Fit, Baseball Fit or Healthy?

by E5 on Apr 28, 2008 8:45 PM EDT

A lot of baseball players are considered to be fit but would be considered overweight and I wonder how that affects athletic performance and in the long run affects the players health. In this story it appears that long term health is still affected even if one is physically active but still over weight. I know of a few studies that suggest that some athletic performance is affected by the health of the heart. The question then becomes at what point is performance negatively affected by being over weight. I don't believe that this has ever been studied or is considered when teams sign or resign players. It us something I think will become an important factor in the future as more teams look for more flaws to avoid paying to much for players.

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The typical measure of whether someone is overweight, or whether they are obese, is Body Mass Index. BMI is often unreliable, as incredibly fit people can be labeled as overweight.

I suspect that in baseball the effects of being slightly overweight aren’t as severe in other sports, and it has little impact on long-term performance. Maybe fewer stolen bases, and a greater risk of knee problems (see Ortiz, David).

by 0157H7 on Apr 29, 2008 3:04 PM EDT reply actions

Baseball Fit

BMI is probably the worst measurement for weight. It is only the ratio of your height and weight. According to BMI have been overweight since my Junior year of high school. At the time I was 5’9” and weighed 165lbs. This is on the border of normal to overweight even though at the time I played baseball and football and had six pack abs (ahh the good old days). Does that make since to you?

Lets look at some of the Red Sox players.(I chose the ones people would consider small or skinny)

Player Height Weight BMI

Buchholz 6’3” 190 25
Lugo 6’1” 175 22
Pedroia 5’9” 180 27
Dice K 6’0” 185 26

This would make DP and Dice K overweight and Buchholz on the border or normal and overweight. Lugo (who looks sickly thin) is said to be normal.

BMI does not take into affect that athletes have more muscle and subsequently weigh more then a “normal” person. Percent body fat is a much better use of determining if someone is “overweight”.

That being said there have been studies that show the more you weigh the pressure is applied to your main joints (hips, knees, ankles, back) this could be a problem whether it be muscle or fat. This still however has nothing to do with your heart.

by drabidea on Apr 29, 2008 4:03 PM EDT reply actions