What to do when an athlete needs to lose weight?

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.

If this athlete has any serious aspirations of making the Olympics, give it to her straight, with objective reasoning. You are doing the professional(?) athlete a great disservice by beating around the bush. You can be direct without being condescending. Odds are, any serious athlete will take this on board and work on her deficiencies.

semi_pro wrote:

coaching dillema wrote:

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

I think it really comes down to the relationship that you have with the athlete. As a coach, so much of your job is knowing the person, not just the machine. Start a conversation about it. Test the waters. You could simply ask "How do you feel about discussing weight as it relates to performance? Is that a conversation that is comfortable for you? Some athletes are fine with that and some are not. Let me know how you feel about it. Take some time and think it over and get back to me when you feel comfortable."

Your approach seems to be based on idea that the athlete is an idiot. Obviously she'll understand that you think she needs to lose weight. It doesn't matter how you say it.

SDSU Aztec wrote:

semi_pro wrote:

I think it really comes down to the relationship that you have with the athlete. As a coach, so much of your job is knowing the person, not just the machine. Start a conversation about it. Test the waters. You could simply ask "How do you feel about discussing weight as it relates to performance? Is that a conversation that is comfortable for you? Some athletes are fine with that and some are not. Let me know how you feel about it. Take some time and think it over and get back to me when you feel comfortable."

Your approach seems to be based on idea that the athlete is an idiot. Obviously she'll understand that you think she needs to lose weight. It doesn't matter how you say it.

Except that it really does matter very much how you say it.

Depends on the athlete's goal(s). What were her goals going into the race? And what are her goals moving forward? Also, were her expectations and your expectations at the trials wishful thinking or did they actually line up with her actual fitness going into the race?

If her goal was to run in the trials, she achieved the goal.

semi_pro wrote:

SDSU Aztec wrote:

Your approach seems to be based on idea that the athlete is an idiot. Obviously she'll understand that you think she needs to lose weight. It doesn't matter how you say it.

Except that it really does matter very much how you say it.

The bottom line is that you're communicating to her that she needs to lose weight. Maybe she doesn't care, she'll take a healthy approach to losing some weight or she'll become obsessed and take it too far.

If I was a coach I would give her the workouts and let her worry about her weight. If someone develops an eating disorder, I don't want anyone pointing the accusing finger at me because I had told her she needed to lose weight. If a runner doesn't perform as well because she's carrying extra weight, it won't cost me my job.

No athlete needs to lose weight right now you silly twit. There aren’t any races or sports til who knows when.

otter wrote:

not that I believe you wrote:

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

Athletes are not aware that they need to lose weight all the time. I was a very serious D1 runner. I made huge jumps in my junior year when I dropped weight I needed to lose. I had no idea the weight was negatively impacting me.

Weight is an important part of athletics and it should not be a taboo subject. Coaches need to be able to bring it up to athletes of both genders once you get to the college level. At a certain point once the sport stops being an after school activity things that impact performance need to be addressed. Whether it is training, lifestyle, weight, etc. Sure it does need to approached with a level of sensitivity, unfortunately, more so in this day and age. But any D1 coach that doesn't incorporate this into their program when necessary is not doing their job.

Are all of you delusional? Is this just one of Letsrun’s favorite fantasy scenarios?

There isn’t anything to lose weight for. There are no races in April, or May, and almost certainly not in June either. If a runner is 5-20 lbs over racing weight they might even be less likely to get sick than if they’re a perfectly lean machine. That’s just how it is. But I guess if this is how you all prefer to distract yourselves carry on with this pointless discussion.

I don't know of a single female distance runner who isn't acutely aware of their weight. None. I would not have this conversation. If your athlete is good enough to qualify for the OLYMPIC TRIALS then weight isn't an issue, and I think it's odd that you're so focused on it as a coach. If your athlete wants to talk about ways to improve, then go through a general checklist (strength training, recovery, nutrition) and connect them with someone who can help with nutrition if they're interested.

As someone who raced competitively from junior high to the post-collegiate level, starting in the mid-70s, I've never understood the endless orthorexic bitching and moaning on these boards about weight and diet.

Everyone I've known who was serious about running, whether they were a teammate, training partner, or rival, managed to reach an optimal racing weight solely by the calories burned in training, without obsessing about carbs, keto, macros, BMI, or any of the other diet-related buzz-topics so fashionable today. Diet or weight was never even an issue or topic of discussion.

