Background: fluid intake before, during and after exercise is the most important way to replace water lost during exercise and avoid dehydration.
Aim: to assess fluid intake habits before, during and after exercise in amateur basketball players on both training and competition days.
Methods: one hundred and eighty-three amateur basketball players (87 women and 96 men, 19-29 years old) were interviewed. Data was obtained from a drinking habits questionnaire.
Results: overall, 20.8%, 5.5% and 2.7% of subjects did not drink before, during and after exercise on training days, respectively; 17.5% of subjects did not drink before exercise on competition days. Water was the preferred beverage before, during and after exercise on both training and competition days, with fruit juice being the second most consumed beverage before exercise. All subjects also drank fizzy drinks and other beverages during exercise on competition days. According to the recommendations, good hydration habits were found in 54.6%, 74.2% and 76.5% of subjects before, during and after training days, respectively.
Conclusions: most amateur basketball players drink before, during and after exercise on both training and competition days, but not all of them complied with the hydration recommendations.