Heat stroke guidelines for high school students

New guidelines released by the National Athletic Trainers’ Association for how high-school athletes should get acclimated to the heat in the first few weeks of pre-season practice provide these highlights:

• The first five days of practice should be limited to one practice per day, of not more than three hours.
  
• Athletes should not wear full pads or run full-contact drills until the sixth day of practice.
• On double-practice days, neither practice should be more than three hours long, athletes should not practice for more than five hours total, and the two practices should be separated by a cool-down period of at least three hours.
• During the first two weeks of practice, double-practice days should be followed either by rest days or by single-practice days.