Dehydration and over-hydration are of concern across the entire continuum of sports, from the top professional ranks, through collegiate and high school sports, to weekend-warriors. Numerous studies have shown that maintenance of an optimal level of fluid balance plays an important role in ensuring health, safety and peak physical performance. The National Athletic Trainers Association (NATA) reports that extended exercise with a 2.5% loss in body weight results in a 35-48% deterioration in physical work capacity - significant when one considers that a body weight loss of 4-5% for an athlete in a basketball game is not unusual. NATA's position statement on fluid replacement for athletes calls for individualized hydration protocols which include the quantitative assessment of hydration status. The American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) has also issued a position stand related to hydration, which in part describes the beneficial role of quantitative assessment. Athletes simply perform better, and recover more quickly, when they are properly hydrated. There is broad agreement among experts that athletes benefit greatly from careful attention to hydration status before, during and after the intense physical activity of a practice, workout or game.
Cantimer’s easy to operate, accurate, non-invasive, point-of-care device will help address unmet challenges and unrealized opportunities related to the management of hydration status for athletes of all levels.