George poses that question to us, a touchy one.
This article got him thinking: Trusting Authorities (or Not) Based on Appearance
Football coaches can be obese.
Mark Mangino
But what about acrobatic sports coaches?
Certainly fit gymnastics coaches, especially females, do get instant credibility. A lean female coach, especially one with a Russian accent, must know what she’s doing.
And a lean coach is much easier to toss in the air, or … under the bus, one day.
women's coach Lu Shanzhen of China
Still, … we can all think of overweight gymnastics coaches that do a great job.
Physical fitness of many kinds is valuable, but not essential for coaching. Not essential unless you are the designated “spotter”. … Fitness is only one component of being a competent spotter.
15 comments ↓
Personally I think it is a good example to set to your gymnasts if you are physically fit yourself… if you are overwieght/unfit it doesnt mean you are a worse gymnastics coach but perhaps not the best role model for kids in later life. Its hypocritical to tell gymnasts they should eat healthily etc if you are 40 stone!
I agree with Evelyn. A coach should practice what they preach.
There was this one chica (actually two of them) on a gymnastike video that I saw, who were ugh…heavy. And they were lecturing on body form and conditioning! It was at some coaches conference (that lecture would have been a waste. Now, the one with Ali the psych fear girl looked good.)
I even remember one of the big girls saying…well “there’s this P90X thing”. I had a lot of heartache with that. First, there are some real plusses and minusses to P90X. And then also, it’s pretty clear that this lady had NO context or even the sophistication of someone who hangs out a lot on fitness forums in terms of what that program is and whether to advocate it. and it was dayum clear that she had not run the program herself!
Evelyn has a good point. I always try to practice what I preach regarding fitness and health. Although I’m not in competitive shape, I need to be fit enough to drag mats all over the gym, from little trapezoids to the resi mat, help move equipment for meet setups, and, of course, spot the girls safely. If I’m injured while spotting them because I don’t maintain enough core and back strength, then I can’t do them much good while they’re learning new skills. Also, what kind of lifestyle choices will our gymnasts make if they see their coaches (who they often admire) eating junk all the time? I also think about this with my own child, who is a Level 5 gymnast. I want her to make healthy lifestyle choices for the rest of her life, so I make an effort to be a fit family. Whether a coach or a parent (or both) we have to recognize our status as role models in children’s lives.
We should try to be an example. One may eat healthy but still be a bit overweight. As long as you practice what you preach, you’re ok. We can not all help what our body looks like even if we do try to lead a healthy lifestyle. (Especially as people get older)!
Great post… I work at a club where the coaches are mostly ex-elite or have at the least been state/national level gymnasts for many years themselves. All of the 15 coaching staff are in excellent shape, so I never really thought about it… UNTIL I went to my first competition as a coach about 6 years ago. There were plenty of much, much bigger women/men in their coaching tracksuits. I couldn’t believe it… my first thought was ‘no way were they gymnasts!’ I think about the safety issues with having overweight staff, more than the aesthetic ones (though it is a bit ironic to have very large coaches – especially if they’re women). I want all the coaches in our gym to be physically fit, so they can be on their toes to run under and spot someone, or grab a kid in the nick of time if something is going wrong in a dismount or tumble. And yeah, setting a good example for the youngin’s plays a big part too… How can I tell them to eat well if I’m clearly not?
I think it is definitely a good example to the gymnasts to be in a good physical shape and I, myself, occasionally join in on the conditioning- just to see if I can still manage it. I’ve alway made it a habit to only drink water and eat well in front of the kids I coach as I think nutrition is an important one to set a good example on.
However, in saying that, one of the best coaches I know was forced out of competition due to a thyroid issue. This thyroid issue messes with her metabolism (as most do) and makes it extremely difficult to lose weight. She is quite overweight but a great coach and motivator. I guess what I’m trying to say is that its ideal that coaches are in peak physical condition but sometimes there are reasons why they aren’t and it would suck if at competitions the fitter coaches are all standing there judging them
You can lose weight with a bad thyroid. I have been spending the last 8 months on a weight loss forum. There are ladies with NO thyroid at all who lose weight. As long as you constrain intake, you will stay slim. The thyroid patients in Ethiopia aren’t overweight.
Um, have you seen Thom Glielmi, the Stanford men’s coach? His nickname is “Butterbean”. But last year somehow Stanford managed to beat OU and that scrawny guy Mark Williams out of the championship. Put a cherry on that scoop of ice cream.
Go Stanford!
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My daughter has Russian gymnastics Olympic medal coach and she is thin and can still perform however she smokes has horrible eating habits ie. Gatorade pop chocolate bars burgers you get the point. So I think looks should be the last thing we judge a person on because you can be thin but are you healthy and a role model?
Unfortunately my daughter at her age worries about weight courtesy of that practice- one must be thin she is 9 and weighs 50 lbs she is far from fat but when she fluctuates a few pounds the coaches let her know sad really . She loves gym and I constantly tell her the #’s don’t matter as long as she is injury free healthy and happy that scale means nothing. So to say your thin means your a role model is like saying your healthy only because you look skinny- Wrong
I’m one of those tiny fit female coaches.
At my height and build, there’s just no way I could do what’s required of coaching without being in good shape. I see the walls-o-coach at meets, and how they do stuff, and imagine trying to do things that way. Haha, no.
As a model-I hope-of non obsessive eating habits, I rather hope the girls I work with notice that the world didn’t crash down when we had brownies on my birthday. Fitness is wonderful, I approve heartily, but I am not such a fan of obsessive calorie counting & “dieting”. Balance is a key thing.
It’s not Lu Shanzhen in this picture. It’s Gao Jian, who was the chief administrator of the chinese gymnastics center.
It’s wrong to think weight shouldn’t be talked about and being overweight is ok or whatever. Truth is it sucks to be overweight and it destroys self-image and confidence, especially among gymnasts. Now that’s not to say extreme weight loss measures should be taken, but I always find cultures with girls constantly talking about weight — Japan, Korea, etc. have girls skinner than cultures that don’t like to talk about it.
We have recently been discussing this at my gym. We have stopped allowing sweets at birthdays – with the number of kids on team it was too often and the sweets were getting bigger. We have also been thinking about the coaches. Often coaches move from class to class without a break and eat lunch or dinner while a group is warming up. Does it matter what they are eating?
I think the key is balance. I would not be happy at a gym which would not allow me to eat certain foods, but I would also be concerned if a coach was eating a burger and fries every night in front of a class or team.
I am suprised that coaches become overweight as I have always found that being on my feet lifting both gymnasts and mats is great exercise!
I think that a gymnastics coach must be fit. Especially if they are young. I think if you have an older coach (in their 40′s) it’s okay if they are a little large, however I think that gymnasts need to see a coach that is fit and health not obese
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