I play hockey. Once or twice a week I lace up my ice skates and play hockey against a bunch of other gray-hairs like myself. Skating kicks my ass. It's mainly anaerobic and I drip sweat every game, a lot. (What's the TENNIS CONNECTION? stay tuned).About a month ago I was feeling a bit hungry before a game and I had a Clif Bar and maybe 15 ounces of water to wash it down. Guess what? I skated great... very strong, good endurance. Coincidence? Maybe. Since then I have not had another Clif Bar 30 minutes before a game but I have had 15-20 ounces of water chugged (room temperature allows you to swallow faster) and then gone out to play at least 3 times.
Last Tuesday afternoon I donated a whole unit of blood. Losing those precious red blood cells (that carry oxygen) usually means 2 weeks of hard(er) labor on the ice. I skated yesterday, 4 days post donation and again pre-hydrated and guess what? I felt good, felt strong, much better than usual being down some hemoglobin. I know your body replenishes the blood volume in less than a hour or two but the iron in your blood far less quickly.
So the application for tennis? We ALL drink during a match, duh! But some of our tennis matches are particularly hard with a lot of running and pressure. Does it make sense to PRE-hydrate if we know we are going to have a particularly hard match? Yup. The lack of hydrating also cost me a few excruciatingly painful days with kidney stones about 10 years ago, due to dehydration. Mild dehydration which happens before your body's thirst sensation, also leads to fatigue. This is well documented through treadmill running studies and is actually now common sense for most athletes. So drink up, before - during- and after your athletic contest or training.
Water. It's what's for dinner.
;)
