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Staying hydrated is still one of the best things for Racquetballers!
We have all heard it before. Remember to drink more water and be more hydrated
when we play racquetball. The scary thing is, even though most of us have heard
this mantra over and over, several studies claim that up to 75 percent of the
population doesn’t drink enough water. As we put together our spring and summer
racquetball plans, hydration should play a huge part in our racquetball
preparation.
According to Racquetball Magazine, "Dehydration is the number one factor
contributing to poor performance." Dehydration occurs when we sweat.
Unfortunately, it’s not possible to completely prevent dehydration when we are
running full steam rallies after rallies, because we must sweat to cool our
body.
Fifty to seventy percent of our bodies are composed of water. The body uses
water to aid in most of the internal processes like digestion, thinking and
breathing. If the body doesn’t have sufficient water and is unable to sweat,
there could be serious physical and psychological consequences. Simply stated,
the body will cease to function effectively.
Even the loss of one percent of body weight can impair performance. This is the
equivalent of 1.2 pounds for a 120 pound person and still only 2 pounds for a
200 pound person before performance is affected. The breakdown of percentage
loss of body weight of fluid and the effects are noted in the box at the end of
this article.
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