How Much Effect Does Body Fat Athlete Performance?
I stumbled upon this excellent article by Builtlean.com; that I would like to share with the athletic community.
As an athlete, I’m helping with a weights program that advised me to run their best 100 and 200 times at 115lbs and 120 lbs and now they feel heavy at 125lbs. It got me thinking about how much Effect Body Fat athlete performance in Sprints.
While I will next be looking at diet programs to get him down to 118-119lbs for UAAP, which this article has not yet addressed. And I will push through within my next write-up. In essence, if you can drop weight and maintain muscle and strength, you will increase performance.
body fat athlete performance
Table of Contents
How much weight do you need to add to a horse to slow it down?
Yes, a horse is a 1300lb animal, but…
- If you guessed 200lb, you would be wrong.
- If you guessed 50lb, you would be wrong again.
- What about 30lb? Nope, that’s not right either.
The answer is that 2-5lb is all the extra weight needed to slow down a horse to lose a race. Only 2lb extra will slow down a horse roughly 8 feet, or one horse length.
body fat athlete performance
The Analysis: Testing Body Fat Athlete & Performance With A Weighted Vest
After learning this intriguing information about racehorses, Dr. Todd reasoned even gaining a few pounds of fat for an athlete could have significant performance implications.
He decided to put his reasoning to the test by loading 170-pound athletes with 3.4 pounds (or 2% body fat) and having them complete power-related difficulties, which he published in a research paper.
Here’s a quick snapshot of the results:
For a 170-pound athlete, a 3.4-pound (2%) increase in body fat might cause a loss of 2 inches in vertical jump height and an increase of 0.26 seconds in the 40-yard sprint time. In the 40-yard dash, 0.26 seconds is a long time if you are unfamiliar with it.
You can read the Full Article Here
body fat athlete performance
Why does higher body fat affect athletic performance?
Initially posed this question in the context of male vs. female performance in athletics. I’m far from an expert on this interesting physiologic question but can offer one central concept.
Women have a higher normal proportion of body fat than men do, which means they have to compete while carrying around an extra 5 – 10 pounds of weight more than men. See these fat-burning supplements formulated for men that can help achieve your weight loss or training goals.
on average, women are:
- lighter (57 vs 66 kg)
- have more body fat (22-25% vs. 15-18%)
According to these averages, a woman of typical size carries 2.55 kg (5.6 pounds) more fat than a guy of the same size, although being 9.0 kg (19.8 pounds) lighter.
even among high-level athletes, women carry more fat:
Range of body fat athlete %:
WOMEN MEN
10-16% 6-12% canoeing
10-16% 5-13% gymnastics
10-18% 7-11% track – jumpers
10-15% 5-11% triathlon
12-18% 8-14% field hockey
12-19% 12-16% baseball
12-19% 6-14% rowing
12-19% 8-10% track– runners
14-24% 9-13% swimming
15-20% 5-14% cycling
16-24% 12-15% tennis
16-24% 11-14% volleyball
20-27% 14-20% track – throwers
20-28% 6-12% basketball
When weights are equal, women carry significantly more fat than men:
This website provides a calculator that you may use to determine your body fat percentage and fat-free body weight using fat-fold measurements (4 sites), age, weight, and gender:
http://www.brianmac.co.uk/fatcent.htm
body fat athlete
For individuals 17-29 years old, weighing 60 kg, with a skin fold measurement of 30 mm (normal range is 20 – 100):
- women carry 11.7 kg (25.8 pounds) of body fat (19.5%)
- men carry 7.7 kg (17 pounds) of body fat (12.9%)
In other words, for the same weight and fitness, a woman carries an extra 4 kg (8.7 pounds).
matched for lean body weight, women carry much more fat than men:
Assume that the fat-free body weight is the “engine” for athletic performance, and fat is an extra passenger.
For individuals, 17-29 years old, with a fat-free weight of 55 kg, and skin fold measurement of 20 mm (normal range is 20 – 100):
- women would have to weigh 64 kg, of which 9 kg would be fat
- men would have to weigh 60 kg, of which 4.85 kg would be fat
In other words, for the same lean body weight athletic “engine,” a woman athlete would carry an extra 4.18 kg (9.2 pounds).
body fat athlete
Imagine the Olympics … finals of the men’s 100-meter sprint … except the men have to carry more than 9 pounds of non-performing weight with them …
The answer is quite simple and one of fundamental physics more than anything else.
When I assess an athlete, I’m looking for an optimal body fat athlete percentage as it does have a direct effect on performance (speed, power, and agility).
I explain to the athlete that if I had a fixed amount of mass and produced a certain amount of force, I can move that mass (body weight) at a specific speed.
If I decrease that mass (lower body fat athlete percentage) at the same amount of force, I can move that mass faster.
If I can increase the force produced (performance training) and decrease the mass, I can move even faster.
I tell them that if they carry around 20 pounds of extra body mass in fat, it’s non-contractile tissue and does nothing but slow them down. I tell them it’s like wearing a 20 lb weight vest or backpack all day, every day. It will decrease performance and overall energy and recovery ability.
Why do most athletes have such a low body fat athlete percentage?
Body fat results in additional fat and extra luggage since it does not build muscles with the strength of the force. Because the body would be lighter, the lower the body fat, the higher the jump and the faster the run. However, body fat is required after 14 hours of fasting or after 1,100 kcal of liver glycogen has been consumed. Without fat, a body-fat athlete will use muscle for energy or break down muscle, although most sports only need a few hundred kcal of energy to participate.
Therefore, most sports do not require fat to be broken down into energy. Of course, athletes who compete in sports like shot put and sumo have a greater fat percentage. This is because the performance is unaffected by the higher fat rate. The greater muscle strength for the shot putter goes hand in hand with the excess fat. The extra weight will decrease the sumo wrestler’s center of gravity and make it more difficult for the opponent to topple the sumo wr
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Does muscle provide insulation for athletes who lack body fat athlete?
Although muscle does not exactly work as insulation, the more muscle mass you have, the higher your metabolism will be. Heat is created through metabolism. Because of this, a lot of people with higher levels of muscle mass have a better tolerance for cold and frequently feel hot.
Punches and kicks are absorbed by muscles. even though they are not as effective as fat as insulators, from heat. In cold conditions, a 250-pound muscular individual performs better than a 150-pound obese person. However, in cold weather, a muscular 150-pound man is not preferable to a 150-pound man who is overweight.
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