Champions Institute Topics: Improving Safety and Performance in Extreme Heat

Challenging climates are a constant for competitive athletes, first responders, and outdoor workers. In extreme conditions, understanding and preventing heat-related illness and optimizing performance are increasingly critical.

Topic: Thermoregulation and Hydration 

Types of Athletes Involved: Competitive, Tactical, and Operational 

Problem

Heat-related illness is a serious public health challenge affecting competitive athletes, soldiers, first responders, outdoor workers, and others, particularly those who perform in extreme environments, who must wear personal protective equipment that traps body heat, or who lack consistent access to proper hydration. These conditions increase physical strain and elevate the risk of dangerous heat stress. 

Solution

This research improves guidance on how people can better maintain proper hydration and how they should modify activity levels in hot conditions. It is also testing new tools that help track how the body responds to heat and hydration. Looking ahead, the work aims to create "digital twin” models that combine wearable devices, weather conditions, and health information to help prevent heat-related illness before it becomes dangerous. 

Impact

Together, these efforts are shaping heat illness policy and prevention strategies for athletes of all types, improving safety and performance in hot and humid environments.  

Studies have refined hydration and activity guidelines and tested novel devices to monitor heat stress and hydration in real time.

Future efforts are advancing a digital twin model that combines wearable technology, environmental data, and healthcare interventions to support individualized prevention strategies. This work not only improves safety and performance during training and competition but also informs policy and operational planning for organizations responsible for personnel working in hot, high-stress environments.

Publications

• Effects of Field Position on Fluid Balance and Electrolyte Losses in Collegiate Women's Soccer Players. Medicina (Kaunas). 2020 Sep 24;56(10).
• NCAA Division I American football players with sickle cell trait have altered hematological responses and hydration status. Sci Rep. 2021 Jan 19;11(1):1844.
• Positional Differences in Pre-Season Scrimmage Performance of Division I Collegiate Football Players. Sensors (Basel). 2021 Jan 24;21(3).
• Free-living, continuous hypo-hydration, and cardiovascular response to exercise in a heated environment.  Physiol Rep 2018 Apr 6(8):e13672.
• Effect of preexercise soup ingestion on water intake and fluid balance during exercise in the heat.  Int J Sport Nutr Exerc Metab. 2013 Jun;23(3):21.        
• Effect of pre-exercise electrolyte ingestion on fluid balance in men and women. Med. Sci. Sports Exerc. 2009;41(11): 2017-2025.
• Effects of a Portable Fan on Physiological and Cognitive Responses During Exercise in the Heat.  Med Sci Sports Exerc; Atlanta, GA, 2025.
• Intra-individual variability in sweat responses of Division I football players during fall training camp.  Med Sci Sports Exerc; Boston, Massachusetts, 2024.
• Exploratory data analysis of training load metrics in division I football players.  Med Sci Sports Exerc; Boston, Massachusetts, 2024
• Effect of beverage consumption on cardiovascular and resting metabolic responses to post-exercise dehydration.  Med Sci Sports Exerc; Denver, Colorado, 2023.
• nfluence of hydration status on running performance in high school cross country runners. Med Sci Sports Exerc; May 2020.

Key Partners / Funders

LSU Athletics, DOD (SBIR), BRFD, Coca-Cola, Body Armor, Vivonics, ExxonMobil, Legion, and Tigeraire 

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