ATHLETES and their health

Hey..decided to change my project topic

The question now is..

Are athletes actually healthy? Are they in anyway jeopardizing their bodies for their sport? These people are viewed as heroes of the nation..will they do anything and everything to stay at the top? What are some of the risks of being an athlete?

If anyone has any great info on this..(info on how athletes have their health in jeopardy would be great) not so much about athletes and juice as i already found tons of info on that particular thing but just athletes and their health in general

Please reply! no flamming though! :)
Thanks guys

not sure about what, but i know the life expectancy for NFL players and bodybuilders are in their 50s, so that right there says somthing

I also got some more good info..but ill need more..heres some of what i got

The U.S. Olympic Committee states that the average and healthy range of body fat for young women is 20 percent to 22 percent. Most women need at least 17 percent body fat to menstruate, a marker of female health. Nevertheless, many female athletes and dancers, and their coaches, strive for 10 percent to 14 percent body fat or even lower.

Eating disorders are also common among male wrestlers, who have to be at or under a certain weight every week or risk disqualification from meets. In 1997, three wrestlers in North Carolina, Wisconsin and Michigan died, apparently because they were trying to lose too much weight too rapidly so they could compete in lower weight classes.

Two of the men were wearing rubber sweatsuits designed to dehydrate the body at the time of their deaths. The third went into cardiac arrest after he worked out on an exercise bike and refused to drink liquids to replenish those he lost by sweating.

What about baseball Curt Shilling.. He tore his ankle bad, and needs sergury.. But he still has to pitch.. He is schuled to pitch game 6.. The DR, said that if he doesntget surgery, he may always have a serious problem

hmmm good idea! ill look into that! DOnt be shy to post guys!! any ideas will be taken!

i can't remember what its called, but its something like exercise anorexia...basically what it is is people are binging on exercise to look good.....for example someone would go to the gym and stay on a treadmill for hours multiple times a week....there was a special about it on tv a while back...i know thats not a whole lot of info, but maybe it will give you some ideas

I play a lot of competitive softball. Yes - I know that it's a girl's game that was adopted by big drunken fat guys. Despite that, there are also places and times where it's played pretty competitively.

I can say that without question, if I took a poll of the guys I played with on my competitive teams you would definitely find more surgery scars, busted knees or bad backs in that group then you would find in a typical sedentary group that hasn't played a competitive sport since high school. I know plenty of guys who can't really play without using prescription painkillers especially in weekend tournaments where you might play as much as 7-8 games in one day with breaks in between that are just long enough to let your legs stiffen up. The next day we're in tremendous pain but we're back again the next weekend. Why is that? Nobody is getting paid here.

I myself haven't played a game (at least not voluntarily) in about 4-5 yrs without at least 2 ibuprofins (now up to 3 or 4) and that goes on for roughly 200 games/yr. I really gotta start drinking more water so I don't end up with Alonzo Mourning's kidneys.

good reads guys..appreciated! as i said..any ideas ill take!

guys? Post on this!!