Should I loose weight?

[rowergirl]

Hello,

I am currently in my last year of high school, and I am considering becoming a lightweight. By lightweight, I mean being 135lbs. However, I do not want to loose muscle mass. I am female, 5'7", and weigh 140lbs. I have a 7:40 2k, and am looking to be in the 7:20s by the end of Winter.

I feel as though I would be more competitive in the lightweight category, so should I loose weight?

Thank you for your time.

[max_ratcliffe]

No. I don't think it is worth doing (if there's a scholarship resting on it, perhaps reconsider).
You've already got a pretty tidy time irrespective of whether you're HWT or LWT, and 7:20s is very good.

[Dangerscouse]

If you can easily do it, and maintain it, then it might be a good idea, but it is predicated on how much of an effort it will be. If it was 5kgs it would be a different matter, but 5lbs sounds like it could be manageable.

The benefits of being a faster LWT are obvious but I assume it's not so important that it could rule your life and lifestyle?

[Yankeerunner]

At 5'7" it should be possible, but with caution. Good nutrition should not fall by the wayside in an attempt to lose the weight, nor should dehydration be the strategy. If you currently eat some amount of junk food and can simply cut down or eliminate that while continuing to eat good foods that would be great.

We all have a point of diminishing returns. In my best days as a marathon runner I did my best running at between 137 and 141 pounds. Above 141 I'd start feeling sluggish, but below 137 I'd be too weak. I'd see great runners who were thinner than me and think I should be there too, and kept trying while studying nutrition and eating as healthy as possible on a limited diet. And yet 137 pounds was as far as I could go an perform well.

So I'd say that if you're motivated, and it seems that you are, then go for it. But sensibly. The sporting world is filled with high achieving girls who became anorexic or bulimic and did well briefly, only to ruin their lives in the process. Don't want it that badly.

[RR]

In my early Racing days, I had to “slim down” in the week before a race. On the Monday before the race on a Saturday, I would weight in at 170lbs, I used to drop that down to 161 by the Friday, meaning I could have an evening meal and breakfast and still make weight at 165(75kg) on rave day.
Did this by cutting out big meals, snacks and desserts.
Worked for me for years until I became a “natural LWT”
Occasionally I had to starve and dehydrate to make weight but still was able to produce a relatively good race

[max_ratcliffe]

In my early Racing days, I had to “slim down” in the week before a race. On the Monday before the race on a Saturday, I would weight in at 170lbs, I used to drop that down to 161 by the Friday, meaning I could have an evening meal and breakfast and still make weight at 165(75kg) on rave day.
Did this by cutting out big meals, snacks and desserts.
Worked for me for years until I became a “natural LWT”
Occasionally I had to starve and dehydrate to make weight but still was able to produce a relatively good race

That shows remarkable dedication, but presumably you wouldn't recommend this. Dehydration is shocking for performance and not much better for health. There are lots of boxers who are no longer with us to testify to that.

[RR]

In my early Racing days, I had to “slim down” in the week before a race. On the Monday before the race on a Saturday, I would weight in at 170lbs, I used to drop that down to 161 by the Friday, meaning I could have an evening meal and breakfast and still make weight at 165(75kg) on rave day.
Did this by cutting out big meals, snacks and desserts.
Worked for me for years until I became a “natural LWT”
Occasionally I had to starve and dehydrate to make weight but still was able to produce a relatively good race

That shows remarkable dedication, but presumably you wouldn't recommend this. Dehydration is shocking for performance and not much better for health. There are lots of boxers who are no longer with us to testify to that.

Definitely wouldn’t recommend it, but that’s how I did it and it worked for me.
You have to know how your body works and how it reacts under certain circumstances.
I had a period when I used to blast the weight off my by eating bagels and cream cheese.
It worked! Go figure that one
I had weird eating habits at the best of times and still do to an extent.
It was only on some occasions, not all the time.
In my heavy racing years I would race at about 9 events a year from November through to March. I used to try various ways of getting my weight down to race weight during the course of training for things like time trials so that they were at LWT.
I now weigh in at a steady 69kg at 64 years old but haven’t raced for about 7 years.
I rarely tapered right down pre-race and once did 30km rowing the day before I did a Pb of 6:39.9.
My eating regime just now is
Breakfast coffee and croissant or bread roll
Lunch coffee and a cookie
Evening meal main course and a couple of desserts
Daytime drinks are small coffees, evening time I have about 750ml of alcohol free beer
Thanks for replying

[Dangerscouse]

Definitely wouldn’t recommend it, but that’s how I did it and it worked for me.
You have to know how your body works and how it reacts under certain circumstances.
I had a period when I used to blast the weight off my by eating bagels and cream cheese.
It worked! Go figure that one
I had weird eating habits at the best of times and still do to an extent.
It was only on some occasions, not all the time.
In my heavy racing years I would race at about 9 events a year from November through to March. I used to try various ways of getting my weight down to race weight during the course of training for things like time trials so that they were at LWT.
I now weigh in at a steady 69kg at 64 years old but haven’t raced for about 7 years.
I rarely tapered right down pre-race and once did 30km rowing the day before I did a Pb of 6:39.9.
My eating regime just now is
Breakfast coffee and croissant or bread roll
Lunch coffee and a cookie
Evening meal main course and a couple of desserts
Daytime drinks are small coffees, evening time I have about 750ml of alcohol free beer
Thanks for replying

Interesting post, as I love the vagaries of what works for different people. I'm not convinced tapering is that good for me too: a day off the day before is all that I seem to need, especially for a 2k.

6:39.9 for a LWT is a really good time

[RR]

Definitely wouldn’t recommend it, but that’s how I did it and it worked for me.
You have to know how your body works and how it reacts under certain circumstances.
I had a period when I used to blast the weight off my by eating bagels and cream cheese.
It worked! Go figure that one
I had weird eating habits at the best of times and still do to an extent.
It was only on some occasions, not all the time.
In my heavy racing years I would race at about 9 events a year from November through to March. I used to try various ways of getting my weight down to race weight during the course of training for things like time trials so that they were at LWT.
I now weigh in at a steady 69kg at 64 years old but haven’t raced for about 7 years.
I rarely tapered right down pre-race and once did 30km rowing the day before I did a Pb of 6:39.9.
My eating regime just now is
Breakfast coffee and croissant or bread roll
Lunch coffee and a cookie
Evening meal main course and a couple of desserts
Daytime drinks are small coffees, evening time I have about 750ml of alcohol free beer
Thanks for replying

Interesting post, as I love the vagaries of what works for different people. I'm not convinced tapering is that good for me too: a day off the day before is all that I seem to need, especially for a 2k.

6:39.9 for a LWT is a really good time

Everyone is different and I had a bit of a reputation for being weird.