Whether or not chosen to swim, row or run within the Olympics, or gearing as much as journey within the Tour de France, reaching the ‘proper’ weight has been a focus of many elite athletes for many years. It might be to look lean and imply in a swimsuit or jersey, or to qualify for a sure weight class. However there may be additionally a perception that dropping pounds enhances efficiency.
As such, it’s a widespread phenomenon amongst athletes — particularly in endurance sports activities like operating, swimming, biking and rowing — to cut back their dietary consumption within the run-up to competitors.
“It’s notably problematic amongst feminine endurance athletes. Many athletes focus closely on weight of their respective sports activities. Consequently, they have an inclination to enter short-term, however intense intervals of weight reduction with the expectation of performing higher,” says Professor Ylva Hellsten of the College of Copenhagen’s Division of Vitamin, Train and Sports activities.
She and PhD pupil Jan Sommer Jeppesen are two of the researchers behind a brand new research on the consequences of low power availability amongst feminine athletes.
“We all know that the phenomenon of not consuming sufficient is related to many issues which are dangerous to well being — together with missed intervals, compromised bone well being and adjustments in metabolism. However there may be nonetheless a lot that we do not know. As such, we investigated among the potential penalties extra intently,” says Jeppesen, who’s the research’s lead creator.
Decreased biking efficiency
For the research, the researchers recruited twelve feminine triathletes, all of who had a standard power consumption. Throughout one a part of the trial, the athletes got sufficient energy for 14 days, after which their efficiency was examined. The identical athletes additionally went by way of a 14-day interval throughout which they consumed solely about 50% of their power wants whereas sticking to their regular intensive coaching schedule.
In the course of the interval with inadequate energy, athletes misplaced a mean of roughly 4% of their physique weight, about half of which was muscle mass. And so they skilled a loss in efficiency:
“The fourteen days of inadequate meals consumption lowered their efficiency by 7.7% in a 20-minute time trial on a motorcycle, which is kind of vital. And through a extra intense short-term check, their efficiency slid by as a lot as 18%. So there isn’t a doubt that this observe vastly impairs one’s efficiency as an athlete, even over shorter intervals of time,” says Jan Sommer Jeppesen.
Weaker immune system
Along with sports activities efficiency, the researchers examined the consequences on athletes’ immune perform:
“Amongst different issues, we noticed that inadequate power consumption was related to elevated systemic stress. The athletes had a big improve in cortisol, a stress hormone, and a dramatically elevated stress degree in immune cells. This implies that there’s a fairly extreme influence on a number of points of the immune system if one does not eat sufficient. This may increasingly probably contribute to athletes being extra uncovered to sickness,” says Jeppesen.
The researchers hope that the outcomes of the research will assist create extra consciousness of the phenomenon:
“Many coaches proceed to strain athletes to shed pounds. For a few years, it has been part of the tradition within the sports activities world — and stays so. We have to make clear the phenomenon and ask critically: What are we truly doing to our athletes each bodily and psychologically?” says Ylva Hellsten.
Group Denmark to make use of the outcomes
Group Denmark, the Danish elite sport organisation, welcomes the brand new analysis outcomes with open arms.
“It focuses on a very vital subject and challenges the angle that lighter is at all times higher. The idea and tradition stays prevalent in lots of sports activities. I expertise many athletes who trim their weight within the weeks main as much as a contest, however with out understanding the implications of doing so,” says Majke Jørgensen, a sports activities nutritionist and supervisor at Group Denmark.
She sees the outcomes as helpful information that may assist a message that Group Denmark has been attempting to advertise:
“My expertise is that elite athletes and coaches are curious, however want analysis that backs up any critiques of the phenomenon. Right here, the truth that the check topics are precise athletes is a serious power, in order that the outcomes might be transferred to the athletes and coaches that Group Denmark helps. We are going to use these outcomes to assist what we’re already attempting to speak, each after we sit down with athletes one-on-one, in addition to throughout workshops and shows in these kinds of contexts,” says Jørgensen.
THREE DAYS OF REFEEDING DOES NOT HELP
After fourteen days of low power availability (LEA), the athletes underwent a three-day “refeeding” interval as a part of the trial, throughout which they have been supplied a lot to eat.
“We had anticipated that the three days of sufficient meals would restore their efficiency — and possibly even enhance it — however there was completely no impact. Their efficiency was simply as degraded as previous to the three days. This tells us that the unfavourable results can’t be reversed by shortly replenishing power shops, which is a technique utilized by many athletes,” says Jeppesen.
WOMEN MORE VULNERABLE THAN MEN
In keeping with the analysis literature, males are usually extra resilient on the subject of inadequate power consumption.
“Primarily based upon the somewhat restricted analysis on this space, evidently males are capable of tolerate lowered power consumption earlier than it impacts us negatively. This means that ladies specifically are a weak inhabitants on this respect,” says Jan Sommer Jeppesen.
The gender distinction is partly as a result of the truth that low power availability could cause a girl’s estrogen ranges to drop drastically. Since estrogen protects the circulatory system, muscular tissues and bones, and so forth., estrogen loss has intensive results on a girl’s physiology. Ylva Hellsten factors out that the dangerous results of not consuming sufficient for lengthy intervals of time, particularly in ladies, can due to this fact even be lifelong.