University of Chichester to provide sweat testing for athletes

The University of Chichester’s Sports Performance and Rehabilitation Unit (SPRU) have established a partnership with international sports nutrition company Precision Fuel & Hydration to become an Authorised Sweat Test Centre.

Precision Fuel and Hydration were established in 2011 and have established themselves as the sector leaders in providing hydration guidance support for athletes.

Co-Founder and CEO Andy Blow said: “Our experience tells us that many athletes don’t pay much attention to their sweat loss during exercise. But they should. It's crucial to their performance. Rather incredibly, the amount of sweat and sodium lost during exercise can vary up to 15 times between seemingly similar individuals. Everyone loses a different amount of sodium in their sweat, from as little as 200 mg per litre of sweat, to as much as 2,000 mg per litre. This means that a 'one-size-fits-all', off-the-shelf approach doesn't work when it comes to hydration. At Precision Fuel and Hydration, we utilise Advanced Sweat Testing to provide an accurate reading of the amount of sodium (the key electrolyte lost in sweat) you lose every time you exercise. This is largely genetically determined and it's relatively stable after infancy, and so in most cases you'll only need one test in your life in order to understand an important part of the hydration equation.”

Dr Andy West, a Senior Lecturer in Sport and Exercise Physiology who leads on the physiology testing services delivered by SPRU said, “The partnership with Precision Fuel and Hydration is really exciting and we’re looking forward to the range of opportunities that establishing ourselves as an Authorised Sweat Test Centre will present. Within SPRU, we have an excellent reputation for providing sport science support work to athletes of all levels competing in events in hot climates around the globe including the Marathon des Sables, Spartathlon, Badwater 135 and Ironman world championships in Kona. Adding a sweat testing service to our range of sport science support services is a natural fit and one that we know will be popular amongst endurance athletes in the local area.

“However, it is not just increasing the range of services to athletes that we are excited about, the new laboratory equipment provides a great opportunity for our students to learn new skills and better understand the application of this technology to applied sport and exercise science. We’ve also identified multiple opportunities for research collaborations between Precision Fuel and Hydration and the Institute of Applied Sciences.”

To find out more about the University of Chichester’s Sports Performance and Rehabilitation Centre or to book an Advanced Sweat Test, visit www.chi.ac.uk/spru.