‘Making Weight’: The perception and impact of weight management on female boxers

Mills, Claire ORCID: 0000-0003-4156-4593 and James, Thomas (2022) ‘Making Weight’: The perception and impact of weight management on female boxers. Sports and Exercise Medicine – Open Journal, 8 (1). pp. 21-28.

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Abstract

Introduction: Boxing is a weight categorised sport in which athletes are expected to be weighed prior to competition so that the athletes are matched with similar size, strength and power attributes. By obtaining and maintaining a certain weight may result in boxers typically engaging in extreme weight loss practices to ‘make weight’, irrespective of their overall health and wellbeing. Therefore, this research aimed to establish the experiences and perceptions of weight management, how they engage with ‘making weight’ practices and the impact on their overall well-being. Methods: In-depth semi-structured one to one interview’s were conducted with five elite level female amateur boxers over a digital, online platform. A six-stage thematic analysis was used and date collated into themes and sub themes. Results: Data identified 5 key themes and consisted of: emotions surrounding weight gain; long term behavioural impacts; guidance and justifications; comparison to other boxers; and weight management methods. These accounts highlighted the long-term impact engaging in such weight loss methods had on female boxers both physically and psychologically. Conclusion: Typically, boxers engaged in strict and extreme weight-loss behaviours due to negative emotions surrounding weight gain. Significantly these behaviours and emotions have a long-term impact and continue after retirement from boxing.

Item Type:	Article
Article Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Female boxers; Weight management; Disordered eating; Weight loss practices
Subjects:	G Geography. Anthropology. Recreation > GV Recreation Leisure > GV557 Sports H Social Sciences > HQ The family. Marriage. Woman Q Science > QM Human anatomy
Divisions:	Schools and Research Institutes > School of Education and Science
Research Priority Areas:	Health, Life Sciences, Sport and Wellbeing
Depositing User:	Claire Mills
Date Deposited:	07 Nov 2022 16:11
Last Modified:	02 Nov 2023 14:21
URI:	https://eprints.glos.ac.uk/id/eprint/11627

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