Received: 4 December 2020 Accepted: 7 December 2020

DOI: 10.1111/obr.13188

SUPPLEMENT ARTICLE

Weight cycling practices in sport: A risk factor for later

obesity?

Jennifer L. Miles-Chan1 | Laurie Isacco2,3

1
Human Nutrition Unit, School of Biological
Sciences, University of Auckland, Auckland,
New Zealand
2
AME2P Laboratory (AME2P, EA 3533),
CRNH Auvergne, Clermont Auvergne
University, Clermont-Ferrand, France
3
Research Unit EA3920 Prognostic Markers
and Regulatory Factors of Cardiovascular
Diseases and Exercise Performance Health
Innovation Platform, University of Bourgogne
Franche-Comté, Besançon, France
Correspondence
Laurie Isacco, AME2P Laboratory, Campus
Universitaire des Cézeaux, 3 rue de la
Chébarde, 63178 Aubière Cedex, France.
Email: laurie.isacco@uca.fr
Summary
Weight cycling, repeated cycles of weight loss and weight regain over time, is com-
monplace amongst many population groups. Although the effect of weight cycling on
future obesity and cardiometabolic risk is still hotly debated, evidence does indicate
that individuals who were normal weight prior to weight cycling are more susceptible
to its adverse consequences than those who were overweight or with obesity. Ath-
letes, and particularly those who compete in the so-called weight-sensitive sports,
are prone to dieting and weight cycling practice owing to the competitive advantage
to be gained from manipulating their body weight. However, in comparison with the
general population, athletes tend to be leaner and weight loss phases more rapid and
superimposed on a background of a high level of physical activity. In this context, it
can be questioned whether weight cycling in this subpopulation will indeed increase
risk for future obesity. It is perhaps surprising that despite recognition that athletes
commonly partake in weight cycling during their career, studies are scarce and firm
conclusions regarding the effect of this practice on future cardiometabolic risk remain
to be drawn. In this review, we examine weight cycling prevalence and strategies in
athletes and the current evidence relating to its short- and long-term consequences.
In addition, a conceptual framework relating the dynamics of weight loss and recov-
ery to athlete characteristics will be discussed, highlighting the need for well-con-
trolled, prospective studies in this specific subpopulation.

KEYWORDS
cardiometabolic risk, fat overshoot, weight cycling, weight fluctuation, weight-sensitive sports

1 | I N T RO DU CT I O N several studies demonstrating a positive relationship with all-cause

Weight cycling, repeated cycles of weight loss and weight regain over
time, is a phenomenon common across many population groups, and
the question as to whether or not weight cycling poses a risk to the
development of obesity and future cardiometabolic diseases has
remained a topic of much debate.1–4 On the one hand, there is a con-
siderable body of evidence to suggest that weight cycling increases the
risk of developing cardiometabolic disorders to a greater extent than
remaining weight stable at a body mass index (BMI) reflecting a state
5
of obesity. On the other hand, at a population level, findings regarding
the long-term consequences of weight cycling are inconsistent—with
mortality6–13 and several others indicating no such relationship.14–20
Despite the above inconsistencies, robust evidence is emerging
to indicate risks to future cardiometabolic health due to weight
cycling are more pronounced in individuals who were normal weight
prior to weight cycling than those who were overweight or with obe-
sity.21 Indeed, in terms of risk for future obesity, there is considerable
scientific evidence showing greater subsequent weight gain in individ-
uals without obesity who diet compared with those who have
not17,22–38 (see Table 1; reviewed by Dulloo et al.39). A particularly
strong example is the study of Pietiläinen and colleagues,34 whose
longitudinal study of 4129 Finnish twins examined BMI collected at

Obesity Reviews. 2020;1–8. wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/obr © 2020 World Obesity Federation 1

