The athlete’s physical development can be characterized by the weight of his body, as well as the growth and circumference of the chest, and all three parameters are directly related. To estimate weight, they use several different methods and most often use the method of arithmetic calculation of a certain index.
A bit about indices
The weight-height index is the difference between the growth in centimeters and the figure 100 for those below 165 centimeters. For athletes whose height is in the range from 165 to 175 cm, 105 units are subtracted, and for even higher ones - 110.
But this method is not too reliable. Another option is to divide the weight in kilograms by the height in centimeters. The resulting figure, falling within the range of 300 to 500 grams, indicates a normal weight that goes beyond these limits - about excessive thinness or obesity.
In addition, it is calculated according to the Benehard formula, dividing the product of growth and chest circumference in centimeters by 240.
Do you fit?
Having established a normal weight, you can also determine the value called the degree of fat content. It is equal to the ratio of actual weight to normal. When this indicator is equal to one (not more than 1.1) - your fat is within normal limits, above - its layer is already considered large. If this index is less than one, you are too thin.
All methods of calculation have their own shortcomings and errors, therefore, it is possible to correctly evaluate weight and overall physical development using several of them at once, as well as making adjustments for age and analyzing the dynamics of changes in all indicators.
As you know, athletes participate in competitions according to weight categories. Belonging to one or another of them is determined by the corresponding tables according to anthropometric indicators and the final data of physical development.
Special attention should be paid to the concept of body weight. What it is? It is determined by weighing a person (athlete) under ordinary conditions, and after that - in the aquatic environment on specially designed scales for this purpose in conditions of breath holding. Then, the specific gravity is calculated using special formulas.
By comparing normal and specific gravity, an increase in muscle mass (based on the fact that the muscles are heavier than water) or body fat is determined.
How athletes lose weight
In preparation for the competition, during the first two or three weeks of training, the athlete usually loses 1 to 2 kilograms in weight. This happens because the body leaves excess fluid and fat reserves begin to be used, the excess of which depends on the features of the constitution, too much nutrition and low energy costs.
In conditions of systematic training, weight is stabilized, and its numbers take on optimal values. In adolescence, a person has not so much fat reserves, so weight loss before competitions is not recommended, as weight loss occurs due to muscle tissue.
Each workout, sporting event or other serious physical activity reduces weight the more, the greater the energy consumption. These losses are still increased in a hot, humid environment, as well as in those whose nervous system is highly excitable. Almost always, athletes are subject to weight loss in the pre-launch state.
When they lose the most
With prolonged physical exertion (like running over long distances, skiing or cycling along the highway), weight loss is especially great. For example: the average weight loss at the end of the marathon ranges from 1.1 to 4 kilograms (2.6 kg on average).
Intensive training does not allow you to fully recover the lost - weighing in the morning, the athlete finds himself losing weight by 0.5-1.2 kg. The initial weight is normalized, as a rule, during the first day of rest at the end of a weekly training cycle.
At an age closer to 30 years, athletes tend to gain weight. Norms of physiological fluctuations for a trained body in the normal mode are in the range from 500 g to one and a half kilograms. This applies to adults.
About foods and calories
Nutrition during weight loss before competitions is one of the determining factors in the matter of its settlement. It has nothing to do with the diets recommended by doctors for obesity. The main difference is in the use of a large number of animal proteins and monosaccharides. And what is impossible? Restrictions in the diet relate mainly to fats, the amount of fluid consumed and polysaccharides.
Calorie content in the process should be gradually reduced per kilogram of body weight, and food restrictions begin by reducing the amount eaten and refusing side dishes containing carbohydrates (pasta, porridge, potatoes). The share in the diet of lean meat, fish and cottage cheese, raw fruits and vegetables is increasing, and the consumption of bread is limited.
An especially valuable product in this sense is oranges, which contain a large amount of vitamin C and a lot of pectin substances. For the same purpose, it is recommended to eat boiled vegetables, mainly beets and carrots. Equally useful are apples rich in potassium and fiber. For normal bowel function, it is imperative to use prunes and kefir.
