Coaches what level do YOU think coaches should start weighing, or talking about weight...

[CoachJ]

Did anyone mention never yet??? I coach an optional team- we have never had a weight talk or issue, for that matter. They all know to eat healthy and that as athletes their bodies require a higher calorie intake than a regular kid. Weight issues should never arise in an athlete that is conditioned properly and eats a proper diet. Period.
However, because of an episode on the now very popular ABC family show, Make it or Break it, I had to have that talk with my girls. A character on the show developes an eating disorder..and of course it is the character with the most child fans, so it absolutely had to be addressed. My optional girls are not even 10 years old, but now having been exposed to what an eating disorder is, and seeing a "role model" starving herself and wanting to lose weight, it had to be handled. I explained the difference between watching what you eat and eating healthy, and watching HOW MUCH you eat. There is a big difference.
Bottom line is if your gymnasts have a healthy diet and train properly there should be no weight issue, at all. I would never weigh my gymnasts. Ever.
However, to give you the benefit of the doubt, say you have an athlete that is having weight issues(new to your team, or skipping on her healthy diet), I would never suggest yanking out your scale and giving her a lecture. Thats creating a disorder that is already prevalent in this sport. If there is an issue it needs to be discussed first with the parent, then recommend the athlete be taken to see a nutritionist. I know my girls want to please me, and I don't want to think about what they might do if their coach told them they needed to lose weight to become a better gymnast.

I did mention NEVER, right?!

 

[fishchimes]

Just a thought-- I wouldn't really recommend MOBI to 10 year olds (not that I blame them for watching it lol). It's supposed to be more of 12+ show. But I think in the end it'll make up for that part because we'll see the consequences of Kaylie's actions.

As everyone has said before, good nutrition should obviously be discussed. I would suggest avoiding talking in terms of calories. Focus on % daily value of protein/vitamins; all the good things the food has in it. It should be about how these foods are better for you then certain other foods, not about how other foods will make you fat/unhealthy/bad at gymnastics.

IMO, weight should only come up if it becomes a serious issue; for example, an overweight gymnast may be prone to injury.

 

[10.0]

Make it or break it, still baffled why they made a gymnastic show that little girls are obviosly going to want to watch into a show full of nothing but teen/adult subject matter and then put on it on channel called "ABC FAMILY" They go into some things on that show that I would be embarrased to have a 17 year old watch let alone a 10 year old! Thread hijacking over just had to rant about that.

 

[fishchimes]

Make it or break it, still baffled why they made a gymnastic show that little girls are obviosly going to want to watch into a show full of nothing but teen/adult subject matter and then put on it on channel called "ABC FAMILY" They go into some things on that show that I would be embarrased to have a 17 year old watch let alone a 10 year old!

ABC Family is pretty much not a family channel when it comes to their dramas.

Thread hijacking as well, but just because someone wanted to write a show about gymnastics doesn't mean they have to make it suitable for little kids. If every show was like that, no one would have any fun!

As for subject matter, I really don't think any of it is that terrible. Yes, there is definitely a lot of THAT talked about, but it's not graphically depicted and it's not glamorized. The secretive attitude about THAT just make it worse. When the "only teach abstinence or there goes your funding" got started, the teen pregnancy rates when through the roof. Just something for everyone to think on.

I wouldn't call anorexia an inappropriate topic, though it does have to be approached carefully. Remember that MOBI shows at 9 pm for a reason.

 

[gymdog]

I've seen one or two episodes of MIOBI and thought it was not well done at all. I'm not like a stickler for gymnastics entertainment, for reference I think Stick It was great and very entertaining, with some elements of reality related to gymnastics. MIOBI was just ridiculous in the episodes I saw. People messing up their steps on vault and then doing a front tuck to their back on the table or some nonsense. Right, because that's even possible or how you would bail out if the board was set back two inches too far or whatever the issue was. At least with Stick It they made an effort to make the gymnastics portions somewhat physically realistic. (I guess the head spin on beam pushed it, but otherwise).

But what bothered me the most is not that I think eating disorders are inappropriate subjects, but how it was presented on the show. The breezy attitude toward bulimia in one of the early episodes was so infuriating I turned it off and haven't watched again. If you think showing a girl breezily throwing up in a public bathroom and then chatting about it with her friends is any kind of education about the reality of eating disorders, that is pretty far from the reality I live in. It was just infuriating to me to see it treated with such levity like a joke. I actually think we were intended to laugh at the scene. First inaccuracy: not everyone in gymnastics has such an eating disorder. Ridiculous to portray this so brazenly like we all accept this and just chat about it randomly. Second inaccuracy: most serious eating disorders are very personal and emotional problems and patterns of behavior - people aren't just making public announcements about it. But I think it does everyone a disservice to portray it that way, like that behavior is normal and expected.

