Did you know that most athletes add a lot of weight after retirement and the completion of their sports career? Sadly, most people don't. Today, we'll be discussing 7 reasons why most athletes do this (instead of staying fit), and also how they can stay healthy and in shape even after retirement.
The feeling of being stuck and not moving forward is very uncomfortable. It might drive you to do things that are usually outside your comfort zone. Why do athletes tend to put on so much weight after they retire? And is it all in their head or is there a real reason behind this trend?
Table of Contents
1. Why Most Athletes Add a Lot of Weight After Retirement
1.5. Increased Social Activities
Why Most Athletes Add a Lot of Weight After Retirement
Many athletes who retire gain quite a bit of weight. They tend to stop exercising and don't watch what they eat. Often they end up overeating without being aware of it.
As a result, many former athletes gain 20, 30, or even more pounds after retirement. Here are a few reasons why athletes tend to add a lot of weight after they retire from their careers:
1. Lack of Exercise
If you’re an athlete, you might be wondering how much weight you can gain after retirement. For most athletes, the answer is a lot.
Weight gain is a common problem for retired athletes because they don’t have the same level of physical activity anymore. You’re no longer getting the same level of exercise and your body starts storing fat more easily.
A sedentary lifestyle also causes some people to gain weight due to certain health conditions such as heart disease or diabetes.
It’s easy to see why many former athletes gain so much weight — they simply sit around eating all day long. But how much weight can you expect to gain? And how do you avoid gaining too much?
Most athletes who retire from sports add a lot of weight after retirement. This is because they are not accustomed to doing regular exercise and they are not used to eating healthy food.
There are many reasons why athletes gain weight after retirement, but the main cause is that they stop exercising regularly.
I have seen many athletes who retired from sports gain a lot of weight after retirement. One friend of mine gained so much weight that he could not recognize himself when he looked at his photos from his younger days! He had to do some serious workouts before he could look like his old self again.
The Good News
The good news is you can reverse this trend by making exercise a top priority and incorporating it into your daily routine. Here are some tips to help you do just that:
Make exercise part of your morning routine. The first thing many people do when they wake up is grab their phone or computer and check social media or email.
Instead, get up early and go for a walk or run before work. This will get your body moving while also giving you time to clear your head before starting the day.
If you prefer working out at lunchtime, then plan so that your schedule allows for this change in routine instead of defaulting back to watching TV or surfing the web during lunch break.
Take care of yourself after workouts with proper nutrition and hydration. After exercising, your body needs more than just water to replenish its fluids — it also needs protein and carbohydrates from healthy sources like nuts, seeds, etc.
2. Emotional Eating
It is not unusual for athletes to gain weight after retirement, but the reasons are not always the same. Some of these athletes fail to realize that their body has changed and needs a different diet than before. Others simply do not care about their appearance and pay no attention to what they eat.
The most common reason why athletes add a lot of weight after retirement is emotional eating.
Many sports fans have noticed that athletes who retire often become fat. They seem to be eating more than ever before and still gaining weight. The fact that they have retired from sports does not affect their desire to eat or their food choices in any way.
Many former athletes tend to eat more junk food when they quit playing than when they were still active in the sport. They may have had strict diets while training but now they can eat whatever they want!
Tips That Can Help Athletes Out
If this sounds familiar, here are some tips for changing your habits:
- Get involved in new activities — join a book club or other social group; volunteer at an animal shelter or nursing home; take up painting or woodworking; start exercising again (if appropriate). Having a purpose will help keep your mind off food.
- Eat smaller portions at meals and snacks, along with healthier foods like fruits, vegetables, and whole grains instead of junk food. Cooking healthy meals will also make it easier on your wallet because the ingredients are cheaper than processed foods.
- Consider joining Weight Watchers or another group
3. Stressful Situations
After retirement, most athletes put on a significant amount of weight. This is because they are used to a certain level of stress in their lives and when the pressure is off, they seek to replace that stress with food.
The stress of being an athlete is both physical and mental. To compete at the highest level you have to be mentally tough as well as physically fit.
