Athletes and coaches frequently have misconceptions about how an athlete should look in order to perform, but now a powerful new Sport Ireland Institute video aims to raise awareness about the importance of not comparing yourself to others.
In the ‘Body Composition: More than a Number’ video Olympic boxer Gráinne Walsh, former Irish rugby union player Ciara Griffin, and former international cyclist Emily Kay reveal how body composition concerns affected them during their careers.
“When I first came into the Ireland team, you’d hear horror stories about getting your skin fold tests done in front of the team,” said Griffin.
“I was absolutely petrified because I wasn’t confident in my shape or size. It took me a long time to realise it’s actually all about how you perform, not how you look.”
Images in the media, comparison with other athletes and pressures to look a certain way in order to perform at your best. The reality is that there are different strengths that come from different body shapes and sizes.
Aside from raising awareness, ‘Body Composition: More than a Number’ aims to empower athletes to appreciate what their body can do in their sport. It focuses on the different elements that go into making an athlete or even just a healthy body.
“I want to raise awareness of this because I think it is so important that people speak out about these things and kids don’t think you have to look a certain way to be successful,” said Walsh who boxed for Ireland at the Paris Olympics in the summer.
While different sports have differing physical requirements athletes often have a fixed view of what their body composition – the term used to describe the amounts of fat, bone, and muscle in human bodies – should look like.
The video, supported by Sport Ireland Women in Sport funding , is one of a range of resources developed by the Sport Ireland Institute to help athletes and coaches make informed choices regarding their weight and body composition to allow them to perform to their full potential.
“The intention is for these resources to be used by athletes, coaches, and sport science service providers at all levels,” said Sarah Jane Cullen, a sports physiologist who provides support to high-performance athletes and para-athletes in Ireland through the Sport Ireland Institute.
“They are an educational resource to be used to start discussions around weight, body composition, and how these things can affect your physical health, mental health, and your performance. Athletes need to appreciate what their bodies can do and that there is no one size fits all.”
“Body composition is a really important topic for athletes and coaches to discuss, it’s great that Sport Ireland are starting those discussions, and also providing supports and information for athletes and coaches,” added Emily Kay, a former Olympic track cyclist for Ireland.
The Sport Ireland Institute, which delivers world-class support services to high-performance athletes, last year formed a working group to raise awareness of the complexities of body composition as a performance variable and to develop educational resources such as the ‘Body Composition: More than a Number’ video and a series of infographics.
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