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The Athlete’s Guide to

Making
Weight
The Athlete’s Guide to

Making
Weight
Michele A. Macedonio, MS, RD
Marie Dunford, PhD, RD

Human Kinetics
 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Macedonio, Michele A.
The athlete’s guide to making weight / Michele A. Macedonio, Marie Dunford.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN-13: 978-0-7360-7586-2 (soft cover)
ISBN-10: 0-7360-7586-0 (soft cover)
1. Sports--Physiological aspects. 2. Athletes--Nutrition. 3. Body weight--Regulation. 4. Sports medicine.
I. Dunford, Marie. II. Title.
RC1235.M26 2009
613.2’024796--dc22
2008052163
ISBN-10: 0-7360-7586-0 (print) ISBN-10: 0-7360-8524-6 (Adobe PDF)
ISBN-13: 978-0-7360-7586-2 (print) ISBN-13: 978-0-7360-8524-3 (Adobe PDF)
Copyright © 2009 by Michele A. Macedonio and Marie Dunford
All rights reserved. Except for use in a review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in any form or
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To my parents, Annette and Carmine, who believed I could,
and to my husband, Matt, who knew I would.
—MM

To my husband, Greg, from whom all good things flow.

—MD
 Contents

Preface ix ◾ Acknowledgments xi ◾
Four Steps to Achieving Optimal Performance Weight 1

Part I Optimal Weight, Optimal Performance . . . . . . . . 5

Chapter 1 Tipping the Scales in Your Favor . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

Chapter 2 Identifying the Priorities for Your Sport . . . . . . . 19

Chapter 3 Analyzing Your Body, Assessing Your Weight . . . 43

Chapter 4 Charting Your Course for Success . . . . . . . . . . . 61

Part II Strategies for Achieving Your Target Weight . . 77

Chapter 5 Building a Solid Nutritional Base . . . . . . . . . . . . 79

Chapter 6 Adding Muscle, Gaining Mass . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93

Chapter 7 Losing Fat, Winning Results . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107

Chapter 8 Weighing In on Water Weight . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123

Chapter 9 Sizing Up Supplement Use . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135

◾ vi ◾
 Contents   ◾ vii ◾

Part III Meal Plans for Making Weight . . . . . . . . . . . . 151

Chapter 10 Building Muscle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153

Chapter 11 Losing Fat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171

Chapter 12 Building Muscle and Losing Fat . . . . . . . . . . . 185

Chapter 13 Precision Meal Planning System . . . . . . . . . . . 199

Appendix A: Additional Resources 235 ◾ Appendix B: Tools and Templates 237

Works Consulted 245 ◾ Index 249 ◾ About the Authors 257
 Preface

A ndre Agassi, a professional tennis player by age 16, was a rebel with
shoulder-length hair, a cheeseburger-heavy diet, and camera ads that
proclaimed, “Image is everything.” He had many successes early in his
career, but after 10 years the former number 1 player was ranked 141st and
playing on the satellite tour. His options were to quit or improve. He shaved
his head, changed his image, rededicated himself to a rigorous training and
conditioning program, and revamped his diet. In doing so, he changed
his weight and body composition. Agassi discovered a balance between
the demands of the sport, his skills and style of play, and the physical and
nutritional preparation essential to achieving long-term success. The rest
is history.
If you are serious about your sport and aspire to peak performance, you
need to be aware of how body weight and composition affect performance.
Whether you are a basketball player looking to increase size and power for
an improved inside game or a wrestler debating the advantages of dropping
to a lower weight class, The Athlete’s Guide to Making Weight provides the
information that you need to determine where you are, where you need to
be, and how you are going to get there.
This book is a guide to help you answer questions about weight and
performance. Should I lose weight? Should I gain weight? If so, how?
What are the advantages of adding muscle or losing fat? How can I do so
without jeopardizing my performance? How does water weight factor in,
and what role do supplements play in the overall process? Combining the
latest research and real-life examples, along with sample meal plans and
sport-specific programming, this book provides the answers to these sorts
of questions and puts you on the road to successful weight loss or gain.
The Athlete’s Guide to Making Weight leads the dedicated athlete through a
logical and thoughtful process of change. The book is designed to help you
determine the best weight and body composition for your sport and position.
The book begins with an explanation of the four steps needed to achieve
optimal performance weight so that you can briefly see the overall process
that will help you meet your goals. In part I you learn about assessments
and goal setting. Assessment is essential, so three chapters are devoted to
it. Chapter 1 helps you assess the relative need for strength, power, speed,
and endurance in different sports and how weight and body composition
affect these characteristics. To set realistic goals and objectives to improve
your performance, you need to complete a comprehensive assessment of

