Unfortunately, there is no simple answer here.

The 2% Rule
For example, one of the prevailing strategies states that an athlete may be in trouble if they lose more than 2 percent body mass in sweat. “The 2% Rule” as it is commonly referred to was established by the U.S. military as they were researching soldier health and readiness for desert and jungle combat. This turns out to be a basic guide for monitoring states of hydration: if you lose more than 2% of your body mass during exercise or competition you need to drink more. The 2% system is easy to understand, simple to apply and provides a general reference for planning your hydration.

However, in a more recent study done with elite marathoners, researchers point to 3 to 6 percent dehydration as the target zone for the onset of impaired performance. The researchers here were also quick to point out the importance of individual tolerance and fluctuations in the weather.

Another study looked at a large group of marathoners and found that the faster runners lost more fluid weight than did the slower runners who kept their water loss below 2 percent. And a look at one of the world’s top marathon runners found a loss of as much as 10 percent body weight while still performing at world class levels.

To confuse the hydration matter even more, other studies are pointing to findings that indicate the sensation of thirst may be a poor indicator of our hydration status. Thirst has long been thought of the guiding indicator for balancing hydration – if you lose a certain amount of body fluid the warning signals go off and you become thirsty.

The Combination of Fluid and Electrolyte Loss
While we should not ignore thirst, it seems that it may only be part of the hydration puzzle. Researchers are now reporting that blood concentration may be an even more powerful indicator of your hydration status. When you sweat you lose both fluid and electrolytes which changes the volume and concentration of your blood. While the body adjusts to keep your blood fairly constant, it is when you lose too much fluid and/or electrolytes that performance is affected.

Hyponatremia
So, while losing too much fluid leads to dehydration, consuming too much water results in a condition called hyponatremia. Hyponatremia, also called over-hydration, this occurs when an athlete consumes too much water without replacing the electrolyte sodium, which is being lost via sweat.

When exercising, excessive water intake (over-hydration/hypernatremia) dilutes the sodium outside of the cells which can lead to drops in performance and VERY serious health conditions. Athletes who exercise for more than four hours and consume too much water are the highest risk for this condition.

Dehydration is far more common than over-hydration. Athletes can easily avoid both by understanding their sweat rates. Simply weigh yourself (with no or as little clothing as possible) before and after exercise. A one -pound drop in weight roughly equals losing 16 ounces of sweat.

What’s Your Sweat Rate
Your sweat rate is a great indicator of fluid loss but when it comes to regulating your sodium there are a few factors to consider:

Heavy Sweater
Heavy sweaters lose more fluids and more sodium. The amount of sodium in sweat ranges from 220mg to 1100mg with the average being around 500mg of sodium per pound of sweat.

High Concentration Sweater
If you are one of those athletes who develop salt rings on your cap or clothing or if you see a crust of salt on your skin after exercising you are a salty sweater. These athletes are losing much more sodium than the average athlete.

Environment
We know we sweat more in the heat and humidity. But as we travel around to different climates beware your sodium loss can vary greatly. Where an athlete who is accustomed to the heat may only lose 300 – 400mg/pound but if you are not acclimatized to the heat and humidity you may lose up to 1000-1100mg of sodium/lb.

So, what should you do to handle your sodium intake?
First, know your sweat rate and what kind of sweater you are and plan your fluid intake and sodium intake accordingly. And, unless you are one of those “long range athletes” marathoners, cyclists or triathletes who are exercising or competing for four hours or more a solid balanced diet should provide all the sodium you could possibly need.

The U.S. Dietary Guidelines recommend no more than 2,400 mg sodium/day however most Americans easily consume 3,000 to 5,000 mg daily, which is way too much. On top of this the human body is very prepared to handle sodium fluctuations, the average male’s body contains about 75,000 milligrams of sodium or about 11 tablespoons of salt and

Up to now, one of the most common strategies used to off set sodium loss during exercise has been to consume a sport drink or liquid beverage.

The issue with this is most sport drinks contain only small amounts of sodium which come with terrible amounts of sugars, carbohydrates or sweeteners. So you trade a little sodium for a massive amount of sugar which is a disaster unless it matches the energy demands of your exercise or sport.

