"Preparing for Long PoGo Days: A D1 athlete's guide for taking care of your body and not becoming injured or heat sick."

#PokemonGO: Yesterday a group of regulars in my city had gathered to take down a Lugia. While waiting for others to arrive one gentlemen informed me he had fought somewhere in the ballpark of 15 raids yesterday and walked for egg hatches. He went on to tell me he had to go to the hospital due to exhaustion, dehydration, and fatigue. This got me thinking, hey I have some knowledge in this area and trainers could really benefit from it. I played Division 1 tennis for my university and we competed in 2-3 hour matches, multiple matches a day, at sweltering heats between 80-100 degrees air temperature and 115-120 degrees Fahrenheit on court temperature. Here are some tips for taking better care of yourself in these types of temperatures:Tip 1: Water. Water is the source to preventing dehydration, heat sickness, injured joints, muscles, tenons, etc. However dehydration begins to occur days before. If you haven't been drinking enough water the previous 2-3 days the chance of heat exhaustion becomes more likely. How much water you ask? On a typical day you are suppose to drink half of your body weight in ounces. For some people this can be unattainable, so I suggest between 60-80 ounces everyday. However, this is purely what you "should" be drinking devoid of any physical activity. Add 10 ounces/1 hour of physical activity.Tip 2: How to become hydrated quicker? Drink gatorade. Water clings to the glucose in gatorade which is absorbed into your body much faster than water can do on it's own. So having 1 bottle of gatorade can expedite this process of hydration.Tip 3: Food. It's a universal rule that eating excess fatty, high sodium, basic carbs(sugars & starches) are not healthy for the body. If you are spending an entire day outside and adding the component of physical activity it's like adding oil to your vehicle's gasoline tank. It's eventually going to fail. Eating complex carbs(greens, fruits, vegetables), protein, and multigrain breads can get your body on track.Tip 4: How to temporarily fuel your body quicker? This may seem contradictory, but salty, potassium and electrolyte rich foods can give quick bursts of energy. Saltine crackers, pickles, bananas. This is the trick to pushing your body past it's normal limit, but this is all assuming you eat relatively healthy as defined in Tip 3.Tip 5: It's hotter than you think. The majority of PoGo players are on pavement (sorry rural trainers). The asphalt and concrete absorbs and reflects the heat. As I mentioned in the introduction, on-court temperatures increase somewhere in the range of 15-30 degrees Fahrenheit due to this effect. The same principle applies to walking on pavement. Even if the pavement is in the shade if it was at some point in direct sunlight it has absorbed and is still reflecting the heat. Avoid direct sunlight as much as possible and stay in the shade.Tip 6: Clothing is key. However, less clothing isn't exactly key. Sweat, as you know is the body's natural cooling process. While it may be a nuisance it is vital. Wearing clothes that wick away sweat aren't ideal except for your feet, because sweat will cause blisters on them. Wear clothing on your arms and legs that can absorb sweat and remain cool and airy. (example) This will aide in the body's natural cooling process. Wear a bandana, headband, or straw hat to apply the same principles to the head. Wear as much white as possible. White colored clothes reflect heat rather than absorb it. Wearing dark colored clothing will make getting overheated much easier.Tip 7: Sunblock. I'm not going to explain this.TL:DR: Drink water,(gatorade helps) eat right(salty, potassium and electrolyte rich foods for quick energy), it's hotter than you think, wear white clothes, use sunblock. Seriously, read the details. They matter.Edit: Wow this is has turned into a wonderful discussion. Thanks /u/ExhaustScum for the suggestion on shoes and /u/HalifaxSamuels on the frozen grapes idea. To clarify when to drink and when not to drink gatorade. Gatorade at its most basic level is glorified, well marketed, sugar water. If you are hydrated there is little to no benefit of drinking gatorade. If your body doesn't use the glucose, aka sugar, aka carbohydrate as a source of energy it will most likely store it as fat. There are other variables such as metabolism, and specific health conditions such as diabetes that contribute to how this whole process works in regards to what your body has the ability to metastasize. The exact point of when you should or shouldn't drink gatorade is completely contingent on the individual. If your mouth is dry, or your pee is really yellow, this is a possible indication you are not properly hydrated and would benefit from the consumption of Gatorade. [Here is a great documentary about Gatorade].(http://ift.tt/2uH9a9H) It gives some insight into how it actually works and benefits hydration. via /r/TheSilphRoad http://ift.tt/2h6AA5y