Weight/BMI

[Mrs H]

that puts me on 22.3 (highly desirable ) 59/1.62x1.62 mind you i was never any good at maths
Jene do your own sums!!

[Jene]

still dont think that shows anything......
cos im low 18....but still "overweight" for a runner

[*Carol*]

why on earth are you 'overweight' for a runner? dont listen to what anyone's told you about being 'overweight'. just dont.

[brooner]

still dont think that shows anything......
cos im low 18....but still "overweight" for a runner

says who/what? forget about your weight for [nope]s sake and go do something far more constructive. eat & train sensibly and it is not a problem.

[Jene]

says me......im jus sayin being 10% lighter wouldprobs make me run faster....

[brooner]

doing 10% more training would be far more likely to make you run faster.

[Jene]

not really.........cos i get injured
and i do warm-ups n stretching an all that.....so i cant train nemore....or eat less tho, but im jus complaing.....lol

[*Carol*]

but if you lose 10% of your weight you'll get ill and injured too, find some common sense and dont feel like you have to lose any weight when putting some on wouldnt do you any harm whatsoever.

[gross2004]

This is a dangerous area to get into! Weight gain / lose can have an impact on your running speed... positive or negitive. BUT an internet forum is not the place to discuss & base any decisions on. That has to be between athlete / coach / doctor etc etc

[Mrs H]

I think everyone here is preaching extreme caution - evidence suggests from the Skinny Runners thread that some coaches havn't always done the same - by all means talk to your doctor or someone else in the know whom you trust to have your own long term interests at heart. but I don't think there is anything wrong with getting the subject out into the open.

[Dan]

my bmi is 20.5 74/1.9x1.9 and I would say that I was one of the heavier junior guys (dont know much about the seniors) what are the recommended levels for male athletes?

[PorkyFatBoy]

BMI is now recognised as being jobbie, since a lot of sportsmen are obese using this mesure. The new measure for Joe Public is the ratio of hips to waist. As an athlete, I'd say it is far better to get a body fat percentage measured properly (with an electronic resistance meter) and then compare that to averages for athletes of your age and gender. My BMI is 27 (borderline obese) but my body fat %age is only 16% which is far more acceptable (having dropped from nearly 15 stone to just over 13 in two years). There has to be a speed/weight optimum somewhere but how do you find it?

Anyway, 5km in 22min25secs on the treadmill the other week.

(I bet someone comes back with a comment about the unreliability of electronic body fat meters now)

[PorkyFatBoy]

Found these suggested body fat percentages if anyone is interested. They're from a cycling magazine article by a Tri-coach/sports scientist (Joe Beer):

For Blokes
==========
Very Lean <8%
Optimal 8-15%
Slightly Overfat 16-20%
Fat 21-24%
Obese >25%

For Girlies
===========
Very Lean <13%
Optimal 13-20%
Slightly Overfat 21-25%
Fat 26-32%
Obese >33%

[harry]

electronic body fat meters are pish! because it is affected so much by hydration status. you actually get a more accurate value from calculating it from old skool caliper readings but the best way is the submersion method. however these aren't practical for people sitting at home. BMI is a good guideline which you can work out in a few seconds. orienteers aren't generally bodybuilders with loads and loads of muscle mass anyway.
anyway boo hoo i think female athletes are much more aware of their own weight/bodies than anyone so probably already know when they really do need to lose weight.
generally getting really skinny is bad but then maybe some people are too cautious about it and too outraged when people tell them it might be good for them to lose weight. in some cases dropping a few kg can improve performance which seems to be the main coaching method of the lithuanian coach
"you need to lose 5kg" "ok"
BUT i think in orienteering there should be much less emphasis on getting low body weight and much more on getting STRONG. if you look at some top orienteers like jenny johansson, dana brozkova, yvette baker, lina backstrom, minna kauppi etc they aren't super skinny but they are strong which makes for quick and powerful running through the terrain. simone luder and heli jukkola ARE pretty skinny but it doesn't mean YOU have to be to do well.

[PorkyFatBoy]

BUT i think in orienteering there should be much less emphasis on getting low body weight and much more on getting STRONG.

Exactly - Bendover is (was?) even heavier than me, yet still managed a cracking run (16th if I remember) in some big event earlier this year.