# Is this young woman too fat or does she need her bulk for her sport of weightlifting?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-young-woman-too-fat-or-does-she-need-her-bulk-for-her-sport-of-weightlifting/625812
**Category:** The Game Room
**Created:** [June 21, 2012, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-young-woman-too-fat-or-does-she-need-her-bulk-for-her-sport-of-weightlifting/625812 "2012-06-21T03:23:36Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)
#### Post date: [June 21, 2012, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-young-woman-too-fat-or-does-she-need-her-bulk-for-her-sport-of-weightlifting/625812/1 "2012-06-21T03:23:36Z")
As a lifter does she need that huge bulk to be successful?
[Video here](http://www.mtv.com/videos/true-life-im-the-big-girl/1667111/playlist.jhtml)
[Story here](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/06/30/female-weightlifter-holley-mangold_n_887285.html)
> [@](#):
>
> If you only met Holley Mangold on the phone and based your perceptions of her just on a conversation, you’d think she was like any other 21-year-old girl.
>
> She likes makeup, having fun and is interested in getting a degree in either philosophy, theology or sociology – or maybe all three.
>
> But if you meet her face-to-face, it’s obvious she stands out in a crowd.
>
> Of course, that will happen when you’re a 323-pound woman in perfect physical shape, who is highly favored to compete on the 2012 U.S. Olympic weightlifting team
.
---
### Author:  [@colonial](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/colonial)
#### Post date: [June 21, 2012, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-young-woman-too-fat-or-does-she-need-her-bulk-for-her-sport-of-weightlifting/625812/2 "2012-06-21T03:45:50Z")
> [@astro](#):
>
> As a lifter does she need that huge bulk to be successful?
I don’t know how it works in womens’ weightlifting, but the men have always
competed in weight classes, and have had to “make weight” just as wrestlers
and boxers have. I read about one Olympic lifter shaving his head and sitting
in a sauna in sweats when it was apparent he would be borderline at weigh-in.
There used to be and I think still is an “Superheavyweight” class where I guess
you have to be over 300lb to make an impression in the Olympics. I did read
of a lightheavy who would have won the gold medal in the next _two_ weight class up.
Since he lifted at only 82.5kg (`182lb) maybe he couild have beat the superheavies
by bulking up to “only” about 250lb.
---
### Author:  [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)
#### Post date: [June 21, 2012, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-young-woman-too-fat-or-does-she-need-her-bulk-for-her-sport-of-weightlifting/625812/3 "2012-06-21T04:19:24Z")
An [elite male heavyweight Olympic lifter](http://www.topnews.in/sports/irans-hercules-withdraws-active-sports-22642) in his prime. [Another](http://www.strengthfighter.com/2011/10/strongest-men-ever.html), (Vasily Alexiev).
She seems to fit in well.
I think they use the extra mass for leverage, a counterweight of sorts.
---
### Author:  [@ultrafilter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultrafilter)
#### Post date: [June 21, 2012, 4:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-young-woman-too-fat-or-does-she-need-her-bulk-for-her-sport-of-weightlifting/625812/4 "2012-06-21T04:40:25Z")
> [@DSeid](#):
>
> I think they use the extra mass for leverage, a counterweight of sorts.
Bingo. At a certain point, you need the extra mass to be able to deal with a very heavy barbell. That’s not to say that these lifters suffer no negative consequences from carrying around that extra weight; just that it’s not pure gluttony.
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### Author:  [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)
#### Post date: [June 21, 2012, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-young-woman-too-fat-or-does-she-need-her-bulk-for-her-sport-of-weightlifting/625812/5 "2012-06-21T04:48:17Z")
Moved to the Game Room from GQ.
Colibri
General Questions Moderator
---
### Author:  [@colonial](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/colonial)
#### Post date: [June 21, 2012, 5:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-young-woman-too-fat-or-does-she-need-her-bulk-for-her-sport-of-weightlifting/625812/6 "2012-06-21T05:09:16Z")
> [@DSeid](#):
>
> An [elite male heavyweight Olympic lifter](http://www.topnews.in/sports/irans-hercules-withdraws-active-sports-22642) in his prime. [Another](http://www.strengthfighter.com/2011/10/strongest-men-ever.html), (Vasily Alexiev).
>
> She seems to fit in well.
>
> I think they use the extra mass for leverage, a counterweight of sorts.
> [@ultrafilter](#):
>
> Bingo. At a certain point, you need the extra mass to be able to deal with a very heavy barbell. That’s not to say that these lifters suffer no negative consequences from carrying around that extra weight; just that it’s not pure gluttony.
The trouble with this is the guy I mentioned earlier (Yurik Vardanian) moved up to the 198 class
and clean and jerked 502 sometime in the early to mid 1980s. That was better than any superheavyweight
could attain before 1970, and I think the superheavies weighed as much then as they do now.
---
### Author:  [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)
#### Post date: [June 21, 2012, 6:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-young-woman-too-fat-or-does-she-need-her-bulk-for-her-sport-of-weightlifting/625812/7 "2012-06-21T06:28:14Z")
Quote:
…Of course, that will happen when you’re a 323-pound woman in **perfect physical shape** …
(my bold)
How can this be? She is morbidly obese.
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### Author:  [@postcards](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/postcards)
#### Post date: [June 21, 2012, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-young-woman-too-fat-or-does-she-need-her-bulk-for-her-sport-of-weightlifting/625812/8 "2012-06-21T13:39:41Z")
HuffPo is trying to flatter her. The [NY Times](http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/24/magazine/shes-350-pounds-and-olympics-bound.html?hpw) has her at 350.
