Don't Weight until the last minute Female Athletes, Body Composition and Healthy Weight Management   Larger Image Track and Field where we so often comb through sports science books for glimpses between the pages where idea shines through. You know! .... anything for that .01 game changer ... It can make the difference between winning or losing. Whether it be physical or conceptual deficiencies in our regimen or maybe its an added movement pattern to our warm-ups or cool-downs or perhaps an unhealthy behavior with our food. Whatever the findings the reason are the same. We're looking for that something that can help to enhance our Athletic Performance.   With boys the answers usually very easy. Just work hard and never Let them see you sweat! With girls however; it�s not so easy. Perhaps it�s because the answer often lies in one of the most controversial topics to date ... Weight. Take it from me it�s a touchy subject, especially when talking to girls because it can often amount to a very unhealthy looking glass. But an open discussion needs to occur with female athletes and their parents about body image and healthy weight management. Because talking openly about body image and weight management is one way to bring the discussion about and address the dangers of eating disorders.   What I've learned in my years of coaching all girls is that the best weapon is education. One that gives us a comprehensive and unique understanding of the athlete�s body, and its nutritional needs, to those interested in achieving a better performance goal. Educating athletes and parents about how to achieve a healthy balance between muscle development and body fat composition is a good place to start. Larger Image   It�s as important to talk about the benefit of a healthy body fat percentage as it is to talk about the importance of developing muscle mass. Reducing overall body fat can improve the body�s ability to perform because a reduction of fat reduces the strain on the cardiovascular system. Less body fat also means less weight for the muscles to have to carry and move during activities. But athletes also need to develop their muscles because stronger muscles tend to correlate with improved performance as long as the proper physiological responses are there.   But ... Like I said it a touchy subject but maybe when you take into consideration, body fat that is too high increases the loads on the weight-bearing bones which may make the athlete at risk for bone, joint, and tendon injuries then it doesn't sound so bad. But fair is fair and we must take in consideration that when the body fat drops below 14%, female athletes can be at risk for a number of physiological side effects including loss of menstruation, hormonal disorders, loss of muscle mass , increased injuries, and bone loss.   There are ranges of body fat that are listed for female athletes (14 � 20%) and that range may change depending on the sport that the athlete competes in. But it takes a good enough understanding of basic physiology to understand body composition, weight, and their effects on performance in order to design and implement conditioning and weight loss programs for an athlete. Since reducing weight in unhealthy ways (i.e., starvation, excessive exercise, purging) will not only reduce body fat, but muscle mass also. Which can help to decrease athletic performance levels.   C'mon you heard the clich� "If you put it in your mouth it will just go south". At 44 years old I can remember growing up hearing it said so much that you'd mistake it for some promotional slogan in a women�s ad, although only a trite expression. But maybe it was my excessive familiarity with this phrase or perhaps its popularity with girls today that made me understand just how real this is .... and so .... Larger Image   I've made it a point with the girls I coach and their parents to have open conversations about strength, conditioning, specialized nutrition and body image. Because of the types of social pressures that are out there we address what most girls are predisposed to (weight awareness) to shed light on any misperceptions or unhealthy behaviors. It�s important to have this conversation to understand the link between these issues and female athletes. Its what�s taught me that teaching girls to be comfortable in their own bodies is as an important aspect of working with them as it is teaching them to run fast But .... run fast they must.   So understanding how reducing Body Fat Composition is important to improve athletic performance can be a game changer! So until next time chew on this:   A female sprinter 5'6", 150lbs with a performance time of 12.9 has about 24.2% Body Mass Index. Reducing her Body Fat composition to 140lbs reduces her BMI to 22.6%. This could mean the difference between running 12.9 and 12.4.   ...... To be continued