This may be a sensative subject....

but does your coach or club put any pressure on you to have the typical "skating" body type? (very thin)

__________________
There is no try, only do.

NOT my coaches... and I doubt our skating club for that matter either. It's *ALL* about the skating!!! Believe me, if any of the coaches I take lessons from EVER suggests I lose weight, I'll lose about oh, 120 lbs... yeap, the coach!!!

__________________
Cheers,
jazzpants

11-04-2006: Shredded "Pre-Bronze FS for Life" Club Membership card!!!
Silver Moves is the next "Mission Impossible"
(Dare I try for Championship Adult Gold someday???)

Thank you for the support, you guys!!!

Not so much the adults (though it's mentioned) but the kids are under very strict supervision with their weight!

I think that it's a matter of degrees. As an athlete you need to be fit, healthy (emphasis on healthy!) and good nutritional guidance. I am happy for this to come from a coach as long as the guidance IS correct.

x

__________________

The best whisper is a click

Nope. But my coach did get all her skaters to do a lot of off ice training (lifting weights, running, jumping, etc) and I did gain a bit of weight because of the added muscle. But that's a good thing for me, because I was a bit underweight for my height and age. Each skater is different, and it also depends on your genes.

__________________
Until later,
*Lily*

As an "older" adult, I don't get any complaints about my weight. Probably because the coaches know it's hopeless.

I do know a teenage girl whose freestyle coach is constantly abusing her about being overweight (she's extremely thin). Although it hasn't been brought to the attention of the coach yet, this girl is in the hospital now trying to recover from bulimia.

Thank you coach.

Lawsuit to follow???

__________________
Many go fishing all their lives without knowing that it is not fish they are after. - Henry David Thoreau

my coach doesn't say anything about weight my trainer may every so often that say that we've gained some weight especially if we h aven't been doing our exercises. As for my club i don't think they do either, for me it's all in the mind, since alot of the girls i skate with are incredible thin i try to make sure i am as fit as possible so i don't look fat next to them(not that i think i am).

__________________

Waffles & Vodka

Breakfast of Champions

My rink's pretty much recreational and we've had a history of girls who have become pretty seriously anorexic so it's a little sensitive. I haven't heard any overweight comments from any of my coaches or the other coaches at my rink (I tend to yo-yo up and down about 20 lbs or so depending on how crazy my schedule is and how much I get to exercise and eat properly so I'd probably hear about it). I've had worried comments about times that I've dropped weight quickly.

The only comment I even remember getting that at the time I'd interpreted as negative was from my first coach: it wasn't about fat, it was about too much muscle (lol). I was doing figure skating and competitive cross-country skiing that year and I've got a body type that picks up muscle tone very easily and I have short legs which really emphasize it: it was some sort of comment about, "Wow, you really don't look like a figure skating with those weight lifter legs". Looking back now, it's pretty funny and was likely meant as a joke but I was an overly-sensitive teenager at that time.

I dont think you can blame an eating disorder on a coach. Its a mental thing...a coach cant make you have it. A comment to loose weight shouldnt throw someone off the deep end, and if it did, they would have most likely done it anyway...

No weight pressure from my coach or rink, and I'm definitely bigger than all of the kids I skate with (but I'm also 5 or 6 years older than them - I'm 21). But apparently their is pressure on the synchro skaters for a certain 'look,' to the point where some of them have apparently been told if they didn't lose weight they would lose their spot on the line. (Ok, so I'm repeating a rumor, but it's coming from a good source at the rink, though not one directly involved.)

And I may be bigger than the younger skaters, but I can jump as well or better than most of them.

Possibly, but for the bulimic skater I know, a male coach constantly (over the course of 6 years) calling you "fat***" and berating your jumping ability because "you're carrying too much lard" doesn't help the case. This girl is about 5'-8" and weighed at the heaviest 120 lbs.

__________________
Many go fishing all their lives without knowing that it is not fish they are after. - Henry David Thoreau

MAN!!! I hope this young lady lose <BAD male coach's weight> lbs!

It's one thing if your health is in danger and you're obese to the point where you can't barely breathe from taking 5 steps away from your chair. It's another thing when you are normally healthy and someone who is NOT qualified to tell you whether or not you're healthy or not does tell you that you're fat. Only a doctor or an ACSM certified trainer has the qualifications to tell you whether or not you're fat or not. (A skating coach is definitely NOT QUALIFIED for that!!!)

