Role of Environment in Sports and Games By Dr. Titto Cherian & Manju Unnikrishnan

 

Role of Environment in Sports and Games

¹Dr. Titto Cherian,²Manju Unnikrishnan

tittocherian@gmail.com, manjumanoj2016@gmail.com,

1, Associate Professor of Physical Education, Patriarch Ignatius Zakka I Training College,

Puthencruz, M. G University, Kerala, INDIA

2. Professor, Department of Physiotherapy, Little Flower institute of Medical sciences&

Research centre, Ankamali, Kerala

Abstract

            Preparing for competition requires physical and mental training, proper nutrition, and recovery. It is also essential to understand your competition and how each athlete fits within the team dynamics. These factors, for the most part, are all factors that can be controlled. Then there are factors such as the temperature, allergens, pollution and altitude that cannot be controlled and can have serious effects on human performance. (Borresen, 2008) Environmental factors such as temperature during competition can hinder performance if not taken seriously. When it is too cold or too hot, adults perform less physical activity, resulting in more sedentary lifestyles. This reduction is mostly due to the nature of adult physical activity: the vast majority of exercise-related physical activity occurs outdoors. When it is too cold or too hot to go outdoors – for a walk, a jog, or to garden – many simply forgo physical activity entirely. To reduce the risk of injury and poor performance, athletes have to do a proper warm up, wear the appropriate clothing and stay properly hydrated. In very hot and or humid temperatures, hydrating becomes extremely important. (Lane, 2004)

Keywords: Environment, Temperature, Hydrate, Allergens, Pollution

INTRODUCTION

            Daily physical activity is an important and deciding factor of health, even too many people found to be inactive. It is all the more important to find the causes of barriers of greater participation is necessary to overcome this issue. Among various causes, weather found to be as a perceived barrier to participation in physical activity, but exactly which adverse weather conditions are most important, and the extent to which they contribute to decreases in physical activity have rarely been quantified in populations. Limited studies have used publicly available databases to examine the quantitative effects of weather on physical activity in children, adolescents and adults (Humpel, 2002).

Variations due to outside factors

            Many outside factors affect the measured temperature as well. "Normal" values are generally given for an otherwise healthy, non-fasting adult, dressed comfortably, indoors, in a room that is kept at a normal room temperature (22.7 to 24.4 °C or 73 to 76 °F), during the morning, but not shortly after arising from sleep..

            Temperature is increased after eating or drinking anything with calories. Exercise raises body temperatures. In adults, a noticeable increase usually requires strenuous exercise or exercise sustained over a significant time. Children develop higher temperatures with milder activities, like playing.

            The average body temperature is 37°C (98.6°F). In cool and warm weather, wearing the appropriate gear to be able to perform at a high level is necessary. For example, when playing soccer during the month of December in Kerala, there is a good chance it will be cold. For athletes, cooling off using wet sponges and wearing breathable clothing can minimize overheating. Athletes with allergies or those who have respiratory issues can see a decrease in performance due to environmental factors such as high pollen count or poor air quality. Understanding the air quality and pollen count of the competition and training venues is important as this can enable athletes to limit their exposure by training when the counts are low, or taking the proper precautions during mandatory field times. Of the environmental factors affecting physical activity rates, temperature plays a noteworthy role (Nimmo, 2005).

                High altitude can create disadvantages for athletes who are not acclimatized to the higher elevation. For endurance athletes, high altitude can create limitations to training due to their inability to train as intensely as they would at sea level. At such high elevations, the air is thinner, meaning that there is less oxygen. There is also the likelihood of loss of appetite, which could lead to weight loss and compromised recovery times (Wilber, 2001).

Environmental factors, if not anticipated, can give rise to:

·         Dehydration, heat stroke, hyperthermia and frostbite due to changes in temperature 

·         Difficulty breathing in places with high pollen counts and poor air quality.

·         Altitude sickness, weight loss, loss of appetite at high altitude.

            Despite of everything the environmental factors, and unless told otherwise, most athletes will train and compete under most conditions. One factor to help mitigate poor performance is acclimatization. Getting your athletes used to the environmental conditions they will compete in can be advantageous since they can adapt to the conditions and as such, these conditions will not be a surprise to the athletes. Both the player and coaching staff have to understand and prepare for the adverse environmental factors that might hinder an athlete’s ability to perform at peak shape (Wilber, 2001).  Having a proper plan to anticipate environmental conditions is an advantage to the athletes and team performance. Though many environmental factors cannot be controlled, doing your homework beforehand can help limit the potentially negative effect on performance. Having proper equipment and gear, acclimatizing to the conditions by training in comparable conditions, and understanding how the environment will affect the athletes provide a crucial advantage to athletes hoping to compete at their best (Rundell, 2012).

Conclusion

            In the past decade, the ability to objectively measure both physical activity and correlate it with weather events has furthered our understanding of how the natural environmental can have an impact on activity and, potentially, on human health. Different strategies have been used to monitor the physical activity of individuals versus populations. Weather information is now readily obtainable from data repositories available from national weather services, which is often easily accessed on the internet, and can be correlated with physical activity in real time. To date, the number of published studies is small but in general the data confirm the perception that precipitation has the largest correlation with physical activity. This correlation is generally negative but snow may, in fact, increase physical activity in men. In addition to gender, body mass index, socioeconomic status, the purpose of the activity and the age of those observed have been identified as potential contributing factors. Epidemiologists should control for season and weather because they significantly affect physical activity in a variety of populations. Furthermore, all of the reports to date have been observational studies; thus, causation is inferred but not proven. (Catherine, 2009)

References

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