2 MILES-CHAN AND ISACCO

T A B L E 1 Prospective studies in subjects without obesity Often overlooked due to a contemporary research focus on
reporting greater weight gain in dieters (and restrained eaters) versus weight loss in individuals with obesity, it is estimated that within the
nondieters
general population, between 15% and 40% of normal-weight individ-
Duration of uals partake in dieting.21 Yet beyond societal pressures and norms,
Authors (year) Cohort (n) follow-up (years) active weight maintenance or manipulation may be a necessity to a
French et al. Healthy Worker Project 2 number of subpopulation groups—perhaps none more so than ath-
(1994)22 (3552)
letes, for whom either acute or chronic energy restriction is a common
Bild et al. (1996)23 Biracial cohort of young 2 feature, repeated across sporting seasons and careers. Given that ath-
adults (4248)
letes tend to be leaner than the general population, their weight loss
Coakley et al. US health professionals 4
phases tend to be rapid and are superimposed on a background of a
(1998)24 (19,478)
high level of physical activity40–43; the question is therefore raised as
McGuire et al. National Weight Control 1
to whether or not weight cycling in this subpopulation will increase
(1998)25 Registry (714)
risk for future obesity and subsequent cardiometabolic disease.
Stice et al. Adolescent girls (692) 3
(1999)26
Korkeila et al. Finnish Twin Cohort 6–15
(1999)27 (7729) 1.1 | Prevalence and weight cycling strategies in
Juhaeri et al. Atherosclerosis Risk 6 athletes
(2001)28 Study (10,554)
Kroke et al. General population/ 2 It remains complex to determine the exact prevalence of weight
(2002)29 nonsmoking (18,000) cycling amongst athletes owing to the multitude of sports and the dif-
Drapeau et al. Quebec Family Study (75) 6 ficulty to perform studies within this population group
(2003)30 (e.g., heterogeneity in terms of athletes, weight management prac-
Vogels et al. Maastricht Weight 2 tices, training regimes, and seasonality). However, current estimates
(2005)31 Maintenance Study
show that weight cycling is commonplace, particularly amongst ath-
(91)
letes who compete in the so-called weight-sensitive sports, where
Field et al. Nurses Health Women 5
there is a competitive advantage to be gained from manipulating an
(2007)32 Study II (2476)
athlete's body weight (i.e., gravitational, aesthetic, and weight cate-
Neumark-Sztainer Project EAT (2516) 5
et al. (2007)33 gory sports).21 Moreover, weight loss undertaken within these cycles
is often rapid.40,44–46 For instance, Steen and Brownell reported that
Field et al. Nurses Health Study 12
(2009)17 (44,882) 41% of American collegiate wrestlers experienced weight cycling of
Pietiläinen et al. Population-based 10 between 5 and 9 kg each week of the season.47 In studies involving
(2012)34 FinnTwin study (4129) wrestlers of different competition levels, prevalence of weight cycling
Siahpush et al. HILDA survey (8824) 1 ranges from 40% to 90%.48–50 Similarly, Brito and colleagues
(2015)35 observed that 60% of combat sport athletes have experienced rapid
Kärkkäinen et al. Population-based 10 weight loss strategies,51 and Artioli and colleagues reported that
(2018)36 FinnTwin16 study approximately >85% of judo athletes reduced precompetition body
(4679)
mass.46 It is worth noting however that the majority of studies have
Goldschmidt et al. Project EAT (1091) 15
been performed in combat sports, and the large heterogeneity of the
(2018)37
prevalence may be due to differences in the methods used to screen
Sares-Jäske et al. Finnish Health 2000 11
weight cyclers and in the definition of weight cycling. There is indeed
(2019)38 Survey (2785)
no universally accepted definition of weight cycling but many possible
Note: Reviewed in Dulloo et al.39 and updated from 2015 onward.
variations on the same theme. As pointed out by Montani et al.,5,21
Abbreviations: EAT, Project Eating and Activity in Teens and Young
Adults; HILDA, Household Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia.
weight cycles may vary in duration or amplitude, and cutoffs may be
expressed either as absolute (kilogram) changes or as percentage
changes. Furthermore, the number of cycles may be highly variable:
16, 17, and 25 years of age in relation to the number of intentional this can range from one single large cycle to repeated weight cycles in
weight loss episodes (>5 kg). They found that in normal-weight indi- unsuccessful dieters, or in athletes who undergo seasonal or even