Diet diet discord
For athletes (high jumps or water jumpers, as well as women gymnasts), a diet for weight loss prescribes to reduce the amount of animal protein. Once a week, food is allowed at the athlete's discretion (within reasonable limits) in order to eliminate nervous tension from constant restrictions.
Various salt-free, fatty, protein-fatty diets are usually not used in practice for athletes. Following them is fraught with violations of water-salt metabolism, which is contraindicated in training.
Preparing for important competitions and observing a long diet, the athlete must be observed by a doctor and be under the professional supervision of a trainer. The correctness of the chosen diet can be judged by subjective sensations - quite good health, the presence of a slight degree of fatigue at the end of the workout and almost complete recovery in the morning.
If extreme weight reduction is required before the competition, then they begin to limit nutrition 7-10 days before their start. Calorie content is not seriously reduced, only volume is reduced by reducing the proportion of carbohydrate side dishes and fluid intake.
Weight loss before the competition: how to deal with thirst
Limiting drinking regime during weight loss, the athlete is thirsty. You should understand the difference between true thirst caused by real dehydration of the body, and its false sensation, which occurs due to reactions of the body of a conditioned-reflex nature, the state of the mucous membranes of the stomach, intestines and oral cavity. The cause of false thirst can be dental problems, chronic ailments of the liver and stomach. It is also possible after drinking alcohol, spices and spicy foods.
These sensations are not removed by abundant fluid intake, it will be more useful to rinse your mouth with slightly acidic water or dissolve lozenges, mint cakes or menthol tablets. If the thirst is true, there is a real dehydration of the body. The volume of circulating blood decreases, it is difficult to swallow dry food, the voice becomes hoarse. A person experiences apathy and severe weakness.
This condition is treated with water. But if you drink a large amount of it at once, the case will end in swelling and water intoxication. When the loss of fluid by the body is quite serious, it is necessary to restore its deficit by about half a liter of mineral water, and after half an hour - a glass of hot sweet tea.
After another half hour, you can proceed to a meal, preferably including fresh herbs and salt (up to 10 grams). Quench thirst is best that fluid that increases the secretion of gastric juice - kvass, tomato juice, green tea. In intervals between performances, even with a strong thirst, an athlete should not drink a lot of water (like other drinks) - this inevitably leads to overwork.
Weight loss before powerlifting and gymnastics competitions - what is the difference
But dropping is not just about dietary restrictions. This is a whole complex, which includes certain training methods, and the same specially constructed rational diet, and fluid restriction, and thermal procedures - right up to drug therapy and psychological agents. An athlete cannot decide on the advisability of such an event, he decides it with the participation of a coach and sports leadership based on the data of a medical examination.
At the same time, close attention is paid to the level and state of health, age, mental characteristics and level of fitness. It is not difficult for an athlete who is in good shape to lose 1-2 kg, this is done by reducing the amount of food, and increasing the intensity of training, as well as using special clothing. The suit for weight loss is a woolen leotard over which is a warm sports uniform.
It is possible to speed up this process by resorting to exercises with weight weights with a large number of repetitions (from 16). If you want to drive more than 3 kg, you should start the event a week or 10 days before the start of a visit to the bath, after which the weight drops by half a kilogram or kilogram. The athlete's task is to maintain him at this level by reducing the amount of food and dropping an additional one to one and a half kilos. Such a gradual path is shown to divers, gymnasts and wrestlers. It happens when it comes to weight loss before boxing competitions.
If we are talking about weightlifters, the competitions of which take place during the day, the principles are somewhat different, so should jump-athletes. The main rule for these categories of athletes is a quick weight loss before the competition.
Just before the start
If a steam bath and other thermal procedures are impossible for any reason, the day before the decisive day, the participant is offered a diet with a serious restriction of nutrition. What is forbidden and what is allowed? Only a couple of eggs, no more than 200 grams of cottage cheese, 100-150 grams of meat and a couple of glasses of tea are allowed to eat at this time. The total amount of sugar should not be higher than 100 grams, and the volume of all food throughout the day - no more than one and a half kilos.
