Sweat Loss and Fluid Intake of Female Varsity Ice Hockey Players During On-Ice Practices and Games

ABSTRACTBigg, JL, Gamble, ASD, Vermeulen, TF, Bigg, LM, and Spriet, LL. Sweat loss and fluid intake of female varsity ice hockey players during on-ice practices and games. J Strength Cond Res 34(2)389–395, 2020—Sweat losses of ∼1.5–2% body mass (BM) during exercise impairs athletic performance in stop and go sports such as ice hockey. The study examined the pre-exercise hydration status, sweat loss, fluid and carbohydrate (CHO) intake, and sodium balance of female hockey players. Twenty-four female varsity hockey players were tested during 2 practices and 4 games. Data analyses were performed using a level of significance of p ≤ 0.05. Over 70% of players arrived at the practices and ∼50% of players arrived at the game mildly dehydrated. Before the high- (P1) and low-intensity (P2) practices, players consumed an average of 0.19 ± 0.14 and 0.15 ± 0.13 L. Before the games, mean fluid intake was 0.39 ± 0.19 L. The sweat rate during P1 was significantly greater than P2 (p = 0.006), but there was no significant difference in total fluid intake between practices (p = 0.279). Consequently, the average BM loss for P1 was significantly greater than that for P2 (p = 0.016). Sweat loss during games was 1.01 ± 0.29 L and fluid intake was 0.70 ± 0.43 L, resulting in minimal BM losses (