Dehydration can impair athletic performance and, in extreme cases, may lead to collapse and even death. Drinking plenty of fluids before, during and after exercise is very important. Fluid intake is particularly important for events lasting more than 60 minutes, of high intensity or in warm conditions.

Water is a suitable drink, but sports drinks may be required, especially in endurance events or warm climates. Sports drinks contain some sodium, which helps absorption. While insufficient hydration is a problem for many athletes, excess hydration may also be potentially dangerous.

In rare cases, athletes might consume excessive amounts of fluids that dilute the blood too much, causing a low blood concentration of sodium. This condition is called hyponatraemia, which can potentially lead to seizures, collapse, coma or even death if not treated appropriately.

Consuming fluids at a level of to ml per hour of exercise might be a suitable starting point to avoid dehydration and hyponatraemia, although intake should ideally be customised to individual athletes, considering variable factors such as climate, sweat rates and tolerance.

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Summary Read the full fact sheet. On this page. Nutrition and exercise The link between good health and good nutrition is well established.

Daily training diet requirements The basic training diet should be sufficient to: provide enough energy and nutrients to meet the demands of training and exercise enhance adaptation and recovery between training sessions include a wide variety of foods like wholegrain breads and cereals , vegetables particularly leafy green varieties , fruit , lean meat and low-fat dairy products to enhance long term nutrition habits and behaviours enable the athlete to achieve optimal body weight and body fat levels for performance provide adequate fluids to ensure maximum hydration before, during and after exercise promote the short and long-term health of athletes.

Carbohydrates are essential for fuel and recovery Current recommendations for carbohydrate requirements vary depending on the duration, frequency and intensity of exercise. Eating during exercise During exercise lasting more than 60 minutes, an intake of carbohydrate is required to top up blood glucose levels and delay fatigue.

Eating after exercise Rapid replacement of glycogen is important following exercise. Protein and sporting performance Protein is an important part of a training diet and plays a key role in post-exercise recovery and repair. For example: General public and active people — the daily recommended amount of protein is 0.

Sports people involved in non-endurance events — people who exercise daily for 45 to 60 minutes should consume between 1. Sports people involved in endurance events and strength events — people who exercise for longer periods more than one hour or who are involved in strength exercise, such as weight lifting, should consume between 1.

Athletes trying to lose weight on a reduced energy diet — increased protein intakes up to 2. While more research is required, other concerns associated with very high-protein diets include: increased cost potential negative impacts on bones and kidney function increased body weight if protein choices are also high in fat increased cancer risk particularly with high red or processed meat intakes displacement of other nutritious foods in the diet, such as bread, cereal, fruit and vegetables.

Using nutritional supplements to improve sporting performance A well-planned diet will meet your vitamin and mineral needs.

Nutritional supplements can be found in pill, tablet, capsule, powder or liquid form, and cover a broad range of products including: vitamins minerals herbs meal supplements sports nutrition products natural food supplements.

Water and sporting performance Dehydration can impair athletic performance and, in extreme cases, may lead to collapse and even death.

It starts with attitude, and attitude is a decision. While some days are harder than others, the ability to partition life stress and tune into your optimal performance zone—that level of activation and focus you need to be on task—is a practiced skill.

Goal setting before practice, both process and outcome, helps you hone your focus. To start, make sure you know the purpose of the practice.

What energy system are you emphasizing? What biomechanics are you focusing on? How fatigued should you be by the end of practice?

Spend a few moments visualizing efficient movement before practice. You may even want to watch video of high performers to get you in the zone. I have found the most consistent performers are able to combine fun with focus. Experienced athletes work with their coach and their teammates to strategize how to best execute the practice at hand, taking a collaborative approach.

There may be internal competition, but that is coupled with a sense of camaraderie. Get enough hours a night and you can expect to be stronger, fitter, faster, more focused, accurate and have a sharper reaction time.

Skimp on the time between the sheets and look forward to more basic mistakes, more injuries, less muscle mass and more body fat. We have talked about sleep heaps.

That's because it matters so much. While not every injury is avoidable there is plenty you can do on a daily and weekly basis to prevent and significantly reduce your risk of getting injured. There are plenty of fancy, exciting training ideas on Instagram and YouTube that get plenty of airtime, but the truth is for most athletes elite, domestic, backyard legends the fundamentals are key.

Regular by regular we mean daily foam rolling, stretching, trigger point work, glute, rotator cuff, and core activation is the smartest ten-minute spend you can make to your athletic future every day.

We find the best times are before and after training and competition, but while watching TV in the evening is also great. Check out how we do our warm-up on YouTube. Get enough and everything goes well, not enough and your blood thickens, brain function and decision making slows down, muscles get weaker and your heart and lungs have to work so much harder pumping oxygen.

What is not enough? For high-intensity, long duration sessions, or in hot conditions, sports drinks electrolytes and sugar might be of some use. Hot tip though: most sports drinks are too highly concentrated so are actually best diluted down to half strength.

Check out our blog here. This video we talk about the best pre-, during-, and post-exercise nutrition and hydration strategies. It plays a vital role in your immune system, hormone and neurotransmitter production, enzymes the things in our body that do the stuff that makes us alive, digesting our food, giving muscles energy, repairing injuries etc.

On top of that protein is also part of your hair, skin, nails, tendons, ligaments and even your bones. In fact there is more protein in your bone than there is calcium!

As a ballpark figure, you should be eating a minimum of one gram of protein for every gram of body weight just to maintain fitness and performance eg. The harder you train, the more you are growing the more you should be eating!