We don’t really know the true details of their coaching/athlete relationship, so it is really not appropriate to comment beyond generalities. However, I do think my story is a perfect example of why cutting weight through caloric restriction is a bad idea. I was a collegiate runner who temporarily destroyed my body in pursuit of being faster so I know all too well what happens when you go over the edge. At 6 feet 2, my natural "fit body weight is about 175. My triathlete racing weight is about 165-167. My best running races were down at around 16-163 lbs, but I had cut my weight down to 147 pounds and had a body fat of 2.7 percent measured by hydrostatic weight testing. I was running around 120 miles per week, but probably undereating by at least 1000 calories per day. I would eat lots of fruit and veggies to “trick my stomach” into feeling full. I would often get really bad headaches at night from being really hungry. I went from being a 14 minute 5k runner to 16 minutes, developing anemia, depression and suicidal ideations. At 21 years old, I could barely even get an erection. It made me realize that I was not meant to have the physique of typical elite distance runner, and along the way I found triathlon which I was a better fit for anyway. I developed some iron rules for myself so that it would not happen again:
- When you are training hard, you should never feel hungry. And I mean never. If you eat (mostly) healthy foods and appropriately consume carbohydrates during long hard sessions, your body weight will reach a natural homeostasis over time.
- Weigh yourself at most once per month. There are too many things that can result in weight fluctuations that have nothing to do with body fat.
- Ignore body fat measurements from scales. They are useless, especially for elite athletes.
- NEVER compare your weight or physique to other athletes. Some people have a genetic predisposition for extremely low body fat/thinness. One of my collegiate teammates was close to 6 feet and 140 lbs. He was very thin, but ate well, drank beer and didn’t ever obsess about his weight. He was (and is) also a very fast runner.
These apply to elite athletes who are usually training greater than 8-10 hours per week and burning 4k plus calories per day. Obviously if you are only training 3 times a week and carrying a spare tire on your belly, caloric restriction and dieting may be reasonable.