New study of salts in PWHL players’ sweat aims to help them hydrate better

New research seeks to help current and future female hockey players achieve their highest potential by examining the sweat patterns of athletes in professional women’s hockey leagues.

As part of the Gatorade Sports Science Institute study, nearly 100 PWHL players – including athletes from each of Canada’s four teams – will be tested to see how much they sweat during practice and games, and how much salt is in that sweat.

Each player will receive their individual results, and can use that data to fine-tune how they hydrate this season, said Dr. Lawrence Spruit, the exercise physiologist who led the study.

“The analogy I often use is that no player in ice hockey will go on the ice if their skates aren’t sharpened to their liking, or they don’t have the stick they like, or their equipment doesn’t fit properly,” said Spruit, professor emeritus of human health sciences at the University of Guelph.

“Why would you go out on the ice without knowing what your hydration needs are, and also what your nutrition is? The hydration and nutrition part of it is a little harder to handle, so that’s the importance of these sweat tests.”

Montreal Victoire forward Marie-Philippe Poulin said she has been sweat tested before and found the results useful — especially in situations like the four-overtime playoff battle her team faced in May.

Athletes do everything they can to improve their game, he said, and a personalized hydration plan should be part of that.

“For me personally, I’m getting a little older and you want to find that edge, you want to find that extra 0.01 percent to make sure you’re ready to go,” the Canadian superstar said.

Players were weighed before and after practice and games.

The sweat test is based on body mass, and before practice or a game a player is weighed without his equipment and with an empty bladder. Everything they put into their body is tracked during the session, with both the amount and type of fluid recorded.

At the end of practice or a game, they will be weighed again to determine how much they have sweated.

When an athlete loses at least 1.5 percent of his body weight through sweat — about a liter for an athlete weighing 70 to 75 kilograms — his performance can be reduced, Spruit said.

Their muscles may also not work or their decision-making ability may be reduced.

The most important thing for an athlete is fluids, he said, but looking at the composition of a player’s sweat also gives team support staff a better idea of ​​what that athlete needs in their water bottle on the bench.

“We’re trying to keep them hydrated, we’re trying to replenish some of the salt they’ve lost, and we’re trying to deliver some carbohydrates into the body to help keep them sharp closer to the end of a game or practice,” Spruitt said.

Findings to become part of larger ‘database on hydration experiences’

In addition to individual player results, broader findings will also be included in a larger study by the Gatorade Sports Science Institute. That research already involves about 300 to 400 athletes at the highest levels of several other sports, Spruit said.

“What they’re really trying to do is create a database on the needs of hydration experiences and habits for a wide range of male or female professional athletes,” he said.

Similar data already exists for male athletes, and research designed for women is important, said Jenna Hayford, the PWHL’s executive vice president of hockey operations.

She said, “We’ve all really tried to perform and live up to the research that’s not typically specific to women. I think we find that even outside of sports.” “So, this type of study, I think it shows Gatorade’s commitment to growing with us and moving forward with the sport and uplifting women, female athletes.”

The study comes as the popularity of women’s sports continues to grow across North America.

The PWHL is adding two new teams this season – the Vancouver GoldenEyes and Seattle Torrents – and the WNBA will get its first Canadian franchise next year in the Toronto Tempos.

“When you look at the prominence of female sports and athletes, it’s hard to imagine that there has only been (very little) research on women who have been performing at high levels over a long period of time,” Hefford said.

“So it’s exciting to think about where the game could go, and especially for our league and our athletes, how their performance could be impacted as we continue to invest in them.”