viduals, the lower the initial BMI at 16 years of age and the greater weekly weight losses in order to make a weight category.5,21
the number of weight cycles, the greater the increase in BMI across Athletes partake in weight cycling practices in order to take
the study period, concluding that dieting per se may promote subse- advantage against other competitors. This advantage might be in
quent weight gain, independent of genetic factors, in an essentially terms of getting down to a competitive weight to enter within a spe-
normal-weight cohort, and this to hold particularly true in individuals cific weight category, to obtain an advantage over lighter, smaller, and
of lower initial BMI. weaker opponents, for artistic or technical purposes, or simply as a
MILES-CHAN AND ISACCO
secondary outcome of optimizing body composition for
competition.40–43,51,52 Acute and/or chronic weight cycling practices
across a sporting season and career are thus commonplace in this
population group, yet the techniques employed vary—most frequently
energy and fluid restriction, and commonly associated with excessive
exercise, but plastic suits and/or vomiting, laxative intake, and sauna
48,53
are also often used. Interestingly, in their study of combat sport
competitors, Brito and colleagues reported an increase in energy
expenditure through physical activity as the most common technique
of weight reduction (90.7%), whereas fluid restriction is the least used
(32.7%).51
The magnitude of weight loss achieved per cycle is also heteroge-
neous amongst athletes. In their 2011 review, Sundgot-Borgen and
Garthe reported that athletes may lose up to 13% of body weight
43
with an average of 3%–6% lost during a season. Accordingly, in a
large cohort of judo competitors, athletes experienced rapid weight
loss ranging from 2% to 10% of their body mass over a mean period
of 7 days.46 Similarly, in a recent study, judo athletes lost 3% of their
54
body mass over a 7-day period. However, as most of the studies on
this topic are focused on combat sports due to the nature of the
weight cycles involved (i.e., rapid weight loss for reaching a weight
category and regain after competition), and therefore the relative ease
of identifying each weight cycle, the amplitude of weight cycles is
likely discipline dependent. Indeed, in gravitational and aesthetic
sports, the fluctuations tend to be slower with chronic (rather than
acute) energy restriction commonplace.
1.2 | Short- and long-term consequences
Empirical and scientific evidence indicates that the more often weight
cycling is undertaken, the more difficult it becomes for an athlete to
“make weight” (i.e., to reduce body weight to reach a defined weight
category cutoff). As weight rebounds during the gaining phase(s) of the
cycle to higher than the starting value, increasingly aggressive methods
are employed to reach the target weight in the future.43,55 Additionally,
as the majority of the athletes undergoing weight cycling experience
considerable weight gain at the end of each cycle, there is often a need
to switch to a higher weight class, for weight category sports, either
during or subsequent seasons.43,55,56 For instance, in a 1970 study
focusing on competitive wrestlers, Tipton and Tcheng reported an aver-
age additional weight gain of 6.2 kg after each competition season.57
The short-term consequences of weight loss in athletes has
received considerable attention, with the Relative Energy Deficiency
in Sport (RED-S) model developed to describe the effects on both
health and performance resulting from low energy availability
41,42
(LEA). Indeed, this relative energy deficiency leads to impaired
physiological functions (e.g., metabolic rate, body composition, cardio-
respiratory, menstrual function, bone health, and immunity) and
detrimental responsiveness to training and competition (e.g., training
41,42
load, injury, and recovery). However, the consequences of rapid
weight regain and importantly, the long-term consequences of
the additional (above baseline) weight gained are less clear,
3
particularly in terms of what occurs after an athlete retires from
competitive sport.
Studies investigating the long-term consequences of weight
cycling in athletes are scarce due to the difficulty of conducting
research within the sporting context (e.g., competitive pressures and
considerable differences between and within sporting disciplines) and
the longitudinal design needed, complicated by variability in career
length and demands.
In order to investigate the effects of weight cycling on future
body weight gain, Saarni and colleagues58 conducted a relatively large
