- Jan 22, 2011
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She looks right about the size I'd want most 13 year old softball players to be, with room to add a few more pounds of muscle. But I'm not a medical professional, just a softball coach.
My experience as a pediatrician is that athletic girls that register as overweight as teens have to be very careful when they stop playing sports or they will convert muscle mass to fatty adipose tissue and simply become overweight ex athletes. As a doctor it is my responsibility to warn patients and parents of this reality. It's not a fun or easy conversation and I certainly don't shame anyone but I do tell them that your body type is at risk for having a weight problem if you slow down your athletics and don't adjust your eating accordingly. Now before you jump all over me realize that I have thousands upon thousands of patients to base my conclusions on while you each have your couple of Dds or teams/students you have coached over the years. Estrogen is not a womans friend as girls go through puberty. Athletic boys have an advantage as testosterone will help convert to muscle mass while estrogen is all about adipose. Either way though extra weight still damages bones and joints eventually so it's an important conversation to have.
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Uh...having been at the old park a couple of times, it seems that ex-athletes gaining weight is gender neutral.
My experience as a pediatrician is that athletic girls that register as overweight as teens have to be very careful when they stop playing sports or they will convert muscle mass to fatty adipose tissue and simply become overweight ex athletes.
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From my very limited sample size, I would agree with you. Watched it happen to a girl who was heavily involved in athletics thru high school and college. When she graduated she stopped doing athletics. It didn't take long for the ripped muscular build to fade away and she put on some weight when she didn't adjust her eating.
I hate to nitpick, but muscle mass isn't "converted" to fat. You may lose muscle and gain fat, for various reasons, but there is no "conversion" strictly speaking. The body isn't able to convert different tissue types(one mostly made of protein e.g. muscle and the other adipose e.g. fat) like that...