Why athletes should stay away from a weigh scale.

When you want to look good or work on your overall fitness, tracking your weight is incredibly tempting. A quick hop on that scale before you go to work, after a meal or just after that good workout. Is my workout having an effect? Am I seeing results? Am I better than I was yesterday? It can be good motivation, but focusing too much on that scale is not a good idea.

It may sound logical, but to describe it simply: when someone wants to look good, they often want to lose body fat. Of course, there are those who look purely at weight, but what does weight really matter when you can look in the mirror with a satisfied eye? 

Yet the focus is often on weight and how much a person weighs. This is logical, because for a beginning athlete or someone who wants to lose that extra bit of fat or gain muscle, weight is an excellent motivator and a good indicator. For example, to get fit, cardio and strength training with a healthy diet are popular. But looking only at weight by no means gives a person a complete picture.

A combination of muscle strength, muscle endurance, mobility and cardio not only burns calories, it provides a strong, stable foundation and muscle building. A fit body with more muscle mass consumes more energy, and as you might see coming: it also weighs more. Muscle mass weighs more than fat, so as muscle increases, so does body weight. Even when you have less body fat than before. It is quite normal for weight loss to stop and athletes to even gain weight.

A positive change which, when focusing too much on body weight, might be perceived as negative. Bummer!

So feel free to use the scale for its intended purpose, but more importantly, look in the mirror. Do you look better than before and are you stronger? Are you happy with that? Great! Don't let a few extra pounds make you crazy.