I swear any coach that does something like that raises red flags in my book. I would start questioning his/her skating techniques. I should also note that I have seen one Senior lady (as in triple flip and lutz) who definitely does not look "waifish" (very muscular in fact) that skates circles around other "waifish" Senior ladies.

__________________
Cheers,
jazzpants

11-04-2006: Shredded "Pre-Bronze FS for Life" Club Membership card!!!
Silver Moves is the next "Mission Impossible"
(Dare I try for Championship Adult Gold someday???)

Thank you for the support, you guys!!!

ITA

__________________
Many go fishing all their lives without knowing that it is not fish they are after. - Henry David Thoreau

It definitely is a sensitive issue, not just with skaters, but with any male or female who participates in such things where image may be a factor, or even ones self imposed or an outsiders ideals.

Before I started skating I was 210lbs I'm 5' 8" and according to the BMI scale I think I was on the edge of obese. Since I've been skating I've lost 45lbs and have been hovering between 163 and 167 for a couple months (which is also 10 pounds less then when I was in my teens) And again according to the BMI chart I am on the verge of being overweight as it says I need to be around 140lbs. BMI however is not accurate for people who are very physically active as it does not take into account ones muscle mass. My current body fat level is around 20% of which my dietitian tells me is healthy. My calorie intake also should be around 2200-2400 calories for all the activity I do (skating, ballet, pilates, swimming, circuit workout, etc) as It comes to about 18 hours of physical activity a week, but my calorie intake is averaging about 2000. But I am not hungry, nor am I stuffed, so she thinks I'm ok with that number.

As for people who do such things as purge because they need to eat but think there going to get all fat with what there eating and such is a hard battle to fight. I know of many such people, and I know one who died from it, it's not a great thing to come across.

It's unfortunate that ones physical appearance can have such devastating results, I hate it when someone comments on how fat, or skinny, or what not based on ones looks, I personally don't care.

I would hope for everyone to not let others put them down for their physical appearance.

Steven

__________________
"A sure sign of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result." - Albert Einstein
"A free society is one where it is safe to be unpopular." - Adlai Stevenson
"Got Edge?" - Steven J. Arness - Coachless, two years and counting.
"He who carves himself to suit others will soon whittle himself away."
"Sometimes you get what you want but loose what you have."

Wow! 45 pounds is a lot. That's really great. I have the same issue with my BMI number. I'm 5'6" and I weigh 130 lbs. I'm always in the "overweight" category when my BMI number is calculated. The first time I saw this, I laughed out loud! Athletes definitely can't go by BMI.

Right after the government came out with the BMI, a local newspaper plugged in the characteristics for baseball player Barry Bonds.

You guessed it....his BMI said he was obese.

__________________
Many go fishing all their lives without knowing that it is not fish they are after. - Henry David Thoreau

I am an adult skater and my coach has suggested that I lose some weight. Now I am a good 20 lbs over the weight I was when I was in good shape; so even 10 or 15 would make a big difference. I did manage to lose 8 lbs recently and I have noticed a difference in my jumping. It is true that the best jumping body is stick thin (unfortunately)

But...

This was one adult speaking to another adult though and not the same as the skater Gary described above. In my opinion what he describes is blatently abusive behavior. It is verbal abuse and even worse when doled out by a skating coach to a young person. I can remember skating as a child and I really looked up to my coach. It is easy to see how a young girl would take this to heart and go overboard trying to lose weight. I hope her parents didn't ignore this. How awful.

The only person putting pressure on me to lose weight is me.

My rink is very relaxed on the issue as far as I have seen.

__________________
Champagne in 2005, 2008, 2009 - who's next out of the pre-bronze club...?

Wang chung!

Welllllllll a lot of us adults could use to lose a few pounds. Even though I watch my caloric intake most of the time, I still occasionally (okay, every night) get into the goodies.

It's okay to be stick thin as long as you're healthy. I was extremely thin through my teens and 20's. I ate like a horse, but couldn't put on a pound. Suddenly, middle age caught up with me.

As jazzpants said "Only a doctor or an ACSM certified trainer has the qualifications to tell you whether or not you're fat or not."

They are also the only ones that can properly address how best for a person to lose weight if need be. The key issue is to be healthy. If you're not healthy, you can't perform to your best ability. If you lose a lot of weight thinking you'll be able to skate better, but you become unhealthy, you've defeated the purpose and will skate poorly.