follow-up study of male elite athletes (n = 2033 at baseline) who had
represented Finland at the Olympic games or equivalent competitions
between 1920 and 1965. In their study, athletes were categorized as
weight cyclers if they had participated in weight-sensitive sports—
such as boxing, weight lifting, and wrestling. Other athletes
(designated as “nonweight cyclers”) and an age-matched control
group of men with no athletic background were used as comparators.
By analyzing individual responses to questionnaires conducted in
1985, 1995, and 2001, they found that the weight cyclers had gained
the most units of BMI since age 20 of the three groups and by 1985
were twice as likely as the control group and more than three times
as likely than other athletes to be with obesity. The authors noted
that the enhanced weight gain of weight cyclers could not be
accounted for by differences in either their weight at 20 years of
age or contemporary (2006) health habits. Similarly, Emami et al.
compared the cardiometabolic risks between active power sport
athletes (specifically wrestling, judo, and powerlifting), ex-power
sport athletes, and nonathletes.59 Power sports are well known to
be associated with weight cycling practice, and the authors observed
that the end of a sport career and weight cycling lead to adverse
cardiometabolic profile.59 Nevertheless, conflicting findings have
also been reported. Indeed, Marquet and colleagues investigated the
effect of practicing weight cycling during sport careers on post-career
BMI (mean follow-up of 22 years).60 This study presented consider-
ably more detail concerning the weight cycling history of the retired
athletes (i.e., number of diets undertaken during their career, the
length of their career, and the total body weight flux over this time
period) rather than the participation in weight cycling being
assumed—as was the case in the two aforementioned studies. The
authors reported no significant difference in pattern of BMI change
and body mass gain between weight cyclers and nonweight cyclers.
However, they noted that BMI change differed depending on the type
of sport the athlete undertook and that BMI was higher post-career,
regardless of dieting, and showed a similar pattern to that of the
general population. Marquet et al. postulated that the lack of
observed effect was most likely due to the high level of physical activ-
ity still being practiced after retirement by the athletes who partici-
pated in their study.60 Similarly, they noted that the result
discrepancies between their study and the one of Saarni et al. may be
due to the difference in obesity prevalence within the control group
and that studies were performed during two different eras
(1920–1965 for Saarni et al.'s study vs. 1978–2003 for Marquet
et al.'s study) with a drastic evolution in sport occurring between
4 MILES-CHAN AND ISACCO
these periods (e.g., technical demand, equipment, scientific knowl-
edge, and training load).
Thus, it remains unclear whether or not weight cycling in sports is
a risk factor for later obesity, owing mainly to the small number of
studies on this topic, the inconsistencies in the definition of weight
cycling used (e.g., in terms of length of a cycle and the magnitude of
the weight lost and gained), or the assumption of participation in
weight cycling rather than its direct observation/measurement. In
addition, there is considerable variability in the experimental designs
used, with a lack of prospective data and studies mostly focused on
cross-sectional BMI data collected after retirement. All of these fac-
tors make it difficult to draw firm conclusions. Regardless, it seems
pertinent to investigate the conceptual mechanistic framework by
which weight cycling could affect future adiposity and to hypothesize
if, and how, these dynamic and rapid body weight changes, sup-
erimposed on a background of high levels of physical activity, may
impact on overall body composition and consequent health.
2 | D Y NA M I C S O F W E I G H T L O S S A N D
RECOVERY
2.1 | Energy partitioning
More than 30 years ago, Gilbert Forbes published a series of predic-
tive models, indicating that, in the nonathletic population, the compo-
sition of weight lost or gained through dietary manipulation is
(logarithmically) related to an individual's initial body fat mass.61 That
is to say, the leaner an individual prior to weight loss, or gain, the
greater the proportion of weight lost, or gained, as fat-free mass
61
(FFM). However, although the Forbes curve has been validated
