Male NCAA Coaches and women athlete weight

Serious Discussion wrote:

From an old ESPN article:

In one college program I know, the head coach (a female, incidentally) would conduct weigh-ins at the start of the cross country season for her female distance runners.

W-T-F? Is this a boxing match? Is this common?

Are we scared to talk about this? Looks like it.

familiar with a top Div 1 Women's team champion (x 3 ... I believe) where the (male) coach would have weekly 'weigh-ins' with the whole team present and the coach making comments. More education and monitoring of the emergence of the Female Athlete Triad is needed. There are life long (very negative) consequences.

The problem is that less weight usually equals faster running and with relative short period of time. Some are willing (eagerly) to sacrifice their health for fleeting improvement in times - most female distance runners don't run after college except to run in local road races. Pros obviously are in the vast minority and several have a 'reasonable' lengthy career

Emaciated girls run fast.

Bump for importance

Athletic departments/directors (most, not all) are more concerned with the performance of their athletes than the well-being of their athletes. Plain and simple.

The problem is that coaches are results oriented, while the athletes are usually left to figure out the processes on their own.

the sad truth wrote:

Emaciated girls run fast.

Yup. Coaches are part of the problem. And they would probably say the school demands results.

Does the NCAA address it at all? My college days were long ago.

What about male distance runners? I know that stereotypically guys are supposed to consume massive quantities of food when in training - the old "if the furnace is hot enough..." nonsense - but eating disorders can often take root on men's teams as well. I've seen several instances of both anorexia and binge eating disorder in my day - and these are just the cases that are reported.

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Does the NCAA address it at all? My college days were long ago.[/quote]

I was told that coaches are not allowed to weigh their runners anymore but I am not sure if this is actually the case.

Flip the switch wrote:

What about male distance runners? I know that stereotypically guys are supposed to consume massive quantities of food when in training - the old "if the furnace is hot enough..." nonsense - but eating disorders can often take root on men's teams as well. I've seen several instances of both anorexia and binge eating disorder in my day - and these are just the cases that are reported.

While there's an obvious advantage of carrying less weight while running for both genders, it pretty much stops there for males and so is a smaller benefit to them than girls.

With girls, malnutrition can trigger higher testosterone production (hence why women with eating disorders often end up with more masculine features such as hairy arms etc.) This advantage obviously is not sustainable in the long-term, but is significant enough that driven athletes are willing to try it (clearly). Coaches and the departments' psychologists should make more of an attempt to stress the long-term damage that malnutrition can cause (especially when training at a high intensity).

Flip the switch wrote:

What about male distance runners? I know that stereotypically guys are supposed to consume massive quantities of food when in training - the old "if the furnace is hot enough..." nonsense - but eating disorders can often take root on men's teams as well. I've seen several instances of both anorexia and binge eating disorder in my day - and these are just the cases that are reported.

y

Yes - the men's team at my college seemed almost as bad if not worse than the women's team. Pretty much they just ate a salad at dinner.

you dumb-a$$ liberals - gravity accelerates at 0.9m/s2, the earth is round, the moon isn't made of cheese and light people run fastest.

impose a feeding requirement on the east africans. dump a McDonalds in Eldoret with free food. otherwise mind your own business.

this mentality kills western running. the world ain't a pretty place kids.

krispy kremlin wrote:

you dumb-a$$ liberals - gravity accelerates at 0.9m/s2

The magnitude of the gravitational field on the surface of the earth is approximately g=9.81 m/s^2.

I have no problem w/ this thread just as long as individual girls don't get pointed out

This is a sensitive subject, keep it safe

NOP Skeptic wrote:

I have no problem w/ this thread just as long as individual girls don't get pointed out

This is a sensitive subject, keep it safe

I agree. I believe the coaches who have multiple girls with this issue need to be pointed out, however.