At the 1954 British Empire and Commonwealth Games, record-breaking long distance runner Jim Peters ran a marathon while refusing to drink any water. Although it sounds unusual today, he and athletes around the world believed that not consuming liquid during races was a beneficial habit that would reduce sluggishness and cramps. Towards the end of the race, dehydration led Peters to struggle and eventually collapse on the track. Peters suffered permanent damage from the day’s purposeful dehydration, and he never ran a marathon again.
While many athletes and coaches now know that water isn’t something that should be avoided, there are still many myths and misconceptions that plague high school athletes. In fact, many people now believe that athletes are taking hydration too seriously, thinking that fancy electrolytes and sports drinks are unnecessary. Taking electrolytes through sports drinks, or through powder packets, can actually be much more beneficial than people think. These added electrolytes help load your body with essential minerals such as sodium, which in turn help your body cool down and stay properly hydrated if exercising for more than 60 minutes at a time.
It’s not just electrolytes that often get a bad reputation, as many foods are seen as junk food or villainized in the sports world. Chocolate milk is often avoided by athletes watching their diet because it’s seen as an unhealthy junk food with too much sugar. In reality, according to the National Institutes of Health (NIH), chocolate milk has an ideal 4:1 mix of carbs and protein, which are important to athletes by helping repair tired muscles and refuel energy after a workout.
There are similar stigmas against foods like rice crispy treats and fruit snacks, which are often seen as unhealthy or candy-like. While they aren’t the most nutritionally beneficial food, small snacks can be one of the best pregame or pre-workout snacks because they give fast energy and are easy on the stomach, while also being quick and convenient.
Beyond misconceptions about food, athletes are often given misleading information about one of the most important topics to sports: stretching and injury prevention. One of the most common myths is that static stretching (holding fixed positions) helps the body get warmed up before a workout. Before working out, the Cleveland Clinic recommends athletes to focus on dynamic stretching which involves active movements like leg swings and arm circles.
Static stretching is still beneficial for after work outs by increasing flexibility and short term muscle tension, but unlike what many people think, doesn’t help you feel less sore the next day. The soreness felt 12-24 hours after hard or new exercise is called delayed onset soreness and is caused by microscopic tears in muscle fibers that occur during a workout. Although static stretching can temporarily reduce stiffness, according to the NIH, tiny muscle tears are not something that static stretching helps prevent. In order to reduce delayed soreness, players are instead recommended to focus on light exercise which increases blood flow and quality sleep that gives the body time to repair.
If an injury ever does come up, a common mistake that is made is to “push through the pain.” Although this might be tempting in many situations, pushing through unnatural pain often leads to much more severe injuries.
Similarly, over training should also be avoided; rest days are required to allow the body to build muscle, heal, and balance stress hormones.
With all of the information out there, whether that be from teammates or coaches, some of it is bound to be false.
It is important to fact check information by researching on one’s own and looking online for credible sources. Believing in a sports myth that isn’t true can bring down an athletes performance and impact their ability to play their best game.