through dietary intervention studies conducted within the general
population (from those who are lean to those with obesity), a number
of questions remain as to whether or not the same predictive relation-
ship is observed in athletes, who, in addition to higher FFM, generally
exhibit much higher levels of physical activity.
In 2017, Silva and colleagues set out to test this concept over one
athletic season in a group of 70 athletes, using a four-compartment
62
model to more accurately assess body composition. At the end of a
5- to 10-month season, depending on the sport involved, participants
were divided into those who had lost more than 1.5% of their pre-
season body weight and those who had gained more than 1.5% of
preseason weight. The authors reported that the vast majority of
weight loss composed of fat mass (90%) whereas weight gained was
characterized predominately by FFM (95%). This finding contradicts
the theoretical models derived in nonathletic populations, which pre-
dict that a much higher degree of FFM would have been lost and a
higher degree of fat mass gained. Accordingly, the calculated energy
density of the weight loss observed in this study was much greater
than that predicted using two pre-Forbes models (the “Quarter FFM
Rule” of Webster et al.63 and “Wishnofsky Rule”64), due to the higher
energy density of fat versus FFM. Silva and colleagues also noted little
relationship between predicted (from the Forbes curve) and actual
change in FFM. Thus, they concluded the Forbes curve invalid for
determining the energy partition ratio of athletes. This conclusion is
supported by an earlier study conducted in Norway, which looked at
24 elite athletes who underwent weight loss via energy restriction
coupled with strength training. Athletes were randomized to one of
two diet programs such that they would lose weight either slowly
(around 0.7% of their body weight per week) or rapidly (at around
1.4% body weight per week) until a desired weight loss of at least 4%
was achieved.65 Garthe and colleagues observed that FFM was
maintained during weight loss in the “slow” group and increased in
the “fast” group, with no correlation between initial fat mass and
change in lean body mass (LBM).65
With so few investigations of energy partitioning between fat
and FFM (i.e., lean-fat partitioning) conducted within the athletic
population, it is tempting to extrapolate findings from weight loss
intervention studies involving increased levels of physical activity
conducted within the general population, for example, studies show-
ing the preservation of FFM when physical activity (particularly
resistance training) is incorporated into weight loss interventions in
those with overweight and obesity.66,67 However, it is important to
bear in mind that, firstly, most studies in the athletic population
have involved minor weight loss (often less than a few percent)
compared with studies in the general population, or indeed com-
pared with the degree weight loss that is achieved during weight
cycling in some sporting disciplines (e.g., a 10% body weight loss
within 7 days46). Secondly, as weight loss is often rapid in this con-
text, dehydration is a common feature—particularly in light of the
weight loss modalities employed (e.g., fluid restriction, sweat suits,
and sauna)—and as such, assumption of a constant density of FFM,
a key assumption underpinning the majority of common body com-
position methodologies,68,69 is violated. Hence, extrapolation of
findings between population groups or indeed sporting disciplines
and interpretation of existing research concerning the composition
of body weight lost in athletes should both be undertaken with con-
siderable caution.
2.2 | Collateral fattening
A cardinal feature of the hypothesis that weight cycling predisposes
to obesity is that during each weight cycle, the amount of body fat
regained is greater than the amount of fat lost—a phenomenon that
has been referred to as fat overshooting.70 The Minnesota Starvation
Experiment arguably best illustrates the relationship between body
composition loss and recovery in normal-weight individuals70,71 and
provides conceptual support for an increased risk of obesity following
weight cycling in athletes. Following the imposed 25% loss of body
weight (approximately 70% body fat + 27% FFM), it was
observed that:
• The leaner the participant prior to weight loss, the greater the por-
tion of weight lost as FFM—with this lean-fat partitioning charac-
teristic preserved during recovery.71
MILES-CHAN AND ISACCO 5

