After the incident of our Indian athlete getting disqualified in the Paris Olympics wrestling podium finish championship, issues regarding the weight management in athletes have suddenly come to the limelight. Yes, apart from training in their respective sports and mastering the skills, athletes of sports like weightlifting, judo, wrestling, boxing, and rowing need to follow strict weight management to fit into their corresponding categories. Sometimes, athletes attempt to take advantage of such a clause and register for the weight category below theirs and try to fit into it just before the competition by following a strict weight-control program.
Some of the weight loss strategies include food restriction, fluid restriction, excessive strength training workouts and sauna-induced dehydration. Whether it is a long-term or short-term attempt, weight management has a lot of gray areas. Besides diet and exercise, there are factors like genetics, lack of quality sleep, excessive stress, poor gut health and some of the health issues like Polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS), thyroid-related issues may result in weight gain despite all the effort. With the myriad of weight management products available in the global market, the athletes often try to take up such shortcut methods to manage their weight in a timely manner. When weight loss or weight gain happens drastically over a short period of time, it can significantly affect the physical and psychological health of the individual.
