Weight Loss by Athletes and Health Concerns
Waking up, sophomore Mike Fumagalli would peel off the garbage bags and layers of clothing he had worn to bed the night before hoping to "sweat away" some extra weight.
Throughout the day, he would ask teachers to use their trashcans and would spit constantly. Sometimes, he would even cut his hair or sit in a sauna, all to lose a couple more pounds.
Many people may wonder why someone would go to such extreme measures just to lose a few pounds.
For Fumagalli, the answer was simply: "Everyone likes to win. That's why you cut weight."
"Cutting weight" is a term that refers to a wrestler's attempt to lose a certain amount of weight in order to compete in a particular weight category in wrestling competitions. Some wrestlers choose to lose weight so they can find a spot on the team, said Keith Healy, varsity wrestling coach of the nationally ranked team at Smallville High School.
Since only a certain number of slots are open per weight class, a wrestler may be beat out of a spot at one weight but perhaps can drop down to a lower weight where more openings are available.
Junior Sean Randich said that cutting weight also could be important because as one moves down in weight classes it is easier to win.
A common weight-loss method among the athletes is to wrap their body in garbage bags during exercise to maximize sweat loss, said Randich.
He added that while the Illinois High School Association (IHSA) prohibits this method, it is still commonly practiced.
JT wrestling coach "Mac" McLaughlin said that although he could not control what athletes did at home, at practice, garbage bags are not allowed. He added that most of his wrestlers, in fact, wear onl...
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... children's bodies," said Haas.
McLaughlin said that he tells parents, "If your kid looks like he's getting tired, souped out, stop."
Healy also consults parents about their child's weight loss and said that before any wrestler on his team makes the decision to cut a large amount of weight, he first consults the parents.
"Because of cutting weight, my mom doesn't like the whole sport," said Fumagalli.
He said that while his mom was supportive in helping him cut weight by doing such things as making salads, she drew the line when he began to get sick.
Fumagalli, who said he frequently cut weight in junior high, said he lost 12 pounds before this season but stopped when he started to get light-headed and dizzy.
"There is a fine line between determination of sport and health," said Fumagalli. "Strength is more important than losing two pounds."
...oved to be singularly influential and daunting. This is, perhaps, the greatest obstacles to achieving true democracy in Russia—the authoritarian and repressive traditions that refuse to die out with the passage of time.
In conclusion, wrestlers should not cut weight rapidly or starve themselves. It can lead to psychological damage, damage to the wrestler’s current body, and their future health. They are willing to risk their lives, but we all should want them to rethink before they do such a thing. We need to show our care and compassion for saving a life. Coaches could take the next step and punish a wrestler for loosing weight too fast and make them sit out. Coaches should also educate the team on how to eat nutritiously and safely. All in all, the behavior of wrestlers has improved in the past twenty years, but there is more that everyone can do to help stop the cutting of weight.
It is easier to feel bad for children than it is to sympathize with adults. I think the producers did an excellent job portraying the kids struggling with their weight because ultimately it is affecting them the most and they are our future. It’s heart-breaking to watch these kids tape videos of themselves. They cry with frustration because of their struggles and fears of other health conditions and maybe even death. "No matter how hard you try, it's always going to be an ongoing battle,” says a tearful Maggie Valentine, a 12-year-old girl who weighs more than 200 pounds. Another story that I found appealed well to emotions was Wesley Randall’s. Randall is a 13-year-old African-American boy who lives in Texas and weighs 180 pounds. He lives with his mother, Andrea Randall. In the film the mother talks about trying to make healthier food choices and switching to alternative foods, but the part that was hard to watch was when they showed Randall’s mother checking his glucose level. It’s sad to watch someone so young having to stick themselves with a needle on a day to day basis. Ultimately, the best example of emotional appeal was shown with Joe Lopez, a 14-year-old boy who also lives in Texas and is nearly 400 pounds. Towards the end of the film we see Lopez at a doctor’s appointment. And at this doctor’s
The nationality of the antebellum slave is difficult to define. The original slaves were of African descent, and so, one could argue that the great continent of Africa is the source of their nationality. However, even if this were the case, this provision only encompasses the first generation of Africans bound by American slavery. Well, what about the slaves that were born in America? If one were to consider the principle definition of nationality: “the status of belonging to a particular nation, whether by birth or naturalization,” then the slaves born in America would be American, but are they (Nationality)? Frederick Douglass’ “What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July?” oration sheds light on this ambiguous subject. Throughout Douglass’ address, he concentrates on the erroneous ideals of the American people, and struggles to prove the worth of the slaves. Considering Douglass’ dogged determination to authenticate the value of these slaves, as well as the overall temperament of the speech, I surmise that the slaves of America were devoid of nationality.