◾ ix ◾
◾ x ◾   Preface

your sport and yourself. Chapter 2 presents priorities for your sport and
your specific position, and chapter 3 explains the personal assessments that
will help you establish a baseline for your body.
Part II begins with a primer on nutrition (chapter 4) because proper nutri-
tion is a crucial support to training. In the quest to change weight and body
composition, many people focus too much on the amount of calories found
in food. Caloric intake is important, but you cannot afford to overlook the
nutrients that foods provide. Chapter 5 explains how caloric intake and
nutrients work together to fuel the body. Chapters 6, 7, and 8 provide infor-
mation about how to build muscle, lose fat, and maintain proper hydration.
Misinformation about these processes can lead to unrealistic or inappropriate
goals and action plans that can be detrimental to your training, performance,
and health. Chapter 9 evaluates many of the dietary supplements that are
advertised to help athletes build muscle and lose body fat.
Part III contains specific action plans for achieving your goals. You will
find meal plans to help you build muscle (chapter 10), lose fat (chapter 11),
or build muscle and lose fat at the same time (chapter 12). These nutritionally
sound meal plans include the proper amounts and proportions of calories,
carbohydrate, protein, and fat. In chapter 13 you will learn how to personal-
ize your meal plan and create daily meal patterns (meals and snacks) that
support your training and conditioning program.
Changing weight and body composition is a step-by-step process, so we
recommend that you read the introduction and then begin with the assess-
ments in part I. You may be tempted to start with part III, but without a
detailed assessment of where you are now and what you need to do to
improve your performance in your sport and at your position, you could
easily choose the wrong calorie level and meal plan. Begin at the beginning,
and you will see the results that you desire in the end.
 Acknowledgments

L ife takes us down many paths, and along the way we are blessed to
encounter people who help to shape us. My parents, Annette and Carmine
Macedonio, always believed in me and encouraged me to push my limits.
They planted the seeds for this book and for all my accomplishments, and
I only wish they could have enjoyed the fruit.
I could not have had a more perfect co-author than Marie Dunford, who
not only helped me realize a dream but also made the process enjoyable
and exciting. This project strengthened our friendship and increased my
admiration for Marie.
I’m grateful to Jason Muzinic at Human Kinetics for presenting the chal-
lenge and for having faith in us, trusting us to reach the goal line.
Many thanks to my friends Janet Thomas and Lisa Schackmann for their
expert eyes and insightful suggestions early in the writing process, which
helped us speak more clearly to our readers.
Thanks, too, to my wonderful clients, especially Rudi Johnson, Landon
Johnson, Erin Mikula, Evan Schwinfest, Jill Glassmeyer, Colin Cotton, and
Justin Haire, who have faithfully followed my counsel, given me inspiration,
and proven that this method works.
Special thanks to Heather Healy and the entire HK editorial and produc-
tion team for their support, encouragement, expertise, and creativity in
fine-tuning this work.
To my family—my husband, Matt Sokany; my children, Katherine and
Morgan; and my Aunt Mickey—thanks for being my biggest fans. And to
all who have helped me reach this place—thank you!
—Michele Macedonio

J ason Muzinic has long held a vision for a book about athletes and weight,
and I thank him for trusting me to be a part of it.
Michele Macedonio is a phenomenal co-author. Although we have known
each other for years, only in writing this book did we discover that we are
twin daughters of different mothers.
Thanks to Mike Newell for critiquing the chapters and dropping them
off on his early morning dog walks.
This book would not have been possible without Heather Healy and the
other members of the editorial and production team, who expertly trans-
formed the manuscript to its final form.
To all those named and unnamed, thank you for your help and encour-
agement.
—Marie Dunford

◾ xi ◾
 Introduction

Four Steps to Achieving

Optimal Performance Weight

L ike many people, athletes often look to quick fixes, crash diets, or shortcuts
to achieve weight loss or weight gain. You may have already tried some of
those methods and found that they did not work or that they hindered your
performance. Athletes who want to gain or lose weight and change body
composition to improve performance need to understand that achieving that
end is a process. A process is a series of well-thought-out actions directed
toward specific goals. Athletes work on at least three goals simultaneously:
a performance-based goal, a weight and body-composition goal, and a
health-based goal. Each step of the process builds on a previous step until
the goals are achieved. Although each athlete needs a personalized plan to
meet individualized goals, the process is the same.
To help you understand the process, we have created a four-step approach
that will help you achieve the performance improvements you want. Step 1
is assessment, a necessary precondition to understanding your situation. After
you have assessment information, you can proceed to goal setting (step 2).
Realistic performance, weight, and health goals and objectives are the basis
for creating an action plan, which is step 3. Many athletes are unsuccessful
in their attempts at weight loss or gain because they jump into an action
plan that is not based on realistic goals that suit their unique needs. Step 4 is
evaluation and reassessment, an important step because strategies often need
to be adjusted and because goals, objectives, and priorities change.

