CrossFit Participants And Collegiate Athletes Exhibit Consistent Differences In Hydration Parameters

Document Type

Conference Presentation

Department

Health, Exercise, and Sport Sciences Department

Conference Title

American Physical Therapy Association Combined Sections Meeting

Organization

American Physical Therapy Association

Location

San Diego, CA

Date of Presentation

9-1-2022

DOI

10.1249/01.mss.0000877416.35465.2b

Volume

54

Issue

9S

First Page

188

Abstract

Collegiate athletics programs and CrossFit facilities are environments that are associated with intense, competitive, and highly structured resistance training. Although the characteristics of stress are unique to each setting, maintenance of hydration is important to the health and performance of both exercising populations. PURPOSE: To examine differences in hydration parameters between Division I collegiate athletes and consistent CrossFit participants. METHODS: We scanned 288 women (28.5% athletes) and 244 men (13.1% athletes) using the InBody 770 bioelectrical impedance analyzer (InBody USA, Cerritos, CA). There were 7 women's sports and 6 men's sports represented. We used coarsened exact matching to generate subsamples that were matched for sex, age, and bodyweight; 96 subjects were retained (48 Division I athletes, 48 CrossFit members). This was considered the study sample. Multiple linear regression models, holding height and body fat percent constant, tested for differences in total body water (TBW), intracellular water (ICW), and extracellular water (ECW). Significance was set at p < 0.05. RESULTS: Across the study sample, subject age was 21.7 ± 3.1 yr, height was 68.2 ± 4.0 in, weight was 169.8 ± 28.0 lb, body fat percent was 20.4 ± 10.0%, TBW was 98.4 ± 18.7 lb, ICW was 62.2 ± 12.0 lb, and ECW was 36.2 ± 6.7 lb. Holding constant height and body fat percent, linear regression revealed CrossFit participants to have an additional 8.2 lb of TBW (p < 0.001; 95% CI: 3.8 to 12.6); the overall model was significant (p < 0.001; r2 = 0.754). Assessment of individual fluid compartments revealed CrossFit participants to have 5.3 lb more ICW (p = 0.001; 95% CI: 2.3 to 8.2) and 2.9 lb more ECW (p < 0.001; 95% CI: 1.4 to 4.4). Both models were significant (p < 0.001; ICW r2 = 0.735; ECW r2 = 0.781). CONCLUSIONS: After matching samples for sex, age, and bodyweight, and holding height and body fat percent constant, CrossFit participants emerged with significantly higher values in TBW, ICW, and ECW. Although universities generally employ supervisory staff to monitor athlete training, our results indicate that competitive athletes may be less hydrated than other exercising populations. More focus on hydration practices may be warranted at the collegiate level.

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