Tips for Student Athletes To Avoid Heat Stroke

This week's weather has been (and continues to be) particularly brutal for those who work or play outdoors. If you must be outside in this heat/humidity wave, make sure you take frequent breaks and drink plenty of water.

It's about this time of year that young high school athletes begin to prepare for upcoming seasons. It might be worth reminding your children or their coach about practical safety issues. The National Athletic Trainer's Association has four good common sense tips to keep the young people safe and healthy during practice:

• The first five days of practice should be limited to one practice per day, of not more than three hours.
• Athletes should not wear full pads or run full-contact drills until the sixth day of practice.
• On double-practice days, neither practice should be more than three hours long, athletes should not practice for more than five hours total, and the two practices should be separated by a cool-down period of at least three hours.
• During the first two weeks of practice, double-practice days should be followed either by rest days or by single-practice days.

HT: The Wall Street Journal