This is why we have designed KP Sport Baseball to be a FUEL SYSTEM matched to the energy demands of your sport. While KP Sport provides important minerals, vitamins and electrolytes to drive your sport performance it is simply not possible to properly match critical nutrients that are depleted with exercise with the consumption of sugar packed drinks. It throws the entire metabolic system off balance – it simply cannot be done correctly.

Separate Your Fluids and Your Sodium
Manage your sodium based on your individual sweat rates, the weather, and the type of sweater you are.

Manage your fluid loss with water alternating with KP SPORT which will also provide you with the sport specific energy to drive your training and your in-game performance.

Ready to fuel your athletes like never before? Discover how KP Sport can help them stay hydrated, energized, and performing at their peak—no matter the conditions. Explore KP Sport Now ➡︎

The post Hydration: How Much, When & What appeared first on Neural Nutrition.

Most athletes are not hydrated properly and it is a massive set back.
The bodies ability to perform work decreases with as little as 2% dehydration and it impacts virtually every aspect of performance – cardiovascular, strength, speed, power, agility, focus and concentration, decision making and reaction time.

Establishing a daily hydration routine is one of the most effective strategies for helping athletes with their fluid intake. From morning wake-up to evening sleep, designating times and amounts for fluid intake can help establish daily hydration habits.
Consistency is critical here as it is with every aspect of athlete development and performance. While water is the number one option for all of our hydration programs every fluid we consume counts.
But beware, the beverages and fluids you consume can either work for you or work against you?

Are the Beverages & Fluids you consume working for or against you?
You need to be very aware of everything you consume especially when it comes to liquid beverages containing vitamins, minerals, proteins, sugars, carbohydrates, and electrolytes.

Consuming the wrong drink or beverage at the wrong time can have a drastic impact on your performance.
When determining how much and what to drink there are a number of factors that need to be considered:

• Your environment – temperature & humidity.
• Your level of fitness and state of recovery.
• The level / intensity of competition or practice.
• The Sport you are playing.

The sport you play should not only guide the amount of fluid you consume, it should also determine the amount of energy you consume. Different sports have different energy demands. The specific energy demands of a sport are determined by the unique intensities and volumes of work.

Just How Different are the Various Sports?
Here is a few examples: 

• Basketball: 2 hours 18min, 48min of play (40min/player)
• Football: 3 hours 12min, 11 min of play (3-4min/player)
• Hockey: 2 hours 20min, 60min of play (22min/player)
• Baseball: 3 hours 5min Ball in Play, 18min (5-6 min/player)

Not only does the “time of play” vary greatly from sport to sport but so does the intensity and the mental demands.
So, not only do we have to hydrate properly we must also “fuel” properly.

That said, have you ever wondered, why athletes from different sports consume the same drink or beverage?
Where does it make sense that a Baseball Player consumes the same drink as a Basketball Player? Or a Golfer consuming the same drink as Soccer Player? It doesn’t make sense. It NEVER has and it never will!

Over the last 20 plus years I have been lucky enough to work with some of the best athletes on the planet. Baseball players, Hockey and Football players. I work to get the most out of my Endurance athletes, Strength and Power athletes, Elite Squash, Golfers, Skaters and you know what makes no sense to me at all?

They all head down to the corner store and grab the same drink or beverage to fuel their performance!!

It’s wrong… all wrong!

I needed to find the answers for my athletes, better options, options that made sense. I searched for years to find these answers. I felt that if we could really understand the impact of sport demands on human physiology and biochemistry we could start to find those better options for our athletes. As it all started to become clear, it appeared that the lowest hanging fruit, was nutrition and hydration.

The Importance of the Source and Type of Energy
The human body converts sugars and carbohydrates to energy but the source and type determines how the energy is used and stored by the body. It is critical to deliver the right form of energy in the correct amount to maintain consistent blood sugar levels to sustain optimal performance. Consuming the wrong type of energy or the wrong amount of energy can seriously impact your ability to perform both physically and mentally.

