Nutritional Considerations for Female Athletes in Weight Category Sports

Abstract

Weight making can be described as the process of reducing body mass in events where aesthetics, propulsion or the requirement to meet a specific weight category limit, are considered to be of competitive importance. Cross sectional research specifically focussed on weight category sports, has highlighted behaviours and practices that are similar in athletes of both sexes. Regardless of this and despite parallel participation in weight category sporting events, females are drastically underrepresented in studies examining body mass loss interventions across both chronic and acute timeframes. However, it has been well characterised that these types of body mass loss strategies can be causative of low energy availability, leading to consequences of female athlete triad and relative energy deficiency in sports. Furthermore, female-specific body composition and physiological systems modulated by the anterior pituitary and ovarian hormones within the menstrual cycle or use of hormonal contraception, can lead to potential outcomes which need to be considered carefully, particularly when employing acute weight loss strategies that are often utilised by weight making athletes. Therefore, the aim of this article serves to review the aforementioned issues, whilst offering practical recommendations via initial assessment, chronic/acute interventions and refeeding/recovery plans to help support the implementation of body mass loss strategies in the context of weight making specifically with female athletes.

Effects of Different Rapid Weight Loss Strategies and Percentages on Performance-Related Parameters in Combat Sports: An Updated Systematic Review

“…In this context, it should be pointed out that the number of female competitors in combat sports has increased considerably in the last few years, and there has been a growing interest in the research community. In fact, studies in other sports disciplines or contexts highlight the importance of analysing the relationship between the practice of this type of weight loss strategies and physical and physiological performance parameters, especially when analysed together with the menstrual cycle as a variable to consider [ 65 , 66 ]. Last but not least, the scientific literature argues for more gender balance in sports science research.…”

“Horrible—But Worth It”: Exploring Weight Cutting Practices, Eating Behaviors, and Experiences of Competitive Female Taekwon-Do Athletes. A Mixed Methods Study

“…Specific to females, prolonged periods of low energy availability may be a risk factor for menstrual disorders linked to stress, extreme exercise and/or body mass reduction (Meczekalski et al, 2014;Nazem & Ackerman, 2012). The majority of the previous research on making weight in combat sports explores the type of strategies employed and physiological effects through quantitative approaches and predominantly focuses on male populations (Cheah et al, 2019;Langan-Evans et al, 2022). A number of limited qualitative investigations combine both male and female athletes within their studies of wrestling, judo and taekwon-do (Pettersson et al, 2012;2013;Sitch & Day, 2015), however there is a lack of research on elite-level female athletes.…”

Case Report: Effect of low energy availability and training load on sleep in a male combat sport athlete

“…Professional and amateur combat sport disciplines are organised into weight categories to promote fair competition between opponents of equal body mass (BM) (1). Despite this, combat sport athletes often aim to compete in the lowest weight category possible via a process known as weight making, in an attempt to gain competitive advantages over opponents of smaller proportion (2).…”

“…The AWL approach, when not well considered, has been associated with a number of health risks, as a rapid reduction in BM may affect fluid balance, thermoregulation, and metabolism, as well as cause injury or in extreme cases even death (4). When the goal is to reduce BM gradually, combat sport athletes may utilise a CWL approach by inducing an energy deficit resulting in losses of 0.5-1 kg•week −1 (1,5,6). However, a reduction in EI with concomitant increases in EEE via escalations in overall daily training load (TL), is likely to result in a state of low energy availability (LEA), which has been associated with a number of psycho-physiological consequences as characterised within the Athlete Triad (TRIAD) and Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport (RED-S) models (7-9).…”

“…Professional and amateur combat sport disciplines are organised into weight categories to promote fair competition between opponents of equal body mass (BM) ( 1 ). Despite this, combat sport athletes often aim to compete in the lowest weight category possible via a process known as weight making , in an attempt to gain competitive advantages over opponents of smaller proportion ( 2 ). To that end, there is a widespread culture of reducing BM within combat sports, with athletes across a range of disciplines typically losing 4–10 kg leading up to competition ( 3 ).…”