Hydration
Fatigue can come in 5 forms.
Hydration is one of the 5 possible causes for performance ending fatigue. I.e. you can’t physically go on with your activity.
- You can fail from lack of energy supplies – that is handled by proper nutrition for your body type and genetics
- You can fail from a lack of nervous system resources – this is handled by eating the right kinds of nutrients (especially fats) and the resting and timing your training correctly
- You can fail from an over-increase of body temperature – this is Singapore, get used to it!
- You can fail from a lack of muscular endurance – this is easily improved within a few weeks
- You can fail from lack of hydration – this is totally within your control!
Of all these, hydration is the easiest to fix! So it would be a waste not to take care of it since all it takes is water.
How much and how often?
We all know that you should drink till your urine is clear. That’s a great starting point. In addition, any time you feel thirsty, then its too late, your performance is already suffering. I’d like to take it a step further.
Drink so much that you are constantly going to the bathroom till 2 hours before the test starts. I don’t think there is exact research to substantiate this, but, in my experience with hundreds of athletes and hundreds of competitions, hydrating to this point has never hurt and it has made cramping a very very rare occurrence.
No special drinks, just water. Once you hit 2 hours before the test starts, just sip occasionally. This prevents frequent toilet trips at the test venue.
Research shows that even a 1-2% of bodyweight water loss (600g for a 60kg man) can lead to a 10% decrease in strength and power output. So please drink!
Mental Preparation
When you prepare for the IPPT, not only are you spending weeks or months on physical preparation, you are also conditioning yourself for success. Every time you lift more weight, perfect your starting stance, improve your jump distance, you are conditioning yourself for success.
Not only physically, but also mentally. This conditioning helps you with positive thoughts during the test day. I am a big fan of positive thinking, but positive thinking only works when its built on a foundation of positive actions, and strong preparation beforehand.
If we skip 50% of our training sessions to watch the latest episode of CSI or Desperate Housewives or whatever Korean drama our wife is watching, then all the positive thinking in the world won’t work because our preparation stinks!
By the time test day comes, you should know exactly what you are going to eat, how long before the test you will stop eating and drinking, what your starting stance looks like, how many steps your are going to take in the shuttle run before turning. Stuff like that. That kind of preparation makes positive thinking effective.