The NCAA News - News and Features

The NCAA News -- September 27, 1999

Sports Sciences Education Newsletter

Weighing the options: are regular weigh-ins beneficial?

BY ROBIN E. LEVINE, MA, RD, CDE
UNIV. OF MASSACHUSETTS, AMHERST

The discussion of regularly weighing student-athletes or setting weight goals can become a highly charged and polarized discussion. The problem lies in the fact that there are indeed both pros and cons to having student-athletes jump on the scale or to assessing their body composition. Some understanding of the issues involved may help coaches and athletic department administrators make an informed decision concerning weight issues.

Weigh-ins

Checking sweat losses by weighing student-athletes before and after practice can be a useful tool in determining a hydration plan for individual players. Another benefit may be found in the case of first-year student-athletes who are not accustomed to the rigors of collegiate athletics and who may be unaware that the intensity of their workouts can place them at risk for a calorie deficit.

In other words, the fatigue they are experiencing may be measured in pounds lost on the scale. Another useful aspect of weigh-ins is monitoring a student-athlete's attempt at weight gain or loss. Dramatic increases or decreases can be an indicator of an individual's possible use of steroids or the existence of an eating disorder, respectively.

Yet, despite these apparent benefits of weight checks, there is also a great deal of concern about the practice of regular weigh-ins. According to Monika Woolsey, a registered dietitian who worked with student-athletes at Arizona State University, "it is important to consider the psychological consequences of daily reminders of weight and determine if the benefits outweigh such."

Patti Steinmuller, a registered dietitian and instructor at Montana State University, supports periodic body weight monitoring in a private setting, if it is to be done for purposes of assessing or monitoring hydration status. She does think that the weigh-in issue is more problematic for females. She feels that it is especially important for female athletes to be educated in the purpose of weigh-ins for monitoring hydration so that the athletes understand and appreciate body composition. Rick Lewis of the University of Georgia agrees that weighing before and after practice is an essential tool for assessing hydration status, especially for a sports like football, basketball, soccer, etc.

However, when it come to some women's sports, Dr. Lewis is concerned about any overemphasis on weight. Both Lewis and Woolsey recommend taking a different route. Woolsey prefers to follow standard hydration guidelines. If there is a student-athlete with a problem, then do weigh-ins over the short term to determine if hydration is the true problem. She has found that the decrease in weight or performance is often related more to overtraining, depression or an eating disorder.

A decade ago, very few people in athletic departments had heard about the Female Athlete Triad. Although the development of disordered eating has mainly been seen in the female athlete population, male athletes have also felt the pressure of meeting an expectation around leanness, muscularity and "definition."

In addition, for males, "bulking up" to meet certain weight goals has pushed them to look for quick fixes through steroids or over the counter "supplements" - with unknown risk.

Optimal weight/Optimal body composition

Is there such a thing as an optimal weight for performance? Ten years ago, Dr. Randa Ryan, associate director of women's athletics at the University of Texas at Austin set out to find the answer to this question.

The purpose of the study was to find out if taking the pressure off "weight" and "body composition" while instituting a comprehensive educational program about the relationship between nutrition, training, body weight, body composition and performance could be an effective strategy for producing stronger and healthier student-athletes.

At the end of the year, Ryan and Texas' women's trainer, Tina Bonci, discovered that their female student-athletes were healthier, happier and displayed a general trend downward in sum of skinfolds and body composition percentage and an upward trend in muscle weight.

At the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, researchers investigated how weigh-ins affected performance. Women's gymnastics and women's swimming are often thought to be two high-risk sports for the potential development of eating disorders. At Massachusetts several years ago, both teams began working with a sports nutritionist hired by the athletic department.

Both teams discontinued checking and measuring weight and body composition. Instead, sports nutrition education with student-athletes and coaches in individual as well as team settings replaced the scale rituals and body composition measurements. Rather than performances going down, both teams have not only steadily improved their win/loss records but have continued to have student-athletes break team and school records.

What about body composition? Isn't this a more accurate measure and predictor of performance? Determination of fat mass (FM) and fat free mass (FFM) can be estimated by a variety of body composition assessment techniques. Dr. Greg Kline, of the Massachusetts Department of exercise science explains that the word "estimated" is used because the only way to know someone's true body composition is to perform an autopsy.

According to Dr. Kline, under ideal conditions, under water weighing (UWW), considered one of the most accurate methods, has been shown to be able to estimate percent body fat with an error of approximately ± 2% to 3%