How do Arizona football players practice safely in the heat?

With the temperature routinely over triple digits, football players and high school athletes in Arizona are having to be smart with their off-season workouts.

While so much focus during the offseason for football players is injury prevention, in particular concussions, there are other concerns as well. Practicing and playing in the heat in one of the hottest places in the United States is certainly a challenge.

But it is a challenge that Arizona and other states are attempting to take on.

Some football programs are doing their offseason workouts indoors, with the plan to gradually acclimate to outdoor practice. This is one common sense way for athletes to train in the heat of summer.

And when formal practice starts for programs in late August, there are protocols in place from the Arizona Interscholastic Association (AIA). AZCentral reports that the rules in place attempt to limit the exposure of athletes to extreme temperatures:

“For the first five days of formal practices, there can only be one practice a day. Practice time shouldn’t exceed more than three hours in one day. In addition to the practice, a one-hour maximum walk-through is permitted during the first five days. Walk-throughs are defined as having no contact with other individuals and without sleds, dummies, or shields.”

These are solid protocols not just for Arizona, but for any part of the country where extreme temperatures can peak in August.

Dr. Jimmy Nguyen, the medical director at Dignity Health Mercy Gilbert Medical Center (Gilbert, Arizona), said that being smart while training in the heat is important.

And there is plenty of heat forecasted for Arizona, with 116 degrees expected in Phoenix on Saturday.

Avoiding practice between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m., Nguyen said, is important as those are peak temperature times. Hydration is important and not just during practice.

Proper hydration should begin 24 hours before an outdoor activity in the heat to prevent cramping and injury.

“The biggest signs for heat exhaustion is people will start having increased thirst, they’ll start feeling nauseous, getting headache, feeling weakness and fatigue,” Nguyen said according to AZCentral.

“During that time, people need to loosen up their clothing, go to a cooler area, drink water. If those symptoms don’t improve, they need to seek medical attention. Things we worry about when they progress to heat stroke is when they get confusion, whether they become unresponsive. That’s a medical emergency and they need to come to the emergency department immediately.”