“I gained weight with the injury, but pretty much controlled, and I’m on a downward curve. It allows me to move. » Before his winning return in early February 2023 to the Paris-Bercy Grand Slam Tournament, the first competition since his ankle injury in August 2022, judoka Teddy Riner did not dodge the endless questions about his weight. His fight with the balance, he has almost made a soap opera since his preparation for the last Olympic Games in Tokyo, for which the 33-year-old colossus had shed 27 kg.
Some have come back to cling to his giant body that can always succumb to his passion for sweets. But the king of the tatami does not hesitate to mention his work with nutritionists as his little weaknesses, without making it a taboo. Because yes, the champions also have weight problems, even if they hardly talk about it. It is even an obsession for many, and not only for disciplines requiring a weigh-in before competing.
The weight, this obsession
“In rugby, the culture of the heaviest weight remains deeply rooted, which would be synonymous with performance.indicates for example Julien Rebeyrol, sports dietician who works in particular with the University Olympic Lyon (LOU) in the Top 14. I still have pillars who, below 120 kg, see themselves thin, and three-quarters who seek to grow to have more power, even if players like the South African Cheslin Kolbe or the Italian Ange Capuozzo show that other profiles excel too. »
Gaining weight on one side, losing it on the other. “In cycling, it is the perpetual quest for the least possible weight that dominates, to the point that it is not without risk of excess, up to anorexiaemphasizes Fabrice Jeandesboz, a former professional with three Tours de France on the clock, now a nutritionist for the Cofidis team. It is therefore absolutely necessary to work on nutritional education with athletes to explain that performance is not just a question of weight, and that eating well affects a set of parameters. »
In France, food is only gradually becoming an important subject in the preparation of champions. “I stopped running in 2017, and then only a few rare teams had regular nutritioniststestifies the former runner. Today, this support is systematic, with individualization of portions, recovery protocols including food, etc. This taking into account is therefore quite recent with us, while the Anglo-Saxons are more accustomed to working on these marginal gains, but which, taken end to end, pull towards performance. »
A lack of “nutritional education”
In team sports, not all professional clubs have dieticians, and, like mental preparation, the nutrition tool is not yet considered by everyone. “In Lille, we are two full-time nutritionists, and this is a unique case for a French football club”notes Hélène Defrance, Olympic sailing medalist (bronze in 2016) and dietitian since the end of her career.
“We are still behind on this chapterconfirms Charline Courtois, dietician at the National Institute of Sport, Expertise and Performance (Insep) since 2018. Athletes are not all applicants, because busy with many other things between their studies and their training, and it would therefore be up to coaches to seek the help of nutritionists. However, not everyone is necessarily sensitive to this field of action. » It is a certainty for Julien Rebeyrol: “Nutritional education must be aimed at athletes, but also at their management, who will then also be the relay of our strategies. »
Miracle products do not exist
That everyone can pride themselves on food expertise is nevertheless a matter of concern for Frédéric Maton, doctor and dietitian of the French rowing teams and president of the French Sports Nutrition Society (Sfns): “High-level athletes have plenty of actors around them who are not all good advicehe warns. “Nutrition coaches” abound, not to mention the influencers on the Internet who praise this or that dietary supplement that would guarantee results without effort. The proposals abound and we must be very careful, especially with young people who can be quite sensitive to these discourses. »
Because if the nutritionists are not against certain supplements, in particular drinks of the effort or vitamin D, they keep miracle products and powders of perlimpinpin. “There is a tendency to attribute virtues to exotic ‘super foods’, but that does not exist!, assures Julien Rebeyrol. Nutritional performance simply requires the use of all foods, in a varied, balanced way. »
Nutritionist at Insep for twenty-eight years, Véronique Rousseau says it in her own way: “We prioritize the plate. And more and more with a global approach, that is to say on the long term and not on what only frames training or competition. This requires a better knowledge of food, and therefore a better understanding for athletes, in order to avoid diktats and gain their support. Let’s never forget that we are in support and that the athlete ultimately remains in control on board. »
Don’t rule out fun
So, as Hélène Defrance patiently observes, “You have to repeat and repeat again, and it’s painstaking day-to-day work. But this education can guarantee good habits that will last after the end of the career, a period that is sometimes difficult to negotiate when the bodies are no longer subject to overactivity”. However, this does not mean constraints at all levels and at all times. “For this to be tenable, the pleasure dimension must not be excluded.adds Véronique Rousseau. So do not judge a champion who buys a fast food if it remains punctual. »
What about the excesses sometimes of footballers whose physique is mocked as a sign of guilty relaxation? Some think that talent alone is enough, but Véronique Rousseau observes that they are increasingly rare and that young people at a very high level “are often more rigorous than the older generations”. And that the example of an ascetic like Cristiano Ronaldo, rejecting a famous soft drink, inspires. Especially since his diet does not only ensure him a sculptural physique, but also a long career and rare injuries.
Food as prevention, as an aid to recovery, these are dimensions whose exploration has only just begun. Research in this area is still too rare. However, the experts are convinced that there are still many secrets hidden on the plate.
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Obesity is increasing at a rapid rate
The latest Inserm survey specifies that the prevalence of overweight since 1997 “still fluctuates around 30%”, while the prevalence of obesity is increasing at a rapid rate, from 8.5% in 1997 to 15% in 2012 and 17% in 2020. There are 17.4% obese among women and 16.7% among men.
According to a study by Asterès in 2018obesity represents an annual cost of 8.4 billion euros for health insurance, 1.3 billion euros for complementary organizations and 900 million for businesses.
