Discover the Pros and Cons of Weight Loss on your Athletic Performance!

Will weight loss help your athletic performance?

My answer is always that it depends on the athlete, their sport and position, their goals and their current health status.  So I try not to give a yes or no answer to that request.  I need more information, and I need to know how the athlete thinks weight loss will help their performance.

Athletes, parents and coaches should know that the general weight and body composition guidelines for athletes in a wide variety of sports and positions aren’t always the best for an athlete.  They need to approach athletes on an individual basis before making recommendations.

The general assumption is that performance will be better if an athlete is lighter, but that’s not always true.  You really need to determine and know three things first:

1. The advantages of losing weight
2. The disadvantages of losing weight
3. Whether weight loss will help your athletic performance over the short term and long term

Here are several pros and cons of weight loss for athletes. You need to consider these items to know if losing weight will help your athletic performance.

Pros of weight loss include:

1. Better power to weight ratio. This means less weight to move around, which could translate into better performance.   Better performance could mean moving up to the pro, semi-pro, NCAA DI, or even varsity team.  It could mean sponsorships or better contracts, AKA more money.
2. A leaner, more muscular shape and clothes that fit better.
3. Possibly better long-term health, depending on

   

   the your genetics, history and chosen sport.

Cons of weight loss include:

1. Every weight loss attempt increases the risk of weight gain and regain. There’s a lot of variation here, so expect an extensive Q&A on past dieting, family health and current eating practices.
2. Significant and prolonged underfueling can result in Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport (RED-S), which in turn causes reductions in performance, bone and muscle loss, reduced strength and endurance, and a variety of symptoms related to malnutrition. As a result, realistic goals must be set.  If possible, an RMR measurement is very useful here!  Then there are specific calorie and protein goals to hit every day, which can get complex.
3. Difficulty staying on track during the weight loss process, leading to increased psychological stress on the athlete.

Factors to consider:

1. Short term goals. What are you, the athlete, trying to do this season?  Will losing weight help?
2. Long term goals. What are your 3-5 year plans?  Will losing weight help?  Will it help by itself or do you also need to build muscle or gain skills?  What else do you need to do to improve your chances of achieving  your long term goals, such as find a new coach or mentor?  Are the possible downsides of weight loss worth the effort and possible outcomes?
3. Current health status. Weight loss will not improve performance or long term health if you are underweight, dealing with disordered eating or an eating disorder, or have any injuries related to underfueling, such as repeated or persistent stress fractures.
4. Shopping, cooking and eating skills. You need to show up to practices, workouts, games and events ready to perform, independent of weight loss goals.  It can be difficult to lose weight and having to manage a diet with specific calorie and protein needs across a varying workout schedule adds considerably to the complexity and logistics.  If you are not confident in your ability to stay on top of feeding yourself well during weight loss, you should tackle the skills needed to feed yourself first.
5. Stress and how you react to stress. What can you do to stay calm and focused in the face of performance goals and the challenging logistics of feeding yourself well during weight loss?
6. Support during the weight loss process. Do you have teammates you can lose weight with?  Family members to support you?  A supportive coach or athletic trainer or best friend?  How about the opposite?  Any unsupportive people around for whom we need strategies?

Working through this list with an objective view can be difficult, but this is the starting point for you to decide if weight loss is the path you want to take.

I am happy to discuss weight loss you.  I may or may  not support your weight loss, especially if you can’t tell me why you want to lose weight.  A general goal to lose weight, without reasoning, may not be what you really need to do.

Contact me here for more information on weight loss packages and programs.

SaveSaveSaveSave