Eighth International Conference on Health, Wellness & Society

Abstract

The IRB approved research project was funded by the Southern Arkansas University Research Committee. Over a three-year period of time athletes from football, volleyball, and men’s and women’s basketball were randomly selected to participated the research investigation. During each practice session three sweat samples were collected. The samples were collected after the initial warm up, at the mid-point of practice and at the termination of practice after the team conditioning work. The samples were collected each day for ten (10) consecutive days. After the two weeks of preseason practice, the samples were collected weekly. The collection took place on the day the coach conducted their mostly physically exhausting in-season practice. The three electrolytes that were measured include: Sodium (Na), Potassium (K), and Calcium (Ca). The athletes’ spines were cleaned with an alcohol gauze pad before each practice. Sterile swabs were swiped from hip to scapula and back to hip. The swabs were sealed and frozen until analysis was conducted in the Natural Resource Research Center and electrolytes (Na, K, Ca) were measured to mg/L. Using SPSS software, the authors will present the findings.