As long as you're putting in the training and not over-eating (e.g., eating after feeling full or eating for recreation), your body will find its ideal weight.

In fact, I (and numerous other runners I knew) had the opposite problem: we had to take care that our weights didn't fall so low due to high mileage that we didn't have the energy and fuel stores to do that training.

Are you male or female? It makes a huge difference. I've met or seen countless anorexic women and I've never heard of it being a problem for men. Again, it wouldn't be important enough for me that everyone run as fast as possible, to risk criticism from having a woman that I had asked to lose weight developing an eating disorder. Also, what you believe to be reasonable and sensitive, might not be taken that way by someone else.

According to the Tinman calculator, there is nothing wrong with your athlete's weight. If you take the CV pace divided by the weight and multiply by the % of FT muscle fibers, this should give you a good goal weight and I feel that they probably fit into this.

Runners like Bekele and Kipchoge found their ideal racing weight mostly by completing consistent Tinman Tempo runs and CV reps (Kipchoge actually attributed his recent sub 2 to the changes made from coach Sang, which were upgraded after talking to Tinman).

Use the term “body composition “. It sounds more scientific.

Many athletes can handle being told they are carrying too much body fat to perform at their best. Some, however, are not emotionally mature or smart enough to understand this so they pursue counterproductive measures to drop pounds.

So don’t ever say weight (it’s misleading anyway). Say body composition. Talk about how diet affects recovery, recovery being the key to improvement. Peak health equals peak performance. Keep it in that lane, and you’ll find out soon enough of your athlete is serious about improvement. If not, don’t worry about it, and let them do what they are going to do.

SDSU Aztec wrote:If someone develops an eating disorder, I don't want anyone pointing the accusing finger at me because I had told her she needed to lose weight. If a runner doesn't perform as well because she's carrying extra weight, it won't cost me my job.

Im not involved in the running scene, but I do coach another sport. It is impossible to have a conversation about diet/weight free of risk, in our current gyno-centric culture. The coach, especially a man, is liable to be blamed if a woman feels uncomfortable, no matter what he says. He could lose his livelihood or get sued. There is no due process. Feelings are all that matter.

The coach says, “Hi! Let’s discuss your diet to make sure you’re maximizing your potential.”

What the female might hear: “You ugly fat pig! Quit stuffing your face!”

She posts as such on Twitter, or complains to the AD. Coach’s career is over. This is hypothetical. But a coach could have a legitimate worry that this could happen.

Not sure why everyone has such trouble with this. Posters come up with ways to beat around the bush. Some suggest not saying anything at all. Why not adress it like Wetmore did with Goucher? In RWTB, Adam recounts a time when the coach told him he was fat. It worked. Anyone reading this site is likely to be familiar with the ending, so I'll throw out a spoiler and say the hero wins the NCAA title against Lagat and Abdi, among others who ended up making National teams and having pro careers. I don't see any downside in bluntly telling someone the deal. Neither do great coaches, apparently.

coaching dillema wrote:

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

You don't . This is part of the natural selection process. Attaining an elite level requires ;

1. Having the Genetic Gift

2. Having a near unhealthy compulsive work ethic

3. Being responsible to yourself and accept failures

4. Knowing to many wrong decisions means being weeded out .

????? wrote:

Not sure why everyone has such trouble with this. Posters come up with ways to beat around the bush. Some suggest not saying anything at all. Why not adress it like Wetmore did with Goucher? In RWTB, Adam recounts a time when the coach told him he was fat. It worked. Anyone reading this site is likely to be familiar with the ending, so I'll throw out a spoiler and say the hero wins the NCAA title against Lagat and Abdi, among others who ended up making National teams and having pro careers. I don't see any downside in bluntly telling someone the deal. Neither do great coaches, apparently.

Although there are exceptions, a guy is likely to have a different reaction. He'll say, "OK, coach" and start a new diet or order an extra large pizza that night. Women are far more likely to be sensitive about comments regarding their body.

How can you say there isn't a downside? What about the D-3 coach or Salazar? Most of the people on here defend Salazar, but it was still a bad story that hurt what was left of his reputation, among a lot of people.

Maybe I'm uniformed, but I don't believe a distance coach receives bonuses or can be fired, based on individual or team performance of his runners. Why take the risk of either directly, or indirectly, telling a woman she's fat?

Body compensation has more of an affect on performance than solely focusing on losing weight. A few pounds of functional muscle will help an athlete than just trying to be as skinny as possible.