“ Bulking Up ” For Sports?

Discussion Athletes, whether recreational or competitive, who participate in weight sensitive sports commonly gain or lose weight to achieve a particular body type or to improve performance. Athletes in duration or aesthetic sports (such as distance running, diving, dance, etc.) attempting to lose weight to be able to move the body against gravity better. Sports that emphasize strength and power including combat sports (such as football, wrestling, mixed martial arts, body building, etc.) often have athletes attempting to gain weight and lean muscle mass to improve performance. This is felt to increase the strength-to-weight ratio. Weight class sports which can include some combat sports and others such as rowing, can cause some athletes to roller-coaster between losing weight to be able to compete in a lower weight class and then gaining weight back. Rapid weight loss and rapid weight gain can have detrimental effects both acutely and long-term on the athletes. A systematic review of rapid weight loss and gain in combat sports participants found that there is poor data on rapid weight loss, and the rapid weight gain is “…influenced by the type of sports, competition structure, and recovery duration.” “[A]thletes are able to exploit the [competition] rules to compete up to three weight categories higher than at the official weigh-in.” The studies mainly involved male athletes and there was little data for females. Sports with the least amount of ...
Source: PediatricEducation.org - Category: Pediatrics Authors: Tags: Uncategorized Source Type: news