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The Female Athlete Triad:
Could You Be At Risk?
By Vince DelMonte
One major issue that many women who are getting serious about their
workouts start to deal with is known as the female athlete triad.
The female athlete triad can affect a wide variety of individuals, from
someone training for a rigorous competitive sport to someone who is
simply trying to take their physique to a new level. Most commonly it
is seen in activities that do place a high amount of focus on the image
of the body, such as ballet, gymnastics, figure skating, and women’s
fitness.
It’s important that you learn to recognize exactly what the female
athlete triad consists of so that you are not only aware if you are
already experiencing it but also, you learn what you can do to protect
yourself from further damage taking place.
The Three Main Components
Of The Female Athlete Triad
The female athlete triad, like the name suggests, is composed of three
big factors.
1. Amenorrhea
Amenorrhea can be defined as the cessation of the menstrual cycle,
after it had previously been somewhat regular, for three or more months
in a row.
While some women may just be irregular, the key here is that they are
not getting periods at all. It can be slightly difficult to establish
if this is your issue if you have always been irregular, but most often
even those who are irregular will get at least one menstrual period of
a three month cycle.
2. Eating Disorders
The second component of the female athlete triad is the presence of any
one of the various eating disorders that are seen. This could be
anorexia, bulimia, binge-eating disorder, or an unclassified disorder
(unhealthy relationship with food). Remember to keep in mind here that
one does not need to be fully starving themselves to have an eating
disorder. You could simply be feeling extreme amounts of guilt after
even a small detour from your diet and this could classify you as
having an eating disorder or unhealthy relationship with food.
3. Osteoporosis
Then, the third factor in this condition is osteoporosis. This factor
particularly, is very detrimental to the woman as it could set her up
to experience an increased risk of stress fractures or broken bones for
the rest of her life. Many women also start to remove dairy products
from their diet as they believe it will cause weight gain and once
again, this only further enhances the problem.
Additionally, this factor usually comes about because of the previous
two factors.
What Causes The Female Athlete Triad
In terms of what causes this condition to develop, there have been many
research studies that have tried to determine just this and
unfortunately there isn’t once single precipitating factor, but rather,
it’s a combination of factors that seem to be at play.
First, usually what causes the condition to strike is that the
individual is not consuming enough total daily calories. This seems to
be the most important part of the equation; therefore, if you are
hoping to avoid the development of these problems, eating enough is
your best preventative mechanism. As an easy general guideline, for
weight loss, the lowest number of calories you consume should be ten
times your body weight.
So for example, a female weighing 130 pounds would require a minimum of
1300 calories each day – and this is for maximum fat loss.
The second thing that needs to be looked at is the woman’s overall body
composition. Women need so much fat on their bodies in order to
function effectively. When there is a lack of total body fat, problems
occur, particularly with the reproductive system – as seen with the
loss of the periods.
Usually these two are interconnected as many times a woman is not
taking in enough total calories will obviously have a lower body fat
level.
Between the two though, total calories is more important as there are a
select few who are able to maintain quite low body fat percentages, yet
still avoid the development of this problem.
Why is this? It’s because they are eating enough calories to maintain
their weight, their weight is just a lot of lean mass and little fat
tissue.
Finally, the third reason that this condition can develop is because of
overexercising. When a woman overdoes it in the gym or on the
court/field, she is starting to place an inordinate amount of stress on
her system, and both her CNS and reproductive system will respond in a
negative way. Rest is very critical in any workout program and should
be scheduled in regularly.
So, the three main points to watch out for are a loss of your periods,
abnormal or unhealthy eating behaviors, and a workout schedule that
allows you very little, if any rest at all.
If you are suffering from any of those, or a combination of them, you
may want to speak to a professional (both medical and psychological),
as all three are very interrelated, with the development of one often
leading to the development of another.
If, on the other hand, you are already experiencing problems, then your
first step is to cut back on the amount of exercise you are doing and
your second step is to increase the amount of calories you are
consuming. Increase the calories slightly slowly as this might be a
scary process for you, aiming for a weekly increase of about 10% of
your total current intake each week. This will also allow the
metabolism to keep up with this increased amount of food and prevent
you from gaining any weight in the process.
If you complete both of these objectives, you should find that slowly
your body fat levels also become more regulated, which fixes the last
issue of this disorder.
So, if this sounds like it could be a condition you are experiencing or
are at risk of experiencing, be sure to have a good hard look at your
training and eating habits. Your health should always be the number one
priority, even if some of you would rather place looks as your main
objective.
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About the Author:
Vince DelMonte is the author of 'No Nonsense Muscle Building: Skinny
Guy Secrets To Insane Muscle Gain' and co-author of No Nonsense
Body Shaping: Womens Fitness Secrets to Absolute Perfection found at "Click
Here".
He specializes in teaching skinny guys how to build muscle and gain
weight quickly without drugs, supplements and training less than
before.
© 2006-2008, Vince DelMonte Fitness. All rights in all media reserved.
You may reprint this article so long as the article and author bio are
reprinted intake and all links are made live. This article may never be
sold individually or as part of a package.
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