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### Author:  [@Philster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Philster)
#### Post date: [June 21, 2012, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-young-woman-too-fat-or-does-she-need-her-bulk-for-her-sport-of-weightlifting/625812/9 "2012-06-21T14:30:55Z")
Fat and active is better than fat and inactive.
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### Author:  [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)
#### Post date: [June 21, 2012, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-young-woman-too-fat-or-does-she-need-her-bulk-for-her-sport-of-weightlifting/625812/10 "2012-06-21T14:41:09Z")
> [@Ambivalid](#):
>
> Quote:
> …Of course, that will happen when you’re a 323-pound woman in **perfect physical shape** …
>
> (my bold)
>
> How can this be? She is morbidly obese.
You willing to tell her that to her face?:eek:
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### Author:  [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)
#### Post date: [June 21, 2012, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-young-woman-too-fat-or-does-she-need-her-bulk-for-her-sport-of-weightlifting/625812/11 "2012-06-21T14:44:11Z")
Not fat and active is better than fat and active.
My advice to this girl would be: Give the sport up, it ain’t worth going to an early grave.
There must be **some** other sport that could grab your fancy, if you’re athletically inclined. But first, drop at least 200 pounds.
I say this purely for reasons of health, not appearance or sexism.
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### Author:  [@Hal\_Briston](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hal_Briston)
#### Post date: [June 21, 2012, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-young-woman-too-fat-or-does-she-need-her-bulk-for-her-sport-of-weightlifting/625812/12 "2012-06-21T16:01:46Z")
For several years, an acquaintance always used “Holley Mangold’s Jockstrap” as his fantasy team name.
Hope she does well in the Olympics, so I can have something different to associate with her name.
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### Author:  [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)
#### Post date: [June 21, 2012, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-young-woman-too-fat-or-does-she-need-her-bulk-for-her-sport-of-weightlifting/625812/13 "2012-06-21T16:23:35Z")
If she’s in serious contention for the Olympics, then there’s no way that she could be obese. Yes, she weighs a lot, but that’s not the same as saying that she’s fat: She has a lot of muscle, and her fat-to-muscle ratio is probably lower than it is for most of us.
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### Author:  [@Lanzy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lanzy)
#### Post date: [June 21, 2012, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-young-woman-too-fat-or-does-she-need-her-bulk-for-her-sport-of-weightlifting/625812/14 "2012-06-21T16:27:21Z")
She is fat, maybe Fit and Fat, but still…fat.
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### Author:  [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)
#### Post date: [June 21, 2012, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-young-woman-too-fat-or-does-she-need-her-bulk-for-her-sport-of-weightlifting/625812/15 "2012-06-21T17:03:33Z")
> [@Chronos](#):
>
> If she’s in serious contention for the Olympics, then there’s no way that she could be obese. Yes, she weighs a lot, but that’s not the same as saying that she’s fat: She has a lot of muscle, and her fat-to-muscle ratio is probably lower than it is for most of us.
Judging from [this photo](http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/more/news/20120304/us-olympic-weightlifting-mangold/), then, she must have most of her musculature in her midsection.
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### Author:  [@Hal\_Briston](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hal_Briston)
#### Post date: [June 21, 2012, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-young-woman-too-fat-or-does-she-need-her-bulk-for-her-sport-of-weightlifting/625812/16 "2012-06-21T17:12:58Z")
> [@VinylTurnip](#):
>
> Judging from [this photo](http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/more/news/20120304/us-olympic-weightlifting-mangold/), then, she must have most of her musculature in her midsection.
No idea if there’ve been big changes since then, but in the interest of clarity, that’s a five-year-old photo.
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### Author:  [@Philster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Philster)
#### Post date: [June 21, 2012, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-young-woman-too-fat-or-does-she-need-her-bulk-for-her-sport-of-weightlifting/625812/17 "2012-06-21T18:16:15Z")
Too fat?
Well… she ain’t built for sprintin’.
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### Author:  [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)
#### Post date: [June 21, 2012, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-young-woman-too-fat-or-does-she-need-her-bulk-for-her-sport-of-weightlifting/625812/18 "2012-06-21T18:33:03Z")
> [@Chronos](#):
>
> If she’s in serious contention for the Olympics, then there’s no way that she could be obese. Yes, she weighs a lot, but that’s not the same as saying that she’s fat: She has a lot of muscle, and her fat-to-muscle ratio is probably lower than it is for most of us.
Why do you think this? She is most certainly obese. She’s listed anywhere from 323-370lbs. And that’s not primarily muscle; just look at the pictures.
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### Author:  [@Philster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Philster)
#### Post date: [June 21, 2012, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-young-woman-too-fat-or-does-she-need-her-bulk-for-her-sport-of-weightlifting/625812/19 "2012-06-21T18:37:34Z")
She’s fat. She’s strong. She’s got lots o’ fat marbled into those muscles.
She’d cook up good if we were to roast her.
.
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### Author:  [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)
#### Post date: [June 21, 2012, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-young-woman-too-fat-or-does-she-need-her-bulk-for-her-sport-of-weightlifting/625812/20 "2012-06-21T19:29:25Z")
She most certainly has a BMI that would normally be considered well into the obese range. She most certainly has extensive girth. But you can’t tell her body fat percentage just from looking at a picture of her, and BMI is not meaningful for serious athletes. And if her body fat were high enough to make her obese, then there’d be no way she could be physically fit enough to be an Olympic contender.
[Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-young-woman-too-fat-or-does-she-need-her-bulk-for-her-sport-of-weightlifting/625812.md?page=2)