Working up a sweat! Mail Sport’s journalists take on the Gatorade workout challenge in Istanbul – but how does our sweat loss compare to the likes of Erling Haaland and Lionel Messi?
- Mail Sport journalists took on Gatorade’s sweat challenge in Istanbul
- Clubs use Gatorade’s sweat patch to see players’ fluid loss and electrolyte levels
- Erling Haaland and Lionel Messi have done the tests, but how did we compare?
In a sport so often dominated by inches and fine margins, you won’t be surprised to hear that elite football clubs are now measuring sweat levels in a bid to gain an advantage – and Mail Sport went through the same tests the likes of Erling Haaland and Lionel Messi have done.
Manchester City have a long-standing partnership with sports drink giants Gatorade – and one of their products is a sweat patch, which measures key indicators such as fluid loss and electrolyte levels when training.
The results are available immediately after finishing the workout and can inform how much fluid or salts a player must take on after activity. Phil Foden, for example, burns more fat than any City player, so will have a completely different hydration strategy to some team-mates.
With that in mind, Mail Sport played a competitive five-a-side match on the humid pitches of Istanbul, Turkey before the Champions League final to see if we had similar sweat patterns to the likes of Erling Haaland and Gatorade athlete Lionel Messi. Spoiler alert: we did not.
The little patch, no bigger than a couple of inches wide and long, sticks onto the forearm and illuminates with orange colours as you sweat more. It is just one product the GSSI (Gatorade Sports Science Institute) offers City in their partnership.
Mail Sport journalists took on Gatorade’s challenge to work out their sweat patterns
Lewis Steele lost 1,206 milliliters of fluid and 1,070 milligrams of sodium in an hour
Earlier this month, the patches and analysis were offered to young football teams from diverse and multicultural backgrounds around the globe from Asia and South America. The young kids were flown into Istanbul for the Gatorade 5v5 finals.
Mail Sport spent time watching the tournament – the standard was very high, with the kids aged 14 to 16 strutting their stuff with tickets to the Champions League up for grabs for the winning teams (there was one boys’ tournament and another for girls).
After that, it was time to dust off the football boots with the brief of ‘get sweaty’ while having a kickabout with fellow journalists and Gatorade staff. In the 28C heat, that brief was not tricky to fulfill. In fact, just a few cross-field passes in the warm-up were enough.
But anyway, with some chatty Brazilian kids watching on – one called Vinicius and another who could pass as the stunt double of Richarlison – we played an intense match, in which the team of journalists showed a bit of know-how to see out a one-goal victory.
We were soaked in a barrel of Gatorade as we posed for a triumphant picture – one way to nail down the branding – and then it was time for the results.
In just over an hour of workout, it says I lost 1,206 milliliters of fluid and 1,070 milligrams of sodium. Apparently that is slightly above average – but given the humid conditions and the fact it was all worth it for a pleasing win on the pitch, we will take it.
Manchester City use the results from the test to work out diet and fluid plans for their players
A colleague from another publication lost 1,254ml fluid – more than me – but his sodium loss levels were much lower at 776mg.
If I was a professional player for Manchester City, the scientists would analyse this and tailor my diet and fluid plans accordingly.
We then sit down for a chat with PepsiCo chief marketing officer Mark Kirkham, who runs the 5v5 Gatorade tournament, and said it is ‘one of the most special things we do.
‘Covid had a negative effect but we never wanted to let it go, grassroots football is too important. We don’t even sell Gatorade in Turkey but it doesn’t matter, what’s important is that Gatorade is creating opportunities for these kids.’
We were told by Caroline at Gatorade in summary that we were ‘salty and sweaty’ – which I could not disagree with, though I left wondering if she’d say the same to Haaland’s face.
