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Race Weight Article
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Great article in today's NYTimes about elite athletes and race weight:
http://www.nytimes.com/...hion/04best.html?hpw

In a nutshell, the article says that everyone's ideal race weight is different and being too lean can negatively impact your performance.


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Re: Race Weight Article [lilpups] [ In reply to ]
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Thanks for posting! A good article. Of personal interest to me as I keep losing weight (don't have to worry about performance loss yet though :) ).
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Re: Race Weight Article [Teags] [ In reply to ]
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(Disclaimer: I haven't read Fitzgerald's book). While the point of the NY times article was clear, the examples chosen to illustrate this were interesting to me. All male, save one, the woman who was the "anomaly" at 20% BF. We also don't get her name, or if her "100 milers" were running or cycling (or skiing?). We are also told, second-hand, that she is "talented," but nothing of her racing caliber. Lousy example and inconsistent reporting.

So, I'm getting around to my question: for those who have read the actual book, I dearly hope our gender isn't completely neglected in the book as well (?!). If so, I would take the entire book with a (huge) grain of salt. If not, let me know, it might be worth a read!

Louann Brizendine said it best in her book, The Female Brain, (paraphrasing here): traditionally, scientists have been men, scientific subjects were men, and for the woman issue: just assume a slightly smaller size, grab a cigar and call it a day.
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Re: Race Weight Article [mellorite] [ In reply to ]
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since they said 100 miler, not century, i'd assume running. a higher bf% for an ultrarunner isn't necessarily a bad thing - think cushion against the inevitable caloric deficit of running for 10+ hours, and since that distance requires an aerobic-only effort, it's additional fuel stores as well.

it's true, though, that very few studies on body composition are done on trained female athletes.

cheers!

-mistress k

__________________________________________________________
ill advised racing inc.
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Re: Race Weight Article [mistressk] [ In reply to ]
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I agree; excellent ultrarunners often have a bit more girth...for good reason...however, the article treats her as an anomaly!

edit: I rest my case, this article is a potentially misleading message for female athletes.
Last edited by: mellorite: Feb 4, 10 9:41
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Re: Race Weight Article [mellorite] [ In reply to ]
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I read the book but it was a few months ago. I don't remember what he says about females specifically, (though I believe he does discuss the needs of females/older athletes) but the tone of the book is very similar to the article. In terms of finding your personal best racing weight is a very individual endeavor - it's not necessarily "lightest is best" and that there's some degree of performance testing/trial and error involved in figuring it out. I think the example of the "anomaly 100-miler" is to help illustrate the point that it isn't always the lowest weight that's best, even if her particular case is a rare one. I agree that it's odd that they don't identify the mystery runner, maybe she didn't want to be on record as the "fat athlete"?

I suspect that NYTimes is probably a bit leary of being on record saying to athletes that they'll perform better if they lose some weight, so they edited the story accordingly. But that's just a guess on my part...

Michelle

------------------------------------------------------------
The beatings will continue until morale improves
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Re: Race Weight Article [mellorite] [ In reply to ]
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What they should have said was "slimmer doesn't always equal fitter. It does, however, equal faster, until you become lean to the point of illness and physiological consequences."

And we've known that for ages.

maybe she's born with it, maybe it's chlorine
If you're injured and need some sympathy, PM me and I'm very happy to write back.
disclaimer: PhD not MD
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Re: Race Weight Article [tigerchik] [ In reply to ]
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I would argue, Tigerchick, that thinner does not necessarily mean faster. It really depends on your own bodytype and the event. For me, I'm at my best racing IMs when 10lbs heavier then I currently am. It's all (or mostly! ;) ) muscle weight that carries me through the 11+hr event. Lose that weight and my times drop off dramatically. Even for 1/2IM's I'm best about 5lbs heavier. My guess is that I can be lighter if I'm only doing sprints this year but there's honestly no garuntee. Like the article said, every person is different.


http://smallfoodbiz.com
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Re: Race Weight Article [tigerchik] [ In reply to ]
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I think we need to consider the distance. Some of the top track sprinters. Not necessarily slim. Probably very lean. But they usually have some very muscular legs.
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Re: Race Weight Article [lilpups] [ In reply to ]
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I've got the book and have been through it. I think that it's a decent read but it's not a magic bullet, because (sadly) there is no magic bullet!

It does give examples of women in various sports, but there are more examples of men than women. It terms of the message regarding race weight, he does advise a trial-and-error method but has a focus on BF%. There is a table in there. What I recall is that if you're 20-25%, aim for a weight that would give you 19%. Once you're at 19% or if you're above 25% then there are different criteria but I can't recall what they are off the top of my head.

There is also a section about trial and error, especially for when you're close to 19%, which involves doing time trials and tracking your weight to determine the optimum. I haven't done any yet because I know for a fact that I'm faster when I'm ~5lbs lighter than today - I'm getting there.

That seems to be just a small section of the book. The other sections deal with how to approach food and he suggests a sort of points system where "whole foods" are a plus and others are a minus. It's consistent with the other philosphies out there today. (i.e. "Eat food; mostly plants", etc.) The concept of points is interesting but I never actually implemented it.

Later on he discusses the role of supplements and which ones he's in favour of.

There is also a part of the book giving examples of a typical day for a handful of elite athletes. It's interesting to see what they eat, although the disclaimer there is that some eat better than others so the intent is not to give the reader a meal plan.

Finally, the last big section of the book is a set of recipes by Pip Taylor. I've only made the granola, which is awesome even without making it in the convection oven she suggests. The rest of her work looks pretty good too.
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Re: Race Weight Article [lilpups] [ In reply to ]
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My rant about this... I lost a lot of respect for this writer when I read this article: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/10/health/nutrition/10best.html?_r=1 a few months ago. This latest article again shows lots of examples of single person perspective without science to back up statements. I also don't like how she inserts herself into her writing, even in the smallest way like in this article "My running coach..." and in the first article "MY friend Jen Davis and I often run together". I don't mean to be rude, but I am not reading articles like this to find out what she is doing or who she is affiliated with.

If I read something about exercise in the NY Times I am looking for quality information that includes scientific studies and examples. In this article "There have been few direct tests of the body-weight effect"... I find her writing all headlines and no substance. Disappointing.
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Re: Race Weight Article [PirateGirl] [ In reply to ]
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In Reply To:
I think we need to consider the distance. Some of the top track sprinters. Not necessarily slim. Probably very lean. But they usually have some very muscular legs.

Exactly. The distance AND the sport.

Line up the following:

Tour de France cyclist (mountain climbing specialist)
Olympic track (cycling) sprinter
cycling TT specialist (like Fabian Cancellara)
elite marathon runner
100m track runner
Olympic swimmer
100 mile ultra runner

They all will be lean but their body types are all over the place. Put a track cycling sprinter next to Andy Schleck and the sprinter looks like a football giant next to AS. Shoot, but Fabian next to Andy and the body size is amazing.

clm

clm
Nashville, TN
https://twitter.com/ironclm | http://ironclm.typepad.com
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Re: Race Weight Article [trackie clm] [ In reply to ]
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Fine points from you, lilpups, pirategirl

I inferred "slimmer" to mean "leaner." [You still run into the case of elite ultramarathoners carrying more body fat] But GENERALLY speaking leaner = faster

maybe she's born with it, maybe it's chlorine
If you're injured and need some sympathy, PM me and I'm very happy to write back.
disclaimer: PhD not MD
Last edited by: tigerchik: Feb 5, 10 14:50
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