If you need to lose 500 or 600 grams, an enema from a boiled soap solution or Epsom salt will help. But they do it only when signs of dehydration are not observed.
A kilogram of weight can be lost on the eve of the competition by visiting the steam room, it is allowed to do this on the day of the competition. If we are talking about significant weight (3-5 kg), it is necessary to approach the matter carefully and very carefully. Such a quantity can be driven a limited number of times, respectively, athletes should be aware of the exact schedule of competitions for the entire upcoming season. If the break is less than one and a half to two months, then repeated weight loss before the competition is not recommended.
Dress warmer
Proper weight loss before the competition implies a good state of health, a high level of endurance and stability of the athlete's psyche. The greater its excess, the sooner you should start preparing. Two to three months before the competition, he should train by dressing in a special warm suit for weight loss, a hat and a woolen leotard. Immediately after training, he should take up running, jumping rope, etc., to further enhance sweating. After exercise, it is worth wrapping up as warm as possible and lie down to rest.
Such a procedure can be done a couple of times a week in 10-minute segments for one or two first months. At the last stage before the competition, the time of increased sweating should be increased to a quarter of an hour or 20 minutes. At the same time, the duration of the weekly stay in the steam room is also increasing.
A couple of weeks before the start, carbohydrate-side dishes are excluded from the athlete’s menu as part of an individual food regimen, the volume of first courses is reduced by replacing soups with small portions of meat broths, fluid intake is also limited, and an additional amount of vitamins is prescribed by a doctor’s prescription. The result will be a loss in weight of one and a half to two kilograms already in the first days of the new regime. Then the weight can stabilize, which should not cause concern.
The trainer, together with the doctor, is obliged to contribute to the support of the moral and psychological state of the ward.
Directly on weighing ...
Another round of calorie reduction occurs a week before the start, and the final weight loss before the competition (2 days before it) is obliged to eliminate the last one and a half to two kilograms, which are reset at the accelerated rate in the steam room before the official weigh-in.
As a result, the mass of the athlete must keep within the framework of his weight category, or go beyond them by no more than 500 grams. If the norm is not met by 200-400 grams, you should warmly put on two training suits at once, leave the room for weighing, and for a quarter of an hour go in for jogging with variable intensity, after which immediately perform a set of gymnastics exercises for the main muscle groups.
All this should be done energetically, at a fast pace. A short fight with a partner also helps. To enhance sweating, the athlete should first take a rest in a warm place, wrapping himself as warm as possible. The whole procedure will take half an hour or 40 minutes, after which you can repeat the control weighing. Results are usually satisfactory.
It is impossible to use a laxative immediately before the competition - firstly, it is difficult to choose the right dosage, and secondly - they lead to the exhaustion of the whole organism. Instead of losing weight, you can get an indigestion right at the start of the competition. In addition, the anti-doping code adopted around the world vetoes the use of any kind of laxative or diuretic in the process of distillation. So furosemide for weight loss before competitions is also not an option.
... and after him
Upon reaching the desired result and the end of the official weighing procedure, it is important to eat correctly. It is impossible to increase the volume of water and food. Products should be consumed only fresh and easily digestible. Drinking is allowed mineral water and sweet strong tea with lemon.
Eating immediately after the official weighing procedure consists in meat broth, a pair of soft-boiled eggs, a little black caviar and not more than 100 grams of sugar are allowed. It is also recommended to include a complex of vitamins and a little salt. If you still have about 4 hours left before the start of the competition, you can eat some meat and take a little nap.
It happens, on the contrary, an athlete wants to move to a higher category. In this case, for a short period of time, it is not required to lose weight before the competition, but rather its quick gain. Elementary consumption of a large number of calories is not suitable here, as it leads to obesity and negates the results of training. Weight should be increased due to the growth of the main muscles. To achieve this, in the preparatory period should resort to a set of exercises with weights.