Why do we find ourselves continually revisiting this topic of weight loss? Not just for offensive line athletes, but our society in general has an obsession with “ideal” body weight and appearance. Next to the impossible standard set by society for women and their bodies, offensive line athletes might very well come in a distant second for having the most maligned image of their bodies. We make it clear at OLP™ that health, well-being, and performance supersede the “ideal” weight that is arbitrarily set by a coach.

So what happens when you have been lifting weights and conditioning, eating clean, working your mobility, getting your sleep, improving your skill acquisition, watching film, learning the playbook, and making good lifestyle choices in the off-season? The answer is: You become a better o-line athlete! Life is good, right? However, you report to training camp heavier than what your coach considers ideal. You’re labeled as “fat, lazy, and an underachiever,” because you didn’t weigh what the coach decided you should weigh. Now, others start to think that they have right to judge you the same way, and what’s worse, you begin to devalue yourself. Over time, this eats away your self-esteem (because it sure doesn’t improve it), increases negative stress and cortisol levels, and consequently, your health, well-being, and performance will suffer. Welcome to the world women live in.

Remember this: A standard is going to be impossible to meet when the measuring stick for that standard is based in erroneous reasoning (ignorance).

Here are three tips I recommend if you’ve been doing your due diligence, but still end up “too heavy.”

Don’t Fall for Quick Fixes
Quick fixes never fix anything long-term, because they fail to address the underlying problem. A football season and the longevity of your career is “the long-term.” To play your best and decrease your chance of injury during the season don’t rely on quick fixes to make weight.

Some examples would be:
Dehydration by wearing multiple layers of clothing during practice, spending excessive time in the sauna/steam rooms, and using diuretics.
Caloric restriction (starving yourself), thus, withholding from your body the necessary building blocks to repair itself.
Traditional aerobic training which will burn muscle and rob you of strength.

You’ve became better in the off-season and want to continue getting better. These quick fixes will get you to the coach’s desired weight, but they will shock your body out of its smooth rhythm and set back the timeframe for your development as an o-lineman.

Stay The Course
This takes faith, but believe in the process and stay the course. Keep The Main Thing front and center. Every day of training camp, be focused on improving as a player. Maintain the discipline you’ve had during the off-season. Continue eating clean, hydrating, and lifting weights. You will continue to lean out. This may not show up on the scale, but it would show up on a body comp test. And most importantly, it will show up on the field. Don’t break character. You have the recipe, so keep cooking.

See The Big Picture 
Why hasn’t the weight loss and diet industry made a dent in the rates of obesity? The belief that money can assure quick and painless weight loss obscures the fact that maintaining your body remains a lifelong journey. As an o-lineman, you cannot have a career if you don’t have a healthy body and this is a lifestyle choice, not a seasonal one. So, remember that the danger of focusing on weight loss during training camp might very well be the longevity and success of your career. Continue molding yourself into the best player you can be through improvements in your performance, and don’t let “being too heavy” distract you from this goal. It is our hope that body comp testing will soon replace picking a number on the scale as an indicator of an o-line athlete’s physical condition. Time will tell.