Wrestling is a worldwide competitive sport where there are two contestants that use their maximal muscle strength to try and force the other player to touch their shoulder to the floor. As you may know wrestlers are subjected to compete in specific weight classes with similar age groups in order to have a fair competition.
I chose to write about this sport because my brother has been a competitive wrestler since as long as I can remember. One thing that I saw him struggle through was the amount of health issues that these competitive athletes can have. He was constantly on diets and try to cut weight before his matches so he would be able to weigh in as less as possible. Athletes would do this because it was better to get into lower weight classes so it would be able to give them some sort of an advantage. It came to the point where his coaches were encouraging the wrestlers to cut weight because of the heavy competition. These habits consisted of eating small meals with limited portions while also putting forth a lot of vigorous exercise. This sport contains a lot of strength training to be able to defeat the opponent. Right before competitions sometimes wrestlers try and cut out as much water weight as possible to decrease their size. Ive seen athletes run in a full sweat suit in the heat or run with a trash bag to sweat all that extra water. Being an athlete myself, I understand that people do whatever they can to win however, sometimes this can be very unsafe to the athletes body. In the severity of this situation athletes can have long term effects that can result in kidney failure and heart malfunctions. Some other physical problems that some people develop later on in life is hypoglycemia and chronic fatigue syndrome.
In 1997, the death of 3 collegiate wrestlers sent a message to the public on what this strenuous activity can do to an athlete. Since then there has been a lot of changes in the rules and weight classes for precaution. Today, it is common for people to stereotype wrestlers as the starved and malnourished athletes however, in most cases there are many who participate in this sport that don't participate in extreme weight loss. I think its amazing how much muscle strength and endurance that these athletes contain. In experiencing the the intense weight training that my brother regularly works out to, I find it unbelievable how much dedication it takes to built up this type of strength.
I have to agree with you that wrestlers have a ton of dedication for their sport. I remember in high school seeing all of the wrestlers starving themselves during the day so they would be able to make weight and it was scary. Although it is nice that they have this dedication to their sport,one of my friends actually passed out because he hadn't eaten anything all day. I think that they really need to start being more aware that their body still needs fuel in order to perform.
ReplyDeleteWrestling is definately one of those sports that require a high level of commitment. I wrestled for three years in high school. Cutting weight is a big part of competing and the problem is that most wrestlers do it the wrong way. They should not starve themselves and need to be drinking plenty of fluids. A lot of times, matches are lost because of dehydration or exhaustion. The wrestlers need their carbs and energy because the sport really does take a lot of strength and endurance.
ReplyDeleteI agree that wrestling is a a very strenuous sport and weight cutting is a dangerous practice. I grew up wrestling for years and my dad has been a wrestling coach for 10 years and currently coaches Div. 1 Newton South High. so I grew up around the sport and love it. People just getting into it do need to realize that it can be hazardous to one'ds health but it is beneficial in many other aspects. I really enjoyed reading this blog and am a huge fan of wrestling very well done!
ReplyDeleteI remember seeing my west springfield team always running in trashbags up and down the hallway.i rememeber one of the kids telling me that he was 5 over. i just think thats nuts, how can they compete whentheyre already exhausted.
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