Young kids can lose 1.5 quarts of water through perspiration because of the intense physical activity combined with the extreme heat. There are many ways to reduce the risks to young athletes. Parents and coaches need to know the signs of a child's dehydrated body and take the required action to prevent the harmful conditions of a dehydrated body. Not only can a limited performance of the game occur but can also lead to serious injury. Thirst, fatigue, dizziness and nausea are the most common signs of dehydration.

Lift weights to gain lean muscle mass. Work each muscle group on your body two to three times per week through a combination of resistance methods, such as weight machines, barbells and dumbbells. The main muscle groups are as follows: legs and glutes, core, chest, back, shoulders and arms.

Q: I exercise on a regular basis, at least five to six days a week, consisting of mostly cardio with weight-lifting on three of those days. However, I have heard that too much cardio can be bad for you. Is this true? If so, how much time should be spent on cardio? A: "You'd have to do an awful lot to do too much, to hurt your heart," says Dr. William Roberts, a past-president of the American College of Sports Medicine. "Most people aren't exercising enough to worry about this." New exercise guidelines released earlier this year by the ACSM and the American Heart Association encourage people to get at least 30 minutes of moderate-intensity cardiovascular exercise, such as brisk walking, five days a week or at least 20 minutes of more intense cardio, such as jogging, three times a week. The guidelines also call for strength-training on at least two days.

Exercise and athletic training allow you to grow because of controlled stress to your body. When exercise is too frequent and intense, or you neglect recovery, overtraining syndrome occurs. When overtrained, your body can no longer recover from exercise-induced stress as easily, leading to poor performance and fatigue. To recover from overtraining, take a break, get some quality rest and eat a healthy diet. Stop training for a period of time. The required duration of rest depends on how long you have been overtraining. According to Dr. Mark Jenkins of Rice University, overtraining for a few weeks can be corrected by taking three to five days off. More severe overtraining may require a few weeks of rest for you to recover fully.

There are several factors to consider when programming strength training for young athletes. - 1. Central Nervous System Maturity - The true argument with respect to children and weight lifting should not be based on the maturity (or in this case immaturity) of the child's muscular system, but rather the advancement of the child's CNS. Within proper application of load, volume and intensity, a child's muscular system will not be compromised by weight training activities. However, a lack of motor control (a function of the CNS) will affect the child's ability to perform weight-training exercises safely. It is therefore the maturity of the CNS that is the ultimate determining factor. 2. Cross Section Of Muscle - A larger muscle infers a greater strength potential. While hypertrophy of this sort is not hormonally possible with pre-adolescent athletes, this fact is why I advocate that early adolescent athletes train with hypertrophy-based responses in mind. 3. Biological Maturity - Biological age, unlike a child's chronological age, is not actually visible. Biological age is based in large part to the "physiological development of the various organs and systems in the body" (Bompa, 2000). For example, the adequate development of bone, the efficiency of the heart and lungs to transport oxygen; these are examples of items that comprise biological age. This becomes important when determining the volume or intensity of the training program for the young athlete. 4. Hormonal Issues - Androgenic (muscle building) hormones are low in pre-adolescent athletes. This means that hypertrophy-based responses are all but impossible. Strength gains are however, very possible. 5. Technical Issues - Providing a proper foundation of the technical merits of strength training is paramount when working with youngsters.