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measures, mental well-being and the ability to recover from day to day, blood biochemistry, injury/illness frequency, and nutrition/hydration variables may be more meaningful parameters a coach can use to provide insight into how an athlete is adapting to physi- ological stress. These parameters, in combination with body composition assessment, may offer more valuable data than body composition alone. Finally, coaches, parents, athletes
and health care providers must under- stand that body composition assess- ment is a sensitive matter, especially in sports that emphasize leanness (such as skating). While muscle mass, strength, and power (and little body fat) are all important factors for skat- ing success, undereating during in- tense training to achieve and maintain a low % body fat, can lead to under- recovery, overtraining, illness, and injury. There is no question that body
composition measurements and ad- dressing body weight and composition with certain athletes leads to anxiety, restrictive and disordered eating with subsequent hormonal imbalances and increased risk for illness and in- jury. In these cases, it may be better to monitor if the athlete successfully improves performance, stays healthy, maintains a normal menstrual cycle (female), and is able to recover from workout to workout. These param- eters are oen more valuable if not more reliable to track over time and they don’t cause anxiety. It is impor- tant for everyone involved to weigh risks against the benefits when con- sidering body composition testing and how data are discussed among ser- vice providers and coaches. A good approach is to pair body composition assessment with early season nu- tritional assessment and counseling and keep data confidential or have athlete sign a release form. Finally,
developing good nutritional habits early during an athlete’s career is the best way to develop one’s unique phy- sique, especially if paired with exer- cise training. As is true in many other sports, speed skating is comprised of many performance-determining fac- tors, of which a lean physique only represents a small slice. Optimal body weight and composition develops over years through hard training and good eating and fueling habits. Resources: Current Status of Body Composition Assessment in Sport: Re- view and Position Statement on Behalf of the Ad Hoc Research Working Group on Body Composition Health and Per- formance, Under the Auspices of the I.O.C. Medical Commission Ackland TR., Lohman TG., Sundgot-Borgen J, Maughan RJ, Meyer NL, Stewart AD, Müller W. Sports Medicine. 42(3):227- 249, 2012.
For questions:
nanna.meyer@
usoc.org n
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24 RACING BLADE Summer 2012
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