Thoughts:
1) 7% is a recognized 'healthy' standard for male athletes. 12% for female athletes. Is it 'sport specific'? No...but we are addressing a generalized group of athletes and not the top %10 (elite).
2) A pre-seaon body fat screen to establish an acceptable limit is no different than the initial weigh in/10% we now follow. My only issue, to relieve liability issues on the coach, is to maintain a similar 3 party agreement to drop below the 7% (doctor, parent, coach) with the medical professional establishing the set minimum.
3) Hydration testing, to be of any effect in moderating or mitigating unsafe practice, needs to be conducted on day of certification...i.e. on this date, when this competitive weight was reached, this athlete was not dehydrated.
Mr Mann:
You can contact local Army recruiters, etc and they should be able to provide information about the Army Master Physical Fitness School and the Army's weight control program.
As this is a pilot plan year, a suggestion would be to take the top X teams from each division and weigh them on day one of practice. The more teams the more samples.
Take age, sex and height. If the state can provide, measure each with biometric for body fat content. Take each athlete and get a composite measurement "taping" around the chest, neck and waist (different for females). Correlate to age, sex, and height to create specific body fat baseline.
Thanks again for discussion and your understanding.
Tim Shea
