Weight Loss Dos and Don’ts for Athletes: How to Lose Weight the Right Way

Different sports like weightlifting, swimming, and martial arts have different standards for what constitutes an ideal weight. One thing they have in common is they all require staying in shape. However, achieving the ideal weight for the sport of your choice doesn’t always mean resorting to extreme diets and workout routines.

An article published by Frontiers talks about sports nutrition, focusing on the amount, composition, and time in which athletes eat to maximise athletic performance. Good nutritional practices help athletes train hard, recover properly, and adapt effectively, which is why they must still be observed even when pursuing changes in body weight. Maintaining a weight that is too low or too high — or losing weight too quickly — can have negative health effects. This is why athletes need to stick to the correct weight loss techniques.

So without further ado, here are some do’s and don’t for athletes when losing weight in a safe manner:

Don’t cut too many calories

One of the most common things athletes aim to do when losing weight is cutting down on too many calories too quickly. While this might yield quick results in the short-term, it could mess with your metabolism over time. Regularly eating fewer calories sends signals to your body that your metabolism needs to slow down. It can also cause muscle mass loss, fatigue, and nutrient deficiencies — all of which might be detrimental to athletes.

Our article ‘The Importance of Nutrition’ outlines that each nutrient and vitamin plays a specific function in the body. Having too little of something can cause deficiency diseases. Instead of worrying about reducing calories, you should be prioritising a quality balanced diet full of carbs, protein, fats, and vitamins.

Do set a personalised weight loss plan

While there are many weight loss programmes on the Internet claiming quick wins, you shouldn’t follow them to the letter. For the most part, they are not only ineffective, they are also unhealthy. Everybody is built differently. This is particularly true for athletes who often have very specific fitness goals. WeightWatchers notes how the best weight loss plans are customised for specific individuals and will focus on how they can lose weight, eat a balanced diet and exercise in a holistic manner.

Personalised weight loss plans remove any guess work. A plan provides you with something that matches your lifestyle and takes your personal obstacles into account. There are many ways to do this from downloading an app or speaking to a registered dietitian, coach, or fitness professional. What’s important is that you get good advice on what’s ideal for your own body.

Don’t over-exercise

An under-appreciated aspect of fitness is prioritising rest. Coach Magazine reports that elite athletes should always take into account rest, but only 59% of active people actually do so. Another 18% report that they continue to exercise despite being injured or unwell. Without rest, exercise can become unappealing and can create mental barriers to entry. These factors can make it difficult to sustain your training and increase the chances of burnout.

Prioritising rest days allows the mind and body to recover, supports good-quality sleep, and allows the muscles to repair. If you’re not content with long periods of rest, you can use days with lighter-intensity workouts and incorporate active rest into your routine.

Do vary your workouts

Cardio is not the only type of exercise that helps with weight loss. For athletes, it’s important to do full-body workouts focusing on building strength. A higher muscle mass equals a higher metabolic rate, so strength training that targets all your muscle groups promotes weight loss by building muscle tissue. It also helps sustain fat loss over time, so you stay in shape and maintain performances.

In addition to adding strength training, you should also vary the frequency, intensity, time, and type of training that you do. This helps you avoid overuse injuries, redundancy in training, and weight loss plateaus.

Weight loss is vital to maintaining optimal performance as an athlete. Although it’s easy to resort to shortcuts for quicker results, it’s important to adhere to these do’s and don’t to maintain sustainable progress.

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