However, after retirement, you lose this constant source of stress and don't know how to replace it. So many people just turn to food for comfort which leads to obesity.
Athletes also tend to have high levels of self-esteem because they can perform at their peak level at all times. When they retire from sports, this feeling goes away and so does their self-confidence.
This can lead them down a path where they feel like they don't have anything else going for them besides their looks so they begin eating more than usual to fill that void in their life.
We have discussed these topics in other posts: 1. Beyond Body: The Best Personalised Wellness and Weight Loss Book
2. How To Work Out And Stay Healthy: 11 Tips For Beginners. Kindly go through them.
4. Hormonal Changes
Many athletes gain weight after retirement due to hormonal changes that occur in the body. Let's just discuss two of the many hormones that are involved:
Leptin: The Hormone That Tells You to Stop Eating
Leptin is a hormone secreted by the fat cells that tell you when to stop eating. People who have high levels of leptin will not feel hungry as long as their body fat stores are adequate. When you lose weight, your leptin levels drop, and your appetite increases. This can lead to overeating and weight gain.
Testosterone: The Hormone That Helps You Build Muscle
Testosterone is another hormone that plays an important role in muscle building and fat burning. Testosterone helps with muscle growth, strength gains, and fat loss by increasing protein synthesis and decreasing muscle breakdown (protein catabolism). With age and if you do not exercise regularly, testosterone levels decline which leads to less muscle growth and reduced fat loss.
5. Increased Social Activities
One of the main reasons behind this is that they tend to increase their social activities. This happens because they have more time on their hands and they can indulge in any activity they want to. You've probably heard of pro athletes who retire and gain a lot of weight. It's not uncommon to see these athletes balloon, but why do they do it?
Social activities are one factor. After retiring from the NFL, former quarterback Tony Romo was quoted as saying he gained 30 pounds because he was “eating well” and “living well” after retiring from football.
Athletes often have a difficult time adjusting to retirement. Retired NFL player Terrell Owens went through rehab for an addiction to painkillers and alcohol after retiring from football.
He also talked about how difficult it was for him to stay away from social media, which is still one of the main ways he interacts with fans.
In addition to social activities, retired athletes often have more free time on their hands and may spend more time in front of the TV or computer than they did when they were playing sports professionally.
Many also find themselves bored without their usual routine and workout schedule; this can lead them to overeat or make bad food choices when they aren't exercising regularly anymore.
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6. Genetic Factors
One of the most important reasons why athletes add a lot of weight after retirement is genetic factors. According to a study conducted by researchers from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, and published in the journal PLOS ONE, about 65% of sportsmen who take part in endurance sports have a higher risk of developing obesity after retiring from their sport.
The researchers analyzed genetic data from more than 18,000 participants who had participated in one of seven endurance sports competitions: running, cycling, triathlon, swimming, or skiing.
They found that out of these 18,000 participants, 73% were male and 27% were female. After analyzing their DNA samples, they discovered that there was a genetic link between obesity and participation in endurance sports.
The researchers also discovered that those who participated in long-distance races had 49% more body fat than those who did not participate in such races. Other factors showed links between genetics and weight gain after retirement such as age at retirement or participation level (low/high).
7. Change of Lifestyle
Another reason for adding a lot of weight after retirement is a lifestyle change. This mainly happens when an athlete retires from sports and starts doing something else for a living. For example, if you were a swimmer during your early days, but later on decided to become an engineer then there are chances that you will gain weight as compared to before because of your new profession.
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Takeaway
While it might be nice to imagine that athletes can eat whatever they want during their playing days and still maintain their game-ready physique, the truth of the matter is that many athletes who take up the post-career lifestyle struggle with piling on the pounds.
The key is probably moderation—which is easier said than done when you're surrounded by food all day and your daily exercise routine has been replaced by an all-you-can-eat buffet.
In any case, all is not lost for former athletes—the best way to avoid a post-care-card fate is probably to change your lifestyle completely and focus on exercise and healthy eating during the off-season (which given the pace of the NBA playoffs feels like a lifetime away), then go back to your often unhealthy habits once you're in training.
