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Female Athletes, Do They Often Lose Weight To Improve Performance? - Dr. Weber (VIDEO)

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Dr. Weber shares if female athletes will try to lose weight to improve their athletic performance.

Dr. Weber:
It’s not uncommon for females to try to improve performance by losing weight. It’s not uncommon for coaches to tell their female athletes that if they lost weight, their performance would increase. So it is a common reason for individuals to do that, and we try to discourage that and really look at the fuel source and what’s necessary and good quality nutrition.

I kind of think of our bodies as expensive car, and you don’t want to put low-level gas into an expensive car. You want to put good, high-level gas for good performance, so it’s same thing with eating. We need to make sure that we are really consuming good quality nutrition so that we can perform at our top and peak level. So, we try to discourage that, but girls do actually try to lose a few pounds to get a little bit better.

About Dr. Weber, M.D.:
Dr. Kathy Weber, the Director of Primary Care/Sports Medicine and Women's Sports Medicine at Rush University Medical Center, possesses a unique expertise with the diagnosis and treatment of musculoskeletal issues. Dr. Weber received her M.D. from Rush Medical College in 1996 and subsequently completed her internship and residency in internal medicine at Rush University Medical Center. After completing her residency, Dr. Weber was asked to remain at Rush for an additional year to assume the prestigious position of Chief Resident of Internal Medicine. She then completed a fellowship in sports medicine at the University of California Medical Center in San Diego.

Visit Dr. Weber at Midwest Orthopaedics at Rush