• Weight gain during the recovery phase was driven by hyperphagia,
and although fat mass was preferentially recovered, this hyperpha-
72
gia persisted until FFM had returned to baseline values.
When taken together, the above findings demonstrated that
leaner individuals are more prone to “overshooting” of body fat values
during recovery, to beyond those at baseline. This increase in adipos-
ity is a necessary by-product of the replenishment of FFM, that is,
“collateral fattening.”73 Hence, ideally, FFM should be preserved dur-
ing weight loss and/or fat mass, and FFM recovery should be synchro-
nized, in order to avoid this collateral fattening (and increased risk of
obesity) from occurring. It is for this reason that the high level of phys-
ical activity undertaken by athletes during weight cycling is hypothe-
sized to defend against an increase in adiposity (Figure 1).
Although the conscientious objectors who participated in the
Minnesota Starvation Experiment were not athletes per se, they were
lean (14 ± 5% body fat) by both contemporary and present-day
standards,71 with habitual physical activity levels likely higher than
present-day averages. 74
However, as regular intense physical activity
was not undertaken during the weight loss phase of the experiment,
what evidence do we have that such activity is protective against
FFM loss and/or collateral fattening?
Although often assumed to be protective, scientific evidence in
support of a protective role of physical activity during weight loss is
mixed and derives mainly from studies of lifestyle interventions in pre-
viously sedentary individuals with overweight or obesity. In general,
the incorporation of exercise into such interventions is noted to
preserve FFM relative to dieting alone75; however, FFM loss is still
likely to occur. Perhaps the most extreme example of this is the Big-
gest Loser televised weight loss competition, where individuals with
obesity underwent 30 weeks of intensive lifestyle modification,
including incorporation of a minimum of 2 h/day of vigorous exercise.
Yet in spite of inclusion of such high levels of physical activity, 18%
of weight lost came from the loss of FFM,76 although no evidence of
a preferential recovery of fat mass was observed at a 6-year follow-
up of their obesity relapse.77
The military environment provides a number of parallels to the
sporting context, in particular, the extreme multistressor environ-
ments experienced during training of special forces such as the US
Army Rangers. In general, the US Army Rangers undergo 8 weeks of
training during energy deficit—where the energy requirements of lean
recruits increase owing to prolonged intense physical activity but are
not met through food rations, resulting in a body weight loss of
12%. In 10 individuals undergoing this training, it was shown that
during the subsequent recovery period (5 weeks), body weight over-
shot by 5 kg, comprising predominately of fat, with body fat mass
higher in all 10 participants post- versus pre-training,78 and increases
occurring primarily in the trunk.79 Similarly, following four repeated
cycles of energy deficit and recovery, a subsequent study in the US
Army Rangers reported an absolute fat overshoot of 40% (4 kg)
compared with pre-training with hyperphagia persisting beyond fat
mass recovery.80 Furthermore, these studies, and those of others,81,82
indicate that at an initial body fat of 4%–6% in healthy males
(2.5 kg), which would not be uncommon amongst some athletes,

