Louisiana State University (LSU) has a powerhouse college football program, known for a passionate fan base and a history of producing elite players and memorable seasons. Located in Baton Rouge, LA, LSU football contends with extreme temperature and humidity during training camp. As such, these conditions made for a prime relationship with Nix.
Competing in the SEC (Southeastern Conference), LSU has won multiple national championships, with recent ones in 2007, 2011, and 2019. LSU's home games are played at Tiger Stadium, often called "Death Valley," renowned for its intimidating atmosphere, loud noise, and electric fans. In 2015, The Bleacher Report called it the toughest college football stadiums to play in.
Legendary players that have emerged from the LSU football program include Joe Burrow, Ja’Marr Chase, Justin Jefferson, and most recently #2 overall pick in 2024, Jayden Daniels. Throughout its storied history, LSU has had 326 players drafted into the NFL.
LSU's football training camp is known for its intense, structured, and high-tech environment, designed to prepare players for the rigorous SEC season. The twenty day camp takes place at Charles McClendon Practice Facility which includes the LSU Football Operations Center, an indoor practice facility and multiple outdoor practice fields.
To adjust to the conditions, football players go through a heat acclimation process whereby each day they increase either the time spent practicing outdoors or the level of equipment worn in those settings. Baton Rouge summers are known for intense heat and humidity, making camp conditions challenging. Average daily high temperatures for August 2024 were consistently 90°F and above. LSU schedules practices early in the morning or later in the evening to avoid the hottest part of the day, while the indoor field allows training to continue in extreme weather.
Annually, the media is littered with gut-wrenching stories of young athletes who experienced heat-related illness, resulting in death. AP news reports, that at least 58 players have died from exertional heat stroke between 1992 and 2024, according to the Korey Stringer Institute at the University of Connecticut, and thousands more are sickened each year. Measures can be taken to minimize heat related illnesses by adjusting practice times, level of equipment, utilizing indoor facilities, developing a heat acclimation plan, having adequate hydration, access to cooling equipment and zones and more.
Matt Frakes, Assistant Athletic Director of Sports Nutrition at LSU, identified the need to better monitor the sweat and electrolyte losses of football players to ensure athlete safety and performance. “Our team is training and competing in high heat and oppressive humidity for a good portion of each season. We got to a point where the threat of increasingly warmer temperatures affecting the safety and performance of our athletes was becoming a real concern,” says Frakes, PhD, RD, CSCS, and registered dietitian nutritionist. He leads the strategic nutrition direction for the LSU football program. By partnering with Nix Biosensors, Frakes was able to serve as one of the pilot testers of Nix Pro, the group monitoring app.
Frakes and his team focused on a list of approximately twenty players who they believed were potentially most at-risk for heat related issues - based on visual evidence, cramping issues and slower recovery time. Offensive and defensive lineman were a key area of focus. Research studies indicate that these players are more vulnerable because they wear heavy equipment that traps heat. This is exacerbated by their larger body sizes which can produce more heat (offensive and defensive lineman can weigh upwards of 300 pounds). “Hydration isn’t a one-size fits all solution, so it was never going to be as simple as telling our guys to just take more water breaks. We needed to understand who was sweating more than others, who was losing more electrolytes than others, and, most importantly, how that all changes under different conditions. Obviously, an athlete will sweat very differently when it’s hot and humid than when it’s cool and overcast but proper hydration is critical in both scenarios if you want to optimize performance and safety,” acknowledged Frakes.
As an early user of Nix Pro, LSU also piloted testing alternative body placements for the sensor. Since lineman grapple during each snap, the bicep was not an ideal placement and instead they utilized the small of the back, which was protected by pads (note: Nix Solo users should continue to place their sensor only on the bicep).
Using Nix Pro, a single administrator is able to monitor the real time sweat stats of athletes via a dashboard. Within Nix Pro each subject's position and equipment level are categorized to help isolate and identify additional hydration trends. The LSU team used this live data to identify when each athlete was approaching, and more critically, crossing their personal threshold for extreme electrolyte (including sodium) losses. When staff members observed the extreme losses generated from their players, they pulled them off the field and began early intervention. The goal was to provide fluid and electrolyte supplementation before it resulted in debilitating cramps or the need for intravenous fluids. “Nix Pro provides all that information and makes it actionable. It’s a complete game-changer.” said Frakes. As a result, the LSU football program saw an astounding 90% decrease in IV fluids administered during training camp.
With excessive heat and temperatures, ensuring athlete safety is paramount. The sweat losses and electrolyte losses from this collegiate football team were staggering. Continued testing during training camp reaffirmed the consistency found among players and conditions.
The use of Nix Pro with LSU allowed Frakes and his team with conclusive data for each of their athletes during the hottest months of the year. Through this data collection they were able to educate each athlete about the value of hydration using personalized stats and craft an injury prevention, hydration, and recovery plan.
LSU also provided feedback on Nix Pro and their insights and user experience helped to continue to evolve the dashboards to provide additional value and features to the end user.
The use of Nix’s biosensors with LSU has generated additional interest in hydration monitoring across all levels of football - high school, collegiate and professional teams.
For additional information or to explore heat related training strategies please visit the Korey Stringer Institute for a plethora of valuable resources.