Do elites check their weight every day to make sure they didn't gain weight or lost weight and that they are at what they think is the ideal weight?
Do elites check their weight every day to make sure they didn't gain weight or lost weight and that they are at what they think is the ideal weight?
It is my considered opinion that 3.245% of elites check their weight every day.
No, wait, I have recalculated, based on fresh study subjects. The number has risen to 3.456%.
Now you know.
The ones woth eating disorders, maybe.
some might obsessively do it, but you're not really getting new information by doing it every day - your weight will fluctuate a lot based on hydration levels, whether you've shat recently, how much you ate, etc.
once a week at the same time of day (e.g. when you first wake up) is all you really need to track it well over time
If you're eating properly, a daily check on weight can help ensure that you aren't dehydrated. Significant swings in weight are usually water loss/gain.
a_realist wrote:
some might obsessively do it, but you're not really getting new information by doing it every day - your weight will fluctuate a lot based on hydration levels, whether you've shat recently, how much you ate, etc.
once a week at the same time of day (e.g. when you first wake up) is all you really need to track it well over time
Is getting less samples really the best way to deal with flucuating values?
If you are maintaining the same weight but happen to get a couple of higher readings in a row you will know that much sooner if you check it more often.
I check the scale pretty much every day. Theres no reason to but its always sitting right there on the floor and i guess it has become a habit. Sometimes i also weigh myself again after a big meal to see how much i ate too lol, its fun.
These days, after inadvertently gaining 5 pounds during a 5 week layoff for injury some months ago, I weigh myself every day. Matt Fitzgerald suggests doing this in racing weight. Generally I weigh myself at least three times every morning: once when I first wake up (and after using the bathroom in whatever fashion presents itself), once after I've had some coffee but before I've, ahem, and once after my run.
You learn some interesting things when you do this. You learn that voiding your bowels generally loses you 4/10 to 6/10 of a pound. You learn that an unexpectedly low AM weight is generally due to a failure to replenish water after an evening workout or (in my case) a gig in which I sweated a lot. You learn that the best (i.e., lowest honest) AM weigh-ins are produced on some version of a paleo diet: salads, modest amount of meat or chicken, or a vegan diet, with no alcohol.
I've learned, on the other hand, that pasta or any other high carb evening meal or dessert, or beer, leads me to hold water. My mother, a professor of nutrition education, helped me understand this. Pasta, bread, and sugary desserts lead you to hold water. So you'll be a pound or two up. You'll shed water through urination later that day.
Drugs will also lead you to hold water. Alleve, for example. Melatonin. Meloxicam. Up at least a pound the next day.
A high fiber diet tends to keep things moving and generally leads to lower weigh-in weights than a low-fiber diet. Pasta, white bread, cookies, all that stuff just sits like fudge in your guts.
You learn a lot of things when you weigh yourself every morning, day after day.
Weight wrote:
Do elites check their weight every day to make sure they didn't gain weight or lost weight and that they are at what they think is the ideal weight?
Short answer is no.
Focus on eating healthy and giving your body everything it needs to recover, not penny pinching calories to lose a half pound. Most elites will tell you they went through a phase of weight obsession that led to poor workouts after being under nourished.
That being said, the last 4-6 weeks leading up to world championship or peak race, weight will be considered a bit more
I'm certainly not elite--it's been 25+ years since I was flirting with sub-elite status--but I'll toss in my two cents' worth anyway.
I agree with a lot of what KudzuRunner said. I weigh myself exactly once a day, right before breakfast. I weight about 114 pounds at that time of the day and on a day to day basis my weight usually fluctuates by less than plus or minus one pound, and most of that is a function of hydration. I also find that I feel best and run best when I am "locally" heavy, that is, heavier than I generally have been over the past week or two. I attribute that to better hydration. There is nothing like being even a little dehydrated to make me feel lousy and perform badly. So I'm in this funny situation where on average I'm 10 to 12 pounds over my ideal racing weight, but the lighter I am, the worse I perform. The secret, of course, is to lose that weight in the form of fat and not water!
It is definitely important to check your weight relatively frequently if you are an elite athlete especially if you train in hot conditions. The reasons for this is to prevent dehydration, I find it beneficial to make sure I am not dehydrated. I will weigh in the morning then after a training session to determine how much water I have lost, it can be helpful for establishing a nutrition plan for long endurance races as well
I usually checked my weight every day, and sometimes several times a day, for example before and after running various workouts. I checked more often the better the shape I was in. Now, retired, I continued to check my weight every morning.
This is a good idea as a form of body maintenance.
I took a dump and lost 2lbs. Does that count?
If you weigh yourself at the same time each day it should give a good guide. Taking a dump does make you lighter but keep hydrated.