 

[Deleted member D3987]

that was well stated.

 

[fishchimes]

If you think showing a girl breezily throwing up in a public bathroom and then chatting about it with her friends is any kind of education about the reality of eating disorders, that is pretty far from the reality I live in.

I don't remember that... What was the episode??

I do enjoy watching make it or break it. I don't agree with everything in the episodes, nor do I think everything is portrayed realistically, but it's kind of a guilty pleasure.

EDIT: Just a random update, recently, they've added a clip during commercial breaks with the girl who plays Kaylie talking about how eating disorders are serious and if you have one you should call x hotline.
EDIT #2: Got mad and wrote up a random argument that didn't make a lot of sense, and then deleted it when I realized I was being immature

 

[gymdog]

Probably the first or second episode since I didn't watch much beyond that. The girls were shown in a bathroom having these conversations. Either way, I don't really think the show is that great, but I'm sure it's mostly fine for teens to watch if they enjoy it. Probably no more damaging than a lot of other things on TV, which is to say damaging in insidious ways, but what can you do?

 

[CoachGoofy]

All my T&T girls are in the MIOBI demographic. We're having a nutrition talk at team camp...basically it consists of "this is the manner in which your body burns these kinds of food, your body needs food, some choices are better than others, yay healthy meals and snacks", as far as I know.

 

[~ beth]

never.


ever....






ever.


If I ever saw a coach pull out a scale in my gym, they would be fired on the spot. If I ever heard a coach tell a kid they needed to lose weight, they'd be fired on the spot. period. end of story.


never.

 

[BlairBob]

Weight. As a coach, I would be concerned with weight and body fat but at one gym we always said we would never bring that up as it was verboten. We don't girls getting anorexia or getting bulemic. It's easy enough to tell by jiggle factor.

Talk about nutrition, mandate what is/isn't allowed to snack on during gym time and what should be ingested before or after. I would prefer to suggest what should/should not be ingested during the break but my fascist streak comes out.

Young girls can be mental and dramatic enough without having to talk about the "W" word be it that they are too under or overweight.

 

[gymdog]

We don't girls getting anorexia or getting bulemic. It's easy enough to tell by jiggle factor.

Not exactly sure what you mean. Particularly with bulimia it could be difficult to tell by appearance alone (depends). While I would make a clear distinction between anorexia that meets the DSM-IV criteria and disordered eating, you can still have pretty serious disordered eating and have a "normal" looking body appearance. Whether you bring it up or not, the girls could have eating disorders. I wouldn't say weight was emphasized when I did gymnastics, but I do know several girls that have ended up in inpatient treatment. A very small minority, but all the same. There's an overall awareness of body issues in gymnastics that's always present whether its unspoken or not, but in many ways I think that's just a trigger of a "perfect storm" that leads to condition.

In other words I also think there is a distinction between behaviors driven by external pressure (also bad) and behaviors driven from somewhere deeper, to the extent that anorexia can actually be diagnosed as a mental illness. That's important because literally this is a way of killing yourself, and at some point the mind is so far gone that coming back requires serious, serious intervention. Behavior driven by external pressure can also be dangerous, and it's just sad, but the intervention required might not be as serious. But I mean, I think we should also be very concerned about that, as concerned as we can be, because that's sort of "low hanging fruit", where we actually have the power to make a positive difference. I'm kind of torn on how much can be done for people who will fall into a much deeper trap, as I think the external component is only one aspect, and to some extent I think early identification and intervention is really the main weapon we have.

Another thing I'd note is that these issues can also drive other self destructive behaviors, usually co-morbid with the eating issues, but the disordered eating might not be the primary coping mechanism.

 

[Deleted member D3987]

^^^very well spoken. and i did not like the "###### factor" being posted at all. the intent was probably humor, but some things are not funny. this is one of those things.

 

[tumbling.gymnast!]

i think that coaches shouldn't weigh gymnasts EVER! because muscle weighs more than fat and gymnasts needs lots of carbs and foods like that and if a coach would weigh a gymnast and their weight wasn't up to coaches standards.. well how does he/she not know that most of that is muscle?? And if a coach took a BMI test on the gymnasts.. these aren't true as well. A computer or scales cannot read muscle ton and weight!​