Some sugars and carbohydrates are considered “fast fuels” while some are considered “slow fuels”.
“Fast fuels” enter the blood stream quickly and can cause rapid changes in blood sugar while “Slow fuels” are absorbed more slowly and enter the blood stream over time. The different fuels enter different energy pathways which determine how they are used and/or stored. The energy pathway of a fuel also determines how they will eventually affect brain energetics and ultimately working muscles.

Match the Fuel with the Demands
Matching a Performance Fuel with the energy demands of your sport requires much more than simply consuming more or less of a certain sugar or carbohydrate. It requires consuming the correct type of “fuel” in the correct amount with the correct support nutrients.

This was the beginning of KP Sport® and the development of sport-specific performance fuel. KP Sport® Baseball Performance Drink is the first performance beverage to truly address the sport specific demands of the various sports. KP Sport® is a fuel system that is formulated for your sport and your level of play. It addresses sport specific energy demands with a bioavailable fuel system that helps keep your blood chemistry at a more consistent level during sport and exercise. 

We know that if you can switch the brain you can switch the game, this is critical concept for maximizing in-game performance, training, and recovery. KP Sport’s Key Code Fuel® is a unique blend of slow-release burnable-carbohydrates formulated to help minimize blood sugar swings and provide energy for maximum performance. 

In sport, having a daily hydration plan is important and understanding that different sports have different energy demands is essential. This is where KP Sport® is the true game changer, by addressing sport specific demands and delivering sport specific fuel strategies, we are working to push human performance to new levels.

Hydration reduces your risk of injury and can improve both muscle and brain performance.
Consuming the correct type and amount, slow-release burnable- carbohydrates supports mental focus and physical performance and provides energy to help maximize performance during your training and game.

Athletes that hydrate and fuel better, perform better, PERIOD.

Ready to fuel your athletes like never before? Discover how KP Sport can help them stay hydrated, energized, and performing at their peak—no matter the conditions. Explore KP Sport Now ➡︎

The post Thirst for Performance: Fuel Your Sport appeared first on Neural Nutrition.

This may include attacking the “lowest hanging fruit” on the performance tree. These are strategies and performance factors that you can address right now to influence your in- game performance, your training, your recovery and even reduce your risk of injury. 

To Set the Stage:
It is important to understand that human performance is a daily event and the rules of performance apply to anything that requires our attention and effort. It could be work or school, it could be driving, hobbies, parenting, and it most certainly includes sport.
The body works on a 24 hour cycle and if you can get in the habit of attacking the low hanging fruit each and every day you can boost your potential in the short term and raise you ceiling of potential over the long game.

First, your Sleep, Rest & Recovery.
Trust me on this one, there is no easier way to immediately improve your performance, your training, and your recovery. All you need to do is plan your daily sleep and rest.
While the amount of sleep required can differ from person to person, you simply need to nail down how much sleep you need each day to be at your best and then protect it as if it were the most valuable treasure in history.
This means turn off your electronics early, make sure your room is nice and dark, cool and quite and most important stick to a schedule. Keep your wake time as consistent as possible and if you ever need to make up for lost sleep go to bed earlier or schedule in a nap

Second, Nutrition and Hydration.
Eat well – it sounds simple, but this takes planning and time. If you do this right cooking and food preparation can be a relaxing and enjoyable time. For our top performers we schedule in kitchen time with significant others, family (especially kids) and friends. And, when done right we strategically have fantastic food leftovers and ingredients to repurpose in lunches, soups and salads.

But when it comes to the “Low Hanging Fruit” in the world of human performance Hydration is often the lowest fruit of them all. As crazy as this sounds, we have rarely worked with athletes who are properly hydrated. It is one area of performance that is consistently over looked and undervalued and you would be hard pressed to find a more simple way to improve your daily performance than by just hydrating properly. 

Drink Water!
A huge percentage of our bodies are water and every single process that makes our bodies operate properly are influenced by our water intake and balance.

All important – coaches, parents & teachers take heed – this includes brain function. Your state of hydration can influence all aspects of brain function including your mood and your ability to focus and concentrate.
Water is also important for our skin health, flushing toxins from our blood, delivering nutrients like oxygen, thermoregulation and bone & joint health, even fat metabolism.

