If your weight is off-setting your performance, meaning that at a lighter weight you may be able to move faster and more efficiently in your sport, then losing weight is a sound strategy. In many situations losing weight has the potential to improve your performance because you are considered over your ideal “playing weight” for your sport or athletic endeavor, so losing weight will likely improve your performance as long as you do not lose weight too quickly.
Weight loss must be slow and controlled in order to NOT sacrifice lean tissue (e.g. muscle) or compromise performance. Therefore, to avoid the loss of LBM, weight control programs for athletes are structured and adjusted differently than commercial weight loss programs including the use of a daily multivitamin and mineral formula (MVM).
Your simple rule: the faster the weight loss, the greater the chance of negatively affecting performance. Ideally, proper weight loss, if needed, should improve performance because you can gain muscle while losing fat/weight as long as you are getting all the nutrition you need by supplementing what the weight reducing diet may be missing, which is at least a MVM. This allows you to move faster (because you’re stronger and lighter) and last longer.
Rate of weight loss: in order to protect performance gains, lean body mass and maintenance of desired body fat or weight loss, ideally no one should try to lose more than a pound weekly and use an MVM. Or – your calorie intake should be no greater than 20% less than the amount of calories you burn. This allows a greater rate of weight loss for more overweight individuals and a slower rate for leaner athletes. In either scenario, if you are already fairly lean or as you approach your goal, weekly weight loss should decrease. Use the dotFIT program to properly guide your weight loss. Simply fill in your personal statistics, set your goal and your program is created.