will continue to mention the issue everywhere I go in the country in the coming months.

Below I have listed symptoms of concussion for coaches, managers, parents and players to be aware of.

Does a player show any of these signs?

• Appears to dazed or stunned
• Is confused
• Forgets team names
• Is unsure of game, score or opponent
• Moves clumsily
• Answers questions slowly
• Loses consciousness ( even temporarily)
• Shows behaviour or personality change
• Forgets events prior or after impact

Does a player report any of these symptoms to coach/
manager/team mates/family?

• Headache or nausea
• Balance problems or dizziness
• Double or fuzzy vision
• Eye pupils appear different in size ( often dilated)
• Sensitivity to light or noise
• Feeling sluggish, groggy or dizzy
• Ringing in the ears
• Concentration or memory problems

If any players report any of the above symptoms, they should not return to the field of play under any circumstances and medical opinion sought as soon as possible.

In many countries, a mandatory 3 week stand down period is in place after concussion has been diagnosed and a similar guideline would be a sensible approach to adopt here in Sri Lanka I feel. Medical clearance is also required after the stand down period in New Zealand and other rugby countries.

Finally, I feel both the above issues are worthy of consideration by the rugby structure here in this country and I am more than happy to talk to anyone on either of the issues to relay some of my experiences dealing with these issues over recent years in the industry.