• For men it is recommended that you get in at least 12 cups of water per day (about 3 litres).
• For women 9 cups per day and more if you are pregnant and breast feeding.
• For athletes and people who exercise, you must pay close attention to water loss during training and competition. We do daily weigh-ins prior to training and competition so we can gauge water loss and compensate accordingly.

A huge added benefits, proper hydration can reduce your risk of injury and enhance recovery.

I cannot stress the importance of proper hydration.
It requires a consistent daily approach, set reminders, draw up a schedule or do whatever you have to but just make it happen. It is SO important and SO simple, yet only a VERY small percentage of people and even our elite athletes hydrate properly on a day to day basis.

Not Just Water
Though water is my recommended beverage of choice for hydration every fluid you consume contributes to the fluid balance in your body.
Milk, juice, coffee, tea, soft drinks, sport drinks, smoothies and milk shakes.

Two important notes

• Alcohol does not count! It dehydrates you and is essentially poison to the body.
• STAY AWAY FROM SUGAR DRINKS – excess sugar has also been called a toxic poison.
  • Check the label. Liquid beverages can contain incredible amounts of sugar that can impact your performance both physical and mental. So proceed with caution be aware of sugar and artificial sweeteners and again maintaining a consistent overall daily water intake is a top priority.

Helpful Tips on Hydration

Drink before you are thirsty!
By the time your body signals thirst you are already dehydrated and even in an early dehydrated state the bodies capacity to perform work may drop significantly. This may impact reaction time, decision making, learning, stamina, recovery and, as mentioned, risk of injury.

While we should have a daily hydration routine it can be extremely helpful to have a pre-game and pre-training hydration plan as well. We like to practice our pre game meals and hydration plans well in advance and consistently day to day so there are no surprises when we get down to work.

Before exercise aim to consume 16 ounces of fluid 2 hours prior training or competition.
During exercise consume eight to ten ounces every 15-20 minutes. After exercise drink 16-20 ounces for every pound of body weight that is lost with exercise.

It can also be a good idea to drink water before you eat. Two 8oz glasses of water before you eat has been show to help in weight loss and weight management as it can make you feel full to avoid overeating.

So, what are the low hanging fruits on your performance tree?
If sleep, nutrition, and hydration are among them attack with a vengeance.
Regardless, drink water and develop a daily habit of hydrating properly, whether you schedule it in or post reminders all around you, hydrating is one of the simplest ways to impact your daily performance.

Here are some great apps that can help you keep track of you fluid intake:
Waterlogged
Water Alert Pro
Drink Water

The post Boosting Performance: Attacking The Low Hanging Fruit appeared first on Neural Nutrition.

Before we even attempt to attack the technical, tactical and competitive side of player development, we must first address the fundamental foundations of human performance in sport. These are critical areas of athlete development that are often overlooked or neglected at all levels of sport. Done properly, we create more coachable, durable, and robust players who experience higher levels of both immediate and long-term success.

If these key fundamentals are neglected, we potentially expose our players to slower or stalled progress as well as higher rates of injury which is a major contributing factor in the current epidemic of player burnout and the rising dropout rates in sport.
We have established four top priorities that we address first and foremost when setting up our players, teams, and organizations for success – regardless of the level they are currently competing at.

#1. Sleep, Rest and Recovery
These factors are ground zero for maximizing player performance. Unfortunately, they are often an afterthought in program design taking a backseat to competitive schedules and sport specific technical and tactical practice time.
As you set up your daily, weekly, monthly, and annual plans everything you do should revolve around your players’ sleep as well as the amount and quality of their recovery.

In our programs sleep is by far the number one factor for maximizing performance. Once proper sleep is scheduled in around our competitive and training programs, we then address our recover strategies which are based on the type, volume and intensity of work being done.
To maximize player performance, you need to start at the beginning. In sport performance that means you must first consider, sleep, rest and recovery.

#2. Nutrition & Hydration
A remarkably close second, both nutrition and hydration are critical for optimizing player performance.
To eat and hydrate properly requires a continuous effort and to make it more manageable for our players, we break it down into daily plans.
Nutrition and hydration are discussed from the time we start playing sport but I ask you, when was the last time you worked with players who were properly hydrated or following a proper eating plan?

