weight loss from playing squash

manus30

hello there,
new poster here, great website!
I play squash at above average level 3 times a week and go to gym twice. i find that after playing a few very hard squash games a few days in a row, or after a weekend competition i seem to lose loads of weight. no harm to lose a few pounds, but i seem to lose my muscle too. i find the gym work puts on muscle and squash gets rid of it.
my buttocks and thighs suffer particulary badly. after a weekend comp they can go from being plump and toned to bordering on skinny.
any ideas or help please? thanks in advance..

**Timbuk2**

Hmm that sounds odd - it sounds very fast to notice your figure changing considerably after a weekend competition!

You should concentrate on weights workouts in the gym, and the squash might then act as cardio. But if you want to see muscle gain, you will need to go more than once a week. 3 times a week to the gym and you will notice a difference (although this may not fit nicely into your schedule - try going in the morning before work)

If you think that you're losing a lot of muscle, it could be very possible that you are not eating enough food. Try writing down everything you eat in a day as well as all the exercise you do that day (including squash and gym etc.).
You could then use a website like About Calorie Count (http://caloriecount.about.com/) to find out how much calories you are consuming in a day. Assuming you are male, you should be getting well over 2000 calories.

Hope this helps!

nice_guy80

for the likes of court sports: squash, tennis, handball or whatever where you are constantly moving you really have to look after yourself.

its not like teamsports where you often get a rest during the game. its constant go for sometimes over an hour.

make sure you are eating like a horse - good diet is needed. drinking loads of water. after matches recovery shakes to get fluid and carbs into you. loads of sleep and rest days - vital. especially if doing weights and playing games.

post up a training schedule...

Running Bing

manus30 wrote: »

hello there,
new poster here, great website!
I play squash at above average level 3 times a week and go to gym twice. i find that after playing a few very hard squash games a few days in a row, or after a weekend competition i seem to lose loads of weight. no harm to lose a few pounds, but i seem to lose my muscle too. i find the gym work puts on muscle and squash gets rid of it.
my buttocks and thighs suffer particulary badly. after a weekend comp they can go from being plump and toned to bordering on skinny.
any ideas or help please? thanks in advance..

So what are your weights before you play squash and after you play squash?

Hanley

Tbh it just sounds like your glycogen stores and fluid levels are depleted from hard competition.

Do they return to normal after say a week??

It's similar to what bodybuilders do before a competition, they deplete themselves of carbs/glycogen and water to "dry out", and then consume massive quantities of carbs to give their muscles a fuller appearance.

manus30

good stuff. just a thought, if i replaced some of the time i spend doing cardio with weights ( mainly focusing on legs and core ) would my fitness suffer? i do have a high fitness level at the moment from cardio and hard squash games, and am worried if i change my routine that my fitness will suffer. what do you think?

manus30

also, just one more question. after a hard weekend tournament my energy levels go way down and sometimes i cannot resume training for maybe 3 or 4 days after due to this. i always ensure to keep hydrated and eat healthily. any ideas?

nice_guy80

recovery shakes after the games
sleep
eating properly

seriously, if you were to do proper weights it would improve your fitness, not the other way around. you'd be stronger and have more explosive power (or endurance, whichever way you train...)

use the training games as cardio training