# Is this young woman too fat or does she need her bulk for her sport of weightlifting? **URL:** \ **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:** 2
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2012, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-young-woman-too-fat-or-does-she-need-her-bulk-for-her-sport-of-weightlifting/625812/21 "2012-06-21T19:43:29Z")
She couldn’t be a contender. She could upend somebody! ---
**Author:** ![colonial](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/34f0e0/32.png) [@colonial](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/colonial)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2012, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-young-woman-too-fat-or-does-she-need-her-bulk-for-her-sport-of-weightlifting/625812/22 "2012-06-21T19:57:29Z")
It took about eight Google hits, but I did at last find a site with some real information: [ESPN: Holley Mangold a star in the making](http://espn.go.com/blog/olympics/post/_/id/2617/holley-mangold-a-star-in-the-making) Some specifics on our girl Holley: 5-8 Height 357lb Weight 145kg (319lb) clean and jerk at US Olympic trials 110kg (242lb) snatch at US Olympic trials 255kg (562lb) Total She placed 2nd at the US trials, and The 255kg total would have been good for 9th place at the 2011 World Championships. However, these are the Olympic records: 186kg (410lb) clean and jerk 140kg (308lb) snatch 326kg (718lb) Total So Holly will not be a gold medal contender, and may not be a threat to show. ---
**Author:** ![Philster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/13edae/32.png) [@Philster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Philster)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2012, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-young-woman-too-fat-or-does-she-need-her-bulk-for-her-sport-of-weightlifting/625812/23 "2012-06-21T19:58:03Z")
She has clearly placed herself into a higher risk category for many things. So, yeah, her apparent obesity does not _guarantee_ any problems. And, generally, the bulk helps her with weight lifting of that type. ---
**Author:** ![ultrafilter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/3d9bf3/32.png) [@ultrafilter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultrafilter)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2012, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-young-woman-too-fat-or-does-she-need-her-bulk-for-her-sport-of-weightlifting/625812/24 "2012-06-21T21:21:27Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > But you can’t tell her body fat percentage just from looking at a picture of her… You can’t get a precise measurement, but she’s not in the range where you need a precise measurement. Yes, she’s really fat. She’s carrying around more muscle mass than the average 350 lb. woman and she’s in better shape than most people her size, but that doesn’t change the fact that she’s really fat. ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2012, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-young-woman-too-fat-or-does-she-need-her-bulk-for-her-sport-of-weightlifting/625812/25 "2012-06-22T00:34:14Z")
> [@Philster](#): > > 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. > > . Hmmm… 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2012, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-young-woman-too-fat-or-does-she-need-her-bulk-for-her-sport-of-weightlifting/625812/26 "2012-06-22T00:47:52Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > 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. Perhaps not for the gymnastics team, no. But the sport of weightlifting sure can feature Olympic-caliber athletes who are also obese. ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2012, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-young-woman-too-fat-or-does-she-need-her-bulk-for-her-sport-of-weightlifting/625812/27 "2012-06-22T00:56:53Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > 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. What about this [olympian](http://tnation.t-nation.com/forum_images/5/8/58fec-W75_Jenna_Bussard_120kg_264_lb_jerk.jpg)? Not obese? Her name is Jenna Bussard At the 2009 USA champs ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2012, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-young-woman-too-fat-or-does-she-need-her-bulk-for-her-sport-of-weightlifting/625812/28 "2012-06-22T01:06:32Z")
I’d just like to point out that her high school football team are the Alter Knights. That’s kind of awesome. ---
**Author:** ![Ponch8](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponch8/32/9883_2.png) [@Ponch8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponch8)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2012, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-young-woman-too-fat-or-does-she-need-her-bulk-for-her-sport-of-weightlifting/625812/29 "2012-06-22T02:29:37Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > You willing to tell her that to her face?:eek: I don’t think I’d have a problem running away from her if I did. ---
**Author:** ![SCSimmons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e495f1/32.png) [@SCSimmons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCSimmons)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2012, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-young-woman-too-fat-or-does-she-need-her-bulk-for-her-sport-of-weightlifting/625812/30 "2012-06-22T04:26:09Z")
> [@colonial](#): > > Some specifics on our girl Holley: > > 5-8 Height > 357lb Weight > 145kg (319lb) clean and jerk at US Olympic trials > 110kg (242lb) snatch at US Olympic trials > 255kg (562lb) Total I don’t think I could date a woman with a 242-pound snatch. Not even gonna mention that clean and jerk. ---
**Author:** ![colonial](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/34f0e0/32.png) [@colonial](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/colonial)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 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/625812/31 "2012-06-22T04:48:06Z")
> [@SCSimmons](#): > > I don’t think I could date a woman with a 242-pound snatch. Not even gonna mention that clean and jerk. I was hoping it would not happen, but I guess it was inevitable: Someone was bound to show up and make a really stupid joke along the lines of the above. I bet if I did a search on this guy’s posts I would get treated to all kinds of arrested development in the form of jokes which any 13-year old would get a real kick out of. ---
**Author:** ![pancakes3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ba9def/32.png) [@pancakes3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pancakes3)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2012, 6:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-young-woman-too-fat-or-does-she-need-her-bulk-for-her-sport-of-weightlifting/625812/32 "2012-06-22T06:39:09Z")
I think she can lose lots of lbs and her weightlifting wouldn’t suffer. is that what the OP is asking? 5’8 360ish is a ton of weight even given what she is capable of lifting. The one problem I have with this is that her weight led to the olympics, not a goal for the olympics led her to her weight. This is saying genetically she was large and instead of really putