WEIGHT LOSS AND DEHYDRATION IN ENGLISH FUTSAL PLAYERS

WEIGHT LOSS AND DEHYDRATION IN ENGLISH FUTSAL PLAYERS

by Daniel Berdejo-del-Fresno, University of Manchester,
UK
Wednesday 01st February 2012 – Article 0

Futsal is a high intensity intermittent sport in which accelerations and
short sprints are performed at maximal or almost maximal intensity, interspersed
by brief recovery periods, during a period of time relatively long. Hydration
is the word used to define the process of decrease in the amount of body water.


Any activity that causes dehydration will provoke a decrease in the physical
performance. An easy way to know the dehydration level of a sportsman is to
weigh the subject before and after practising sport. The current study
investigates the dehydration level of elite English male futsal players, in two
games (i.e. friendly vs. official) and evaluates the resulting values by using
studies available in the literature. Eleven (n=11) elite level male futsal
players from a top-2 team competing in the Football Association (FA) Futsal
National League volunteered to participate in this study. The anthropometric
tests used were: mass, height and BMI. Body mass (kg) was recorded before the
warm-up and after the game, the subjects wearing only underwear. Besides, the
percentage of mass loss, activity time and sweating rate was also calculated.
The average activity time was 48.18 ± 3.89 minutes (friendly game) and 48.18 ±
13.47 minutes (official game), with a mean mass loss of 1.27 ± 1.08 kg and 1.09
± 0.94 kg, respectively. The mass loss percentage was 1.75 ± 1.53% and 1.47 ±
1.22%, respectively. The sweating rate was higher in the official game than in
the friendly (11.17 mL/min and 10.44 mL/min). Significant differences were not
found in the dehydration level between the two types of game in an elite level
English Futsal team. Nevertheless, the results showed that these players
obtained a dehydration level that could affect their performance.

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Daniel Berdejo-del-Fresno

 

I am the S&C Coach for the
England National Futsal Team, England National Beach Soccer Team and the Head
Coach for Sheffield Futsal Club. During these last years I have been working as
an S&C Coach in several teams and different sports (tennis, basketball,
futsal, athletics, mountain bike, cycling, hockey…), in both high and
grassroots level, in Spain and the UK.

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