Stay hydrated in the heat with these tips from the Regina Rams’ coach

With temperatures expected to get up to 34 C in the Queen City heading into the August long weekend, it’s a constant battle for anyone to keep cool and hydrated.

But for athletes training out in the heat, it’s vitally important.

“A lot of it is what you do before practice — the night before, and the morning of,” said Mark McConkey, head coach of the Regina Rams football team.

“It’s not just about drinking water, Gatorade, Powerade during practice, because by the time practice time hits if you’re just chugging water, it’s almost too late. Your muscles, your body, (are) already dehydrated,” said McConkey.

It also matters what type of liquid you drink.

“Stay away from things like coffee .. that dehydrate you,” he said.

McConkey said water breaks are very important.

“We get a lot of hot practices in August. We just give the players … more frequent breaks to make sure they’re dunking their head in the water, drinking water, whatever they need to do just to stay cool,” he said.

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McConkey said the team’s training model helps give players longer rest periods.

“It’s the CFL power practice model. Old school football way is doing like the two-a-days, where you go two two-hour practices. Ever since we switched to this model, they’re a bit of a longer practice. It’s about three hours, with a break in there, but the players get longer recovery,” he said.

“There’s no warming up, cooling down, (and then) warming up again in the same day. Just the amount of recovery our guys have been able to do physically has saved us a lot of soft tissue injuries throughout training camp,” said McConkey.

McConkey said the Rams implemented the training model in 2016, and have adapted it throughout the years.

“I would say (there’s) definitely less cramping, definitely less soft tissue injuries (with the new model). You’re gonna have injuries but a lot of them are contact injuries. So, for the soft tissue injuries, it’s been really big for us,” he said.

“In this model, we go kind of like two heavy days on … and then the next day it’s like a recovery day. So, we do like a pool recovery, yoga, whatever it might be … We’re still moving forward mentally … but it’s not a physical practice.”

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• People turn to Wascana Lake in midst of summer heat
• Heat and water, Expert urges extra watering for plants, trees
• Changes made at Saskatchewan Summer Games due to heat, smoke