It’s rare, very rare.

When it comes to performing at higher levels, eating and hydrating properly are some of the lowest hanging fruit, the simplest way to positively impact your daily performance.
Nutrition and hydration are easy to talk about but not so easy to execute.
Keep discussing it with your players on a daily basis this has to become part of the team culture.

#3. Posture and Range of Motion
We are seeing very disturbing trends in player health as injury rates are on the rise across all of sport.
Proper posture and joint function are at the core of creating healthy, adaptable, and coachable players. While posture and range of motion screening and training may take some expertise you do not need to be an expert to understand the potential dangers of muscle imbalance, posture issues or extremes in the range of motion around our joints.
Not only are we greatly influenced by the repetitive nature of the sports we play, we are up against a true MONSTER when we consider the impact technology is having on our postures, especially among our youth.
Incorporating simple posture drills and exercises into your daily warm up and weekly practices can go a long way to reduce the risk of injury while at the very same time increasing the athleticism of our players.

#4. Movement
In sport, our fourth performance priority is movement.

We must create movers.

This is a critical element of player development and one that can literally change the developmental trajectory of your players.
Movement training, also referred to as physical literacy, is closely tied to the developmental windows our players pass through as they grow and mature. Understanding movement, how it happens and what we need to do in order to become master movers is a process that takes time.
Make no mistake, if we are serious about raising our players ceiling of potential, we must teach them to be movers first and foremost.
Great movement skills set the stage for attacking the sport specific technical and tactical work that will allow a player to progress in the sport they love.

If we are really dedicated to helping our players realize their true potential, we need to provide the process that allows this to happen.

That process starts with preparation and set up.

For our players, that set up starts with these four foundational priorities.
It does not matter how much time you put in or how hard you work, it is impossible to be at or to aspire to your true potential if these four factors are not addressed right off the top.

The post Top 4 Priorities for Player Performance appeared first on Neural Nutrition.

Everyone should have a good hard look at the info in their article “Hidden in Plain Sight”.

Like much of the current information on sugar consumption this article provides us with SugarScience facts that are scary as hell!

Right off the Top, they make it clear that added sugar in hiding in 74% of packaged food, disguised like a sleeper cell just waiting to attack and wreak havoc on your health.

Recommended daily sugar intake according to the American Heart Association(AHA)

Women: 6 tsp (25g)

Men: 9 tsp (38g)

Children: 3-6 tsp (12-25g) vary depending on age

Added sugar is like a chameleon blended into the products and can be very hard to see, camouflaged and disguised… there are over 61 different names for sugar and if you don’t know them you would never know they are even there.

(All 61 sugar names are listed to the right of the article)

It hides so well in fact that it has made its way into foods that you may think are good for you, yogurt, breakfast bars, cereal, juice, sauces and salad dressings to name a few.

And it’s bad for you, really bad! Type 2 diabetes, obesity, heart disease, liver damage and the list goes on.

The best way to arm yourself for the #WARonSUGAR is to get Educated and this article is a good start.

http://sugarscience.ucsf.edu/hidden-in-plain-sight/#.WmeZVRNSyuV

The post The Sugar Chameleon Hiding in Plain Sight appeared first on Neural Nutrition.

It is the added sugar you need to keep an eye on.

By law food companies have to let us know how much sugar is in each product but they do not have to tell us how much is natural and how much is added.

So at the very least be sure to check out the grams of sugar on the Nutrition Facts panel on the products you buy.

Keeping an eye on the amount of sugar in the products you are buying will at least let you know what you are getting into.

To set you up it’s good to know that 4 grams of sugar = 1 teaspoon.

If you see sugar at the top of the ingredient list you may want to rethink your buying habits. And, keep in mind that added sugars have many names and to make things even worse food companies use sweeteners that are not even technically sugars but can have the same negative impact on your health..or worse!

So when you are out shopping next, put on your detective hat, the food companies are always looking for new ways to slip more and more sugar into the products we consume.

To find out other names of sweeteners you may see on your labels read this Harvard paper “Added Sugar in Your Diet”:

Added Sugar in the Diet

The post Added Sugar in the Diet appeared first on Neural Nutrition.