F I G U R E 1 Schematic diagrams depicting

dynamics of weight loss and recovery in the
general population and athletes. Adapted from
Dulloo et al.73 The upper panel (A) shows the
dynamics of body composition recovery in the
general population, where body fat recovery is
accelerated (either by adaptive thermogenesis or
by excessive hyperphagia or by both) relative to
the recovery of FFM, resulting in
desynchronization of fat and FFM recoveries and
fat overshooting (collateral fattening).73 The
lower panel (B) shows a hypothetical model of
body composition recovery in athletes, where
(a) high levels of physical activity may preserve
FFM during weight loss and/or synchronization
of FFM and fat mass recoveries and (b) post-
starvation hyperphagia may be countered by
conscious dietary restriction, thus preventing
collateral fattening (c). FFM, fat-free mass
6 MILES-CHAN AND ISACCO
weight loss comprises almost entirely of FFM loss, with very little loss
in body fat.83 Interestingly, a study of Norwegian military cadets
suggested that women maintain a more fat-predominant fuel metabo-
lism during weight loss in this context,84 but whether this is solely rep-
resentative of sex differences in baseline body fat mass and how this
might influence energy partitioning during weight recovery remains to
be investigated.
One may further speculate as to whether the post-starvation
hyperphagia observed in both the nonathletic and the military
populations is seen in athletes, or if this subconscious autoregulatory
drive to eat is countered by conscious control related to the tight
nutritional regulation many athletes undertake during their sporting
careers. Indeed, it is recognized that the prevalence of eating
disorders is higher in retired athletes compared with the general pop-
85
ulation and may itself mitigate, enhance, or delay weight cycling-
induced adiposity.
Interestingly, during the 1980s–1990s, studies in rural Gam-
bia86,87 observed that women experienced seasonal weight fluctua-
tions of 6 kg over the yearly “hungry season” (between depletion of
food reserves from one harvest and supply of food from the next),
representing an average cycling of 50%–60% of a woman's body fat
stores each year. Yet cross-sectional data indicated that this popula-
tion was relatively protected against the age-related decline in LBM
(as a % body weight) observed in noncycling British Caucasian
women.86 This pattern was also observed in men, with the authors
attributing the maintenance of a high LBM to the high level of physi-
cal activity undertaken by the Gambian group. Given the leanness of
the Gambia cohorts (11% body fat in women87), regular physical
activity, and periods of seasonally imposed energy restriction, a num-
ber of parallels may perhaps be drawn between this rural population
and an athletic population.
3 | C O N CL U S I O N S
There is much debate as to whether weight cycling, routinely under-
taken by athletes across a variety of sporting disciplines, is detrimental
to future obesity and consequently cardiometabolic risk. Despite evi-
dence indicating such a link within the general population, it has been
suggested that the background of high physical activity levels in ath-
letes, onto which weight cycling is superimposed, will provide relative
protection of FFM during weight loss and consequently against collat-
eral fattening during weight recovery. However, direct support of this
hypothesis within the sporting context is lacking and findings
conflicting—with scientific enquiry hampered due primarily to the
large variability in weight cycling practices both within and across
sporting disciplines. Moreover, literature relating to the military set-
ting (somewhat analogous to athletes) indicates that the leaner the
individual undergoing intense physical activity during energy deficit,
the greater the subsequent fat overshoot. Weight gain during recov-
ery phase appears to be driven by hyperphagia, which persists beyond
fat mass recovery and related to the completion of FFM recovery in
the nonathletic and military population. Indeed, using a mathematical
model of weight cycling to predict the excess fat that could be gained
through repeated dieting and multiple weight cycles from a standpoint
of body composition autoregulation, it could be predicted that the
cumulative amount of fat overshoot over several cycles results in obe-
sity in people who are initially lean.88 Whether this subconscious
autoregulatory drive to eat in order to restore any FFM deficit exists
in athletes is still questioned. Overall, beyond highlighting the need
for caution when extrapolating findings across population groups,
there is a need for well-controlled, prospective investigations to
determine whether weight cycling is indeed putting athletes at risk of
future obesity.
ACKNOWLEDG MENT
JLM-C is the recipient of a Sir Charles Hercus Health Research Fel-
lowship from the Health Research Council of New Zealand.
CONFLIC T OF INT ER E ST
The authors declare no conflict of interest.
OR CID
Jennifer L. Miles-Chan https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0313-7048
Laurie Isacco https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1152-3902
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How to cite this article: Miles-Chan JL, Isacco L. Weight
cycling practices in sport: A risk factor for later obesity?
Obesity Reviews. 2020;1–8. https://doi.org/10.1111/obr.
13188