What to do when an athlete needs to lose weight?

Tell them to clean up their diet.

80% is Diet & 20% is Fitness.

It all starts at Home first then you train.

coaching dillema wrote:

In today’s climate of political correctness, how do you tell an athlete that they need to lose some weight?

Do you really think there is anyone who isn’t aware of their own weight and if their performance would improve with weight loss? A runner who is serious enough to have a coach knows if they should lose weight. Why they don’t lose the weight is because it’s hard. Let it go. If they want to they will put the effort in and do it. Some will, some won’t. You can’t manufacture desire that isn’t there. You only need to say something if they get too thin.

I agree with ^^ As the coach, you can focus on the training. Healthy eating can be part of that, but the focus should be on the way food leads to performance, not on the way food leads to weight loss, which then leads to performance. Leave the middleman out and it will take care of itself if the athlete is really committed.

not that I believe you wrote:

coaching dillema wrote:

In today’s climate of political correctness, how do you tell an athlete that they need to lose some weight?

Do you really think there is anyone who isn’t aware of their own weight and if their performance would improve with weight loss? A runner who is serious enough to have a coach knows if they should lose weight. Why they don’t lose the weight is because it’s hard. Let it go. If they want to they will put the effort in and do it. Some will, some won’t. You can’t manufacture desire that isn’t there. You only need to say something if they get too thin.

Agree with you on all points except that they sometimes are not aware that weight is an issue. As bizarre at that sounds it is true.

It’s also true that you can’t come after them for it

If it’s a man, just say, “if you lose weight it will help you go faster.”

If you say the same to a woman, you might be taking a real risk. Not sure I would discuss it with her at all.

I am a female coach talking to a female but I’m not sure why that should be a factor.

This thread is a perfect example of why this is so tough. Some say be straight forward and share my concerns while others say ignore it.

The athlete is an OT qualifier that was seeded in the top 50. However she did not finish that high.

You have conversations/lessons with them about what to eat and timing of meals. That should really be part of coaching anyhow. People often are aware of their weight but very few know how to go about losing weight this is true for adults much less teens. Most people’s idea of a diet is eating salads which won’t get you very far when putting in mileage and only ends up making you hungry. Teach your athletes what macros are and go from there.

You are not living in the real world. There has been a huge debate on this site about Mary Cain's weight. If one of the top runners in the country is overweight but 1/2 of the population doesn't realize it, how would anyone know it if they are a 22 minute 5k runner?

We train with prescribed workouts. Why not eat with prescribed meal plans? And just like we log our training, why not log diet? Dieticians can help achieve measurable goals here.

Just like athletes should have confidence in their workouts, they should also have confidence in their diets.

Sure, it might be "boring" or "inconvenient" but the same could be said for dedicated training. And honestly we're after performance so we make sacrifices.

As for the conversation with your athlete, it's best to keep to the facts. Share the data on average BMI ranges for elite runners of varying distances. Share the pure physics of it. And then present the meal plan/dietician as a realistic path to get there. And just like with training, ensure that if it's not working you can change it up.

coaching dillema wrote:

I am a female coach talking to a female but I’m not sure why that should be a factor.

This thread is a perfect example of why this is so tough. Some say be straight forward and share my concerns while others say ignore it.

The athlete is an OT qualifier that was seeded in the top 50. However she did not finish that high.

It's not so tough. The earlier replies were cautious because you didn't share any information about the athlete or situation. If the context was that you were talking about a high school athlete or younger, then athlete weight is probably outside of the scope of your coaching.

If you are talking about an adult who is paying to be coached, then they want results and they are paying to get good advice and coaching. In this situation, you can, and should, tell the athlete what will help them improve performance the most. At the end of the day, they don't have to follow your advice, but they are paying for it.

This is the difference between a real coach and a suburban "trainer" at a gym or something. The most important thing for the "trainer" is to make the customer happy so that they return to be trained more and they are happy with the experience. The customer will feel good enough for completing any workout even if there are never results. The athlete who wants a coach is not looking for validation that they are somewhat fit, they are looking for improved objective results.

Good question. For example, it’s hard for me to tell a person that he needs to lose weight and that he smells bad.

Maybe give him or her a couple of different benchmarks? E.g. an optimal training weight and a slightly lower racing weight. Make the training weight roughly equivalent to their current weight to make them comfortable, and then a target weight to optimize their racing while leaving open the option of returning to current weight after racing.

coaching dillema wrote:

I am a female coach talking to a female but I’m not sure why that should be a factor.

This thread is a perfect example of why this is so tough. Some say be straight forward and share my concerns while others say ignore it.

The athlete is an OT qualifier that was seeded in the top 50. However she did not finish that high.

This situation is probably the easiest when talking about weight (as opposed to a male coach talking to a high school female, for example). The hard part here is going to be framing, assuming you want her to take your advice seriously and act upon it. For example: don't tell her that she had the fattest butt on the starting line.

When talking to her, focus on how you think that losing weight might help to improve her work capacity and performance in the long term. Given that racing and training are uncertain right now, explain how this is a great opportunity to make these changes since losing weight while focusing on workout performance is more difficult/counterproductive - it will also give you a chance to experiment and find an "ideal" weight without messing up race performances. Also, you might want to offer to help her find a dietitian in the area to work with (assuming there are any around who have worked with elite athletes).

Present it as part of the holistic approach to overall fitness and well being. Not just a lazy statement of lose x pounds to drop x time. As well losing any weight needs to be treated like increasing mileage or intensity. You would go from 20 mpw to 100 mpw without building up to it. You wouldn't try to lose a lot weight in a week.

Back in your cage, Alberto!

coaching dillema wrote:

In today’s climate of political correctness, how do you tell an athlete that they need to lose some weight?

Send 'em to a dietitian for evaluation.

Are there specific poor eating habits the athlete has? I think focusing on addressing a specific habit (less alcohol, eating better snacks immediately post run, etc) would be more appropriate and have a higher chance of a change in behavior versus telling them to go lose weight.

As a coach, I request a complete week's food diary. I would like to know the quality of food going in their body. All have been receptive to it as well. Key is getting them to be honest about writing EVERYTHING down.

I don't pose this as, "you look a little fat, why don't we record what you eat..." more like wanting to see the mix of carbs, fats and protein and if we struggle at some point we may want to look at possible food allergies.