Eating Disorders in Wrestling

Eating Disorders are probably one of the most easily dismissed diseases of today. There are people who think that only women have been subjected by society to eating disorders because of the pressure to conform to the unrealistic ideals of beauty.

In reality eating disorders are just as much an addiction as alcohol and drugs. Not only do women suffer from eating disorders but so do men. They are everywhere, unfortunately, in the world, whether that person has genetic addictive tendencies or if the person has suffered a horrible experience or forced themselves to have a disease. Both males and females from the average Joe to world class athletes to celebrities suffer from bulimia, anorexia, compulsive overeating, chewlimia, work out bulimia, compulsive use of laxatives, and many other variations of eating disorders.

Usually, when someone has an eating disorder it is because they lack self-esteem or confidence. For others they are forced. Wrestlers, in particular, have the short end of the stick.

In wrestling they have to make weight. They have to have as much muscle as possible while having as little fat as possible on their bodies.

Wrestlers are known for what is called yo-yo dieting. They gain weight during the off season and lose weight during the season by throwing up what they eat or staving themselves with vigorous exercise. Yo-yo dieting is a fad that many other people use as well. It has been proven that young adults who do yo-yo diet are more likely to have bad eating habits when they are older which can result in diabetes, heart attacks, gallstones and many more harmful illnesses.  

One might think that wrestlers are extremely affected physically and mentally by barely eating and training so intensely.

However, on the TCNJ wrestling team, Rick Cordero feels otherwise;

“Most of the time in the season you have to make weight to compete.” said Cordero “We do high rep to keep up muscle build and try to get down to 18% body fat and even then you may be 20 pounds overweight, but it doesn’t really effect your performance because everyone is doing it so you are all on the same level playing field.”

Even though Cordero feels it does not affect his performance there are many instances where wrestlers have gotten injured because of dehydration, dizziness, and hunger due to trying to lose copious amounts of weight in to short a period of time.

“We are only getting rid of water weight.” said Cordero.

However the water they are losing can lead to serious injuries. Their bodies need water and when you deplete your body of such a vital substance, unfortunately, there are side effects that can lead to death.

Bill Saylor, Joe Larosa, and Jeff Reese were all wrestlers and all died within a 32 day span all trying to lose large amounts of weight. Before their deaths they all suffered roughly the same symptoms such as dehydration, dizziness, difficulty breathing, and faintness.

Saylor tried to lose 15 pounds in 2 days. At 2:45 in the morning, while working out, he had cardiorespiratory arrest and died. 

Larosa wanted to lose 4 pounds in less than 24 hours for a meet. Four hours after starting to try and lose weight, during a workout he voiced complaints felling symptoms listed above and died of hyperthermia.

Reese wanted to lose 6 pounds in less than 24 hours. Four hours after starting the intense regime to lose weight, he suffered cardioresperatory arrest and died.

Unfortunately, there are many more recorded incidents where wrestlers become so obsessed with their weight they die.

Though Cordero says it does not affect him, there is substantial proof that shows it does. He may just be unaware of the consequences of putting a body through that sort of trauma but the consequences do exist. What can be done about these unnecessary deaths among wrestlers? If the pressure of making weight is too great for one to handle, perhaps the rules should be changed so this pressure is lifted.

One idea might be to have their weight closely examined everyday by an inspector during the season and if they have a substantial weight lose within a week than they would be disqualified for the meet. The wrestlers are under such pressure to lose weight if there is a way to control how much they are losing than there would be fewer injuries and deaths.