Anyone who's played GAA underage will have undoubtedly had at least one manager yap on to them about how important drinking enough water throughout the day is. 'Three litres a day, lads!' was the usual demand but the response was varied.
Some would pay absolutely no heed to the manager while others would seem to spend the majority of their day sauntering through the school corridors with a refillable water bottle in hand, as if it was some sort of prize trophy.
It turns out the bottle flaunters were definitely onto something.
This week we welcomed Cleanmarine For Men ambassador and former Dublin footballer Alan Brogan into studio for our GAA podcast The Hard Shoulder and he highlighted just how seriously the Dublin management took hydration. In fact, for him, it was always one of the most important aspects of nutrition.
It was more of a lesson for guys that you'd better be hydrated the next time you come...
Hydration is a huge thing I found over the years and when you weren't properly hydrated that could really affect your performance. I can remember Pat Gilroy and Jim Gavin actually used to do hydration tests and if you missed the required levels you were sent in from training to get yourself hydrated.
When you break down what has driven Dublin's success over the last decade, it doesn't seem to be one big thing but a thousand little innovations and hydration testing is a perfect example. The immense level of detail in the management's preparation quickly rubbed off on the players. As Brogan pointed out, even now that he's retired from county football, the lessons he was taught stick with him.
You build these habits over the years and it just becomes ingrained. When I'm in work or whatever I just go for water naturally now or if I'm getting a snack I'll generally have a healthy one.
Having played intercounty football for nearly 15 years, Brogan has lived through a huge evolution in terms of training and nutrition.
Back in 2002 there was an emphasis on good food but I suppose back then it was loads of carbohydrates and eating as much carbohydrates as you could but then it developed into proteins as the important thing now to replenish muscles after training. Protein powders became very big but I think it's tapered down a little bit.
There's no question, it has become more and more important every year, and obviously there are different fads that come out every year but I just like to keep it simple, stay hydrated, have a multivitamin with Omega 3, and plenty of fruit and veg. Good food, it's not rocket science.
You check out Alan's full interview from our Facebook Live below, on our podcast on iTunes here or on all good android podcasting apps..
