Why It’s So Important for Volleyball Players to Drink Water during Practices

There has been a lot of talk about the importance of the proper hydration for athletes. It goes without saying that drinking enough water is incredibly important for volleyball players. No matter what sports they do, athletes have to hydrate themselves properly.

It’s worth noting that drinking sufficient amount of water has a profound positive impact on volleyball player’s performance. Volleyball players will be able to get the most out of their training program and perform well on the court only if they drink enough water.

Unfortunately, some volleyball players don’t take such an aspect as hydration seriously. However, not getting enough water will negatively affect athlete’s health and performance. It’s also important to note dehydration can cause damage to athlete’s body.

That’s why it’s incredibly important for volleyball players to drink enough water and keep their body well hydrated before, during and after volleyball games and practices.

Today, we’ll dig deeper into the importance of water for volleyball players. Plus, athletes will get the hydration tips that they need to follow in order to succeed in the sport of volleyball.

We’ll provide the pre, post and during exercise hydration recommendations for volleyball players. Here, you’ll also get the answers to the frequently asked questions about water hydration for volleyball players.

So, let’s get started.

Why Should Volleyball Players Avoid Dehydration?

It’s no surprise that the human body mainly consists of water. It’s interesting to know that water is nearly 60% of the human body. Water has an impact on the way that the organs in the human body function.

Water can help the human body in a number of different ways. These include:

1. Water serves as a lubricator in the human body. Water lubricates eyes and allows joints to move smoothly.
2. It’s crucial to hydrate skin all the time. Keep in mind that adequate hydration is necessary to moisturize the skin properly. The lack of hydration results in dry, flaky and tight skin. However, drinking enough water helps prevent these kinds of things from happening.
3. Water helps the human body get rid of toxins. The reality is, water washes away toxins from the body.

Normally, a person has to drink about 8 glasses of water a day. However, volleyball players work hard on the court during games and practices. That’s the reason why the consumption of water increases significantly as well. So, athletes have to drink even more water.

When you train hard, you need to drink more water. When a volleyball player loses 1 – 2% of water, then he/she finds it difficult to perform his/her tasks on the court. However, things normalize quickly if a volleyball player drinks water during practices. So, you should drink water to prevent these kinds of things from happening.

How Frequently Should Volleyball Players Drink Water During Practices?

It all depends on the intensity of a volleyball training session. When volleyball players have a light training session, he/she doesn’t sweat a lot during practices.

Nevertheless, an athlete is likely to sweat a lot if he/she trains more intensively and work harder on the volleyball court. That means that the harder you work during a training session – the more water you have to drink to keep yourself well-hydrated.

When Do Volleyball Players Have to Drink Water?

It would be better for volleyball players to drink water all day long. In other words, athletes have to drink water before, after and during practices. By doing so, volleyball players will be able to get enough water and keep their body properly hydrated all the time.

Pre-game drinking. It’s a good idea to drink water before to get started with volleyball practices or volleyball games.

It’s recommended for volleyball players to drink about 0.5 – 1 liter of water ahead of time. It would be better for athletes to drink water 2 hours before a training session.

However, water intake usually increases during warm days. If the weather is hot, an athlete should obviously drink more water. In this case, they should drink water about 30 – 60 oz before to get started with any type of physical activity. Volleyball players should drink the additional 8 – 16 oz of water before games and practices during warm days.

Drink water on the court. Volleyball players should use any splendid opportunity to drink water during games and practices.

As we have already mentioned, everything depends on the type of training a volleyball player is getting.

Let’s say that you are working hard on the court. In this case, you have to drink every 15 – 30 minutes. It’s crucial for athletes to drink 32 oz of fluids per hour during an intensive training session. On average, a volleyball player has to contain 3 – 6 oz of water or sport drink each time.

Do you have a training session that takes more than 60 minutes? Or, maybe, you are going to have multiple practices per day? In this case, such sport drinks as Gatorade. This type of drink has about 4 – 8% of carbohydrate.

Listen to your body and drink water when such a need arises. Do you feel that your body needs more water? If so, drink and get the sufficient amount of water. You should drink as much water as you need.

You should always take fluids with you when you go to the gym. Don’t forget to put a bottle of water into your sport bag.

Post-game drinking. And of course, you should drink water after volleyball games and practices. You should drink as much water as you need after volleyball games or practices.

Actually, the amount of water an athlete has to drink after games or practices largerly depends on the amount of weight he/she has lost. Therefore, the more weight an athlete loses during a day, the more fluids he/she has to drink.

It’s recommended to drink about 16-20 oz of fluids for every pound of weight lost.

Volleyball players should also consume drinks which contain carbohydrate as well as protein and fat. Consuming this type of drink a volleyball player will be able to refuel his/her energy and recover much faster after games or training.

Oftentimes, athletes choose to have the so called post workout meal. Volleyball players usually have this type of meal within 2 hours after matches or workouts. It would be better for a volleyball player to drink additional 16 oz of fluids after they consume post workout meals.

As you probably know, there are different types of drinks. It’s recommended for athletes to drink the certain types of beverages. On the other hand, some types of beverages should be avoided.

What type of drinks volleyball players should drink and what type of drinks they should avoid? Let’s dig deeper into these questions right away!

What Type of Fluids Should Volleyball Players Drink?

It makes a lot of sense for volleyball players to drink beverages that give them energy that they need. Give a preference to the sport drinks that contain 4-8% of carbohydrate.

The drinks of this type help volleyball players perform well on the court during practices and matches. Also, these drinks allow volleyball players to restore after intensive training sessions and hard physical workouts very quickly.

It would be great for athletes to focus on electrolyte drinks. Among the best drinks for volleyball players are: Accelerade, Cytomax, Gatorade, GU2O, Propel Fitness Water and PowerBar Endurance.

Actually, this list could go and on. And of course, volleyball players should never forget about water. Athletes should drink the sufficient amount of water on a regular basis to avoid dehydration.

What Type of Fluids Should Volleyball Players Avoid?

Volleyball players can also drink other types of drinks during a day. For example, athletes can drink tea or coffee before and after volleyball games or practices.

However, it would be better to give a preference to tea. The reality is, coffee dehydrates the human body rather than hydrates it.

The same can be said about drinks which are high in sugar. That’s why drinks like fruit juices and soda should be avoided.

Volleyball players have to be very selective when it comes to picking sport drinks. The fact is that sport drinks contain carbohydrate. This element slows down the process of emptying stomach. Also, sport drinks with high amount of carbohydrate negatively affect athlete’s performance.

Pay close attention to the amount of carbohydrate in sport drinks. Take a look at the food label and check the ingredients of a product carefully. Sport drinks that contain more than 10% of carbohydrate should be avoided.

 

Thank you so much for reading this article. Drink enough water and follow our recommendations to stay healthy and avoid dehydration during games and practices. As always, we wish you the best of luck!