Normative data on regional sweat-sodium concentrations of professional male team-sport athletes

Background: the purpose of this paper was to report normative data on regional sweat sweat-sodium concentrations of various professional male team-sport athletes,and to compare sweat-sodium concentrations among sports. data to this effect would inform our understanding of athlete sodium requirements,thus allowing for the individualisation of sodium replacement strategies. accordingly,data from 696 athletes (soccer,n = 270; rugby,n = 181; baseball,n = 133; american football,n = 60; basketball,n = 52) were compiled for a retrospective analysis. regional sweat-sodium concentrations were collected using the pilocarpine iontophoresis method,and compared to self-reported measures collected via questionnaire. results: sweat-sodium concentrations were significantly higher (p < 0.05) in american football (50.4 ± 15.3 mmol·l-1),baseball (54.0 ± 14.0 mmol·l-1),and basketball (48.3 ± 14.0 mmol·l-1) than either soccer (43.2 ± 12.0 mmol·l-1) or rugby (44.0 ± 12.1 mmol·l-1),but with no differences among the n.american or british sports. there were strong positive correlations between sweat-sodium concentrations and self-reported sodium losses in american football (r s = 0.962,p < 0.001),basketball (r s = 0.953,p < 0.001),rugby (r s = 0.813,p < 0.001),and soccer (r s = 0.748,p < 0.001). conclusions: the normative data provided on sweat-sodium concentrations might assist sports science/medicine practitioners in generating bespoke hydration and electrolyte-replacement strategies to meet the sodium demands of professional team-sport athletes. moreover,these novel data suggest that self-reported measures of sodium loss might serve as an effective surrogate in the absence of direct measures; i.e.,those which are more expensive or non-readily available. © 2017 the author(s).