Step 1: Assessment
Assessment focuses on two specific areas: an assessment of your sport and a
personal assessment. You must have a clear understanding of your sport and
position and be aware of the height, weight, body build, and body composi-
tion of successful athletes in your sport. Personal assessments that evaluate

◾ 1 ◾
◾ 2 ◾   Introduction

your physical characteristics are critical because they serve as baseline mea-
surements. You need to measure your height, weight, body build, girth, and
body composition as well as your calorie intake and expenditure.
By comparing your physical characteristics with those of successful ath-
letes in your sport, specifically with those who play your position, you can
determine whether you need to change your body weight or body composi-
tion. Most athletes find that they need to make some changes. Because you
cannot make these changes without altering your current caloric intake
(that is, your diet) or your current caloric expenditure (your exercise), the
recording of these data provides valuable baseline information. You will
have to devote some time to obtain the measurements needed. This time is
well spent because assessment gives you the baseline information that you
need to set realistic goals and objectives.

Step 2: Goal Setting

When an athlete says, “I want to lose weight” or “I want to gain muscle
mass,” he or she is setting a goal. Such broad goals keep you focused on
the prize of improving your performance. You may want to gain weight as
muscle so that you are bigger and stronger and can overpower an opponent,
you may want to lose excess body fat to increase your speed, or you may
want to maximize muscle and minimize fat to successfully compete in a
lower weight class. Whatever your goal, to accomplish it, you need to take
many small steps. These small steps, known as objectives, need to be spe-
cific. For example, if your goal is to gain 20 pounds (9 kilograms) of muscle
mass, then one objective should be the amount of lean mass that you hope
to gain at one-month intervals. Gaining 20 pounds (9 kilograms) of muscle
mass may take a year, so objectives are minigoals that can help you stay on
track. Athletes usually have several major goals and numerous objectives.
After you set goals and objectives, you can institute an action plan.

Step 3: Action Plan

To make a change, you should understand the current situation and have
a specific plan to meet your goals. Basic nutrition knowledge is critical
because you need proper nutrition for optimal training, performance, and
good health. Knowing how muscle is gained and how body fat is lost is
prerequisite information for your action plan because you do not want to
make changes that impede progress toward your goals or interfere with
your training and performance. Changing weight or body composition
requires you to modify your diet, and dietary intake is a primary focus of
any action plan. Your plan should include the specific amounts of calories,
carbohydrate, protein, and fat that you need to consume daily.

◾ 2 ◾
 Introduction   ◾ 3 ◾

Step 4: Evaluation and Reassessment

Evaluation and reassessment are necessary to determine whether you are
meeting your goals and objectives and whether your action plan is work-
ing. Remember, you will set goals that relate to performance, weight and
body composition, and health, and you need to evaluate your progress to
see if the results are those you intended. You will have to repeat many of
the personal assessments originally conducted because you will need com-
parative measurements to judge whether you are achieving your goals and
objectives. This step provides valuable feedback and can lead to adjustments
in your goals and objectives and modifications to the strategies needed to
meet them. Changes in weight and body composition cannot be precisely
predicted. Even a well-developed action plan will likely need adjustment
along the way.
The illustration of the four steps to achieving optimal performance weight
in figure 1 on page 4 gives you an overview of the process and shows how
each step builds on the previous ones. As you can see, each chapter in the
book gives specific information about one or more of the steps. Personalizing
this process will help you determine and achieve your optimal performance
weight. Here’s to your success!

◾ 3 ◾
◾ 4 ◾   Introduction

Step 1 Step 2
Assessment Goal Setting
Objectives
Sport assessment (chapter 4)
(chapters 1, 2)
Goals Objectives
Personal (chapter 4) (chapter 4)
assessment
(chapter 3) Objectives
(chapter 4)

Step 4 Step 3
Evaluation & Reassessment Action Plan

Reassessment Strategies for

(chapters 2, 6, 7) building muscle
(chapters 5, 6,
Evaluation of progress 10, 13)
(chapters 4, 6, 7)
Strategies for
losing fat
(chapters 5, 7,
11, 13)

Strategies for
simultaneously
building muscle
and losing fat
(chapters 5, 6, 7,
12, 13)

Maintaining water
and electrolyte
balance
(chapter 8)

Decisions about
using supplements
(chapter 9)

Figure 1 The four steps to achieving optimal performance weight.

E4577/Macedonio/InF 01.01/329570/Gary H./R2

◾ 4 ◾