Corney, Frederick “What Is To Be Done With Soviet Russia? The Politics Of Proscription And Possibility.” Journal Of Policy History 21.3 (2009): 264 – 281. Political Science Complete. Web. 23 Nov. 2013.
Robert Skidelsky, “In Ukraine, Putin may be accelerating his own demise.” The Daily Star Lebanon, September 3, 2014. Web. 5 May 2015.
Every year thousands of students are recruited to be student athletes at colleges and every year approximately 8 million individuals suffer from eating disorders. According to Psychology Applied to Modern Life, eating disorders are defined as “severe disturbances in eating behavior characterized by preoccupation with weight and unhealthy efforts to control weight (Weiten, Dunn, Hammer, 2011, p. 470).” Eating disorders can include anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa and binge-eating disorder. With risk factors such as low self esteem, pressure from family, friends and coaches and access to unlimited to food it is no wonder that collegiate athletes have higher rates of eating disorders than regular college students. Living in a dorm full of mostly athletes it has become extremely apparent to me that these athletes struggle with immense of pressure and one way of getting around this pressure is bulimia. Certain sports put more pressure on athletes to be a certain size and perform at a certain level than others.
Abstract: Since the beginning of sports competition, athletes have always looked for some kind of an edge over their competitors. They will do whatever it takes to be one of the elite and that includes injecting supplements into their bodies to make them bigger, stronger, and faster. Steroid use is probably one of the most common drug misuses in sports competition. Athletes found that with anabolic steroids one could become a better athlete twice as fast. Not until 1975 was the drug first banned from Olympic competition because of the health risks it produced. Shortly thereafter, the rest of the sports world did not allow anabolic steroids as well. With the use of steroids no longer permitted athletes began to look for other alternatives. On the rise is two substances called creatine and androstenedione, both of which are sold over the counter. These two performance enhancers have only had minimal testing done on them, excluding the long-term effects, simply because they haven't been around long enough. Creatine and androstenedione have been said to produce results like steroids without the side effects. The truth is they do produce side effects and irregular muscle growth. By banning the use of performance enhancing drugs, just like steroids, sports competition will have a much healthier and fairer environment to participate in.
Tiersky, Ronald, Erik Jones, and Saskia Van. Genugten. "Russia." Europe Today: A Twenty-first Century Introduction. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 2011. 209-41. Print.
Marijuana is a public name for an illegal substance (drug) produced from the Cannabis (Cannabis sativa) plant. It is also called weed, ganja, grass, kaya and pot. The drug has many chemical compounds and in particular, it has THC (delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol) which is responsible for changing mind functions leading to alternations of cognition, mood, behavior, perception and consciousness. “It is the most widely used illicit substance in the world” (World, 2010, p. 198). Its usage includes religious, medicinal, recreational and spiritual purposes. In the beginning of the 20th century, in most countries marijuana was illegalized.
Wrestling is the hardest sport both physically and mentally.The constant management of weight is what kills me the most, I can take all the cheap shots from opponents and the slams down onto the mat but the cutting weight part is the worst. It was the day before a tournament and I was 14 pounds over the weight I was going to wrestle that weekend. I had to lose it, so i did. I ran with layers of clothing on all night long and I didn 't eat or drink anything for two days, I made myself freeze at night so my body would burn more calories to keep me warm, me and friends drilled for hours to help me shed those final pounds. I went through hell and yet not one person tried to stop me or check to see if i was physically okay. They cared about the medal i was going to get that weekend rather than the fact that i was on the verge of dehydration and malnourishment. People should consider the mental and physical health problems wrestling has on a person such as dehydration, excessive weight loss,going days without eating,and the breakage of a person’s will, however all they think about is the titles and the medals they will receive if they can just make that weigh in.
... seems to fit this situation. Always be patient and understanding with your child and remember that there is no quick fix for losing weight.
The Russian’s were wrong in having hope for a reformed government. Following the careless Czar came Lenin and Stalin, both continuing the reign of terror that the Czar had left behind. Instead of a Czarist gover...
...e completely healthy attempting to avoid my punishment and then there were days where I ultimately caved and failed at eating well. On those days, I followed the rules I set in place and worked out as I said I would that evening. Part of the time my boyfriend would inevitably cause me to falter by cooking a nice fattening meal, but I don’t blame him at all considering it was up to me to make the decision to refrain from eating it. I probably didn’t do as well as I could have around lunch time or dinner but I’m glad at the fact that I did keep away from sweets and snacks throughout the entire week. I was really intrigued with getting good results for this project so I tried my hardest to actually follow the program set. Even if I don’t keep with this change after the project it’s very comforting to know I CAN eat healthy when I want and I CAN workout if I need too.
A sad fact in American society is that thousands of people search for the elusive dream of being thin. On any given day, one finds neighbors, friends, and relatives on some kind of diet. Dieters assume various disguises, but the noteworthy ones are the "bandwagoneer," the "promiser" and the "lethal loser."