Steven, good for you. You put things into the proper perspective.

__________________
Many go fishing all their lives without knowing that it is not fish they are after. - Henry David Thoreau

If you lose a lot of weight thinking you'll be able to skate better, but you become unhealthy, you've defeated the purpose and will skate poorly.[QUOTE]

Oh no! I wasn't suggesting that I lose weight to get to an unhealthy point. Trust me, I am in no danger of starving.

But, it IS easier to skate when you have lost some weight (for a person that was overweight to begin with).

Really I was agreeing with you as well answering the original poster who asked if any coaches or clubs had apporoached them about weight. Mine had. So I described the experience in the context that I am a few pounds overweight.

I understood what you meant.

I'm in no danger of starving either.

__________________
Many go fishing all their lives without knowing that it is not fish they are after. - Henry David Thoreau

I'm just about 5'8 and I weigh 120 lbs + or - 1 or 2 pounds...and I don't have an eating disorder...I think that to use that as a statement is a little bit duragatory because everyone has a different body type. Although, I'm sure this girl was sick if she's currently being treated for bilemia.

From what I have seen at my rink, we are rather relaxed on the weight issue. I have never seen a coach or a parent openly berate any skater for his or her size. I would hope that such matters, when and if they are issues, are handled discreetly between skater, coach, and parent. We have successful skaters of all sizes, all of whom are physically fit and not waifs. Some are naturally small, while others you can look at and tell just have bigger and denser bones. They most certainly watch what they eat, but I have never seen them hold back food from themselves on purpose.

As an adult, I have control over my own diet and exercise plan and my coaches know this. I just do my best to follow my healthy vegetarian diet, and I don't beat myself up when I let myself have a goodie. There's no need to do so if I know I am doing my best to stay strong and healthy.

Some coaches get it, some don't, this idea of "strong and healthy" and what it should mean to each individual skater. It is a mighty sad thing to be pushing the waif-like image onto young skaters when it's likely some of these coaches have had no formal training in nutrition at all, or would just rather berate these kids than respect them and send them to a proper dietician. There's so much more at stake here than just an image...brittle bones come to mind right offhand.

Skaters really need to take this matter of nutrition into their own hands, and seek advice from qualified professionals in order to help avoid some of these problems. If the coaches are not willing to accept this, then it's time for the skater to move on to a place that does.

__________________
All that glitters has a high refractive index.

At 5'2" and a size 6, I don't even bother with weight, scales, or calorie-counting. When I did all that shtick as a teenager, I couldn't skate at all because I was so frail and weak from not eating!

Today I don't even know what I weigh. I avoid scales like the plague. I know most of what I weigh is muscle, anyway (and muscle weighs more than fat)--and I need those muscles to skate with! Eating right for energy helps me a lot, too.

__________________
This space has been put on hiatus for retuning....

I think you might have misunderstood. I think Gary was trying to show how absurd it was for this coach to be calling the girl fat when she was clearly not. Not that people who are 5'8" and 120 lbs have disorders.

I've never felt pressure to lose weight, even after high school when I put on the "Freshman 15." More than anything, I'm always trying to build muscle and strengthen my core. I learned from a project I did in high school that when you starve your body of nutrients, it actually starts to break down the muscle to compensate, NOT the fat. So, you're losing weight, but you're not losing fat. If that is the case, I can't image in trying to skate with my body running on empty. If I feel the least bit hungry before practice, I know I will feel weak on the ice. It's the psychology of it all that mystifies me...what is it that makes a person lose the ability of reason in situations like these?

__________________
~No thinking, breathing, or hesitation!~

My old coach often told me what a good body I have for skating. I'm not a really big adult, 5'2 and 97 lbs. I also have a smaller front. From his point of view these things have made an impact on what I've been able to do. Now, I don't starve myself! I'm just naturally a small person, this is my package. I eat loads! Honest! I am in good shape from skating and using "light" weights. According to him little fronts and small package makes jumps and such "easier". I used to find this annoying to some extent. I do agree that stature does have an impact, but would like to think hard work does more. I know some very talented skaters, who are heavier. In fact, the best spinner I know is a little over weight. And no, my coach never suggested weight loss or gain.

Chico

__________________
"I truly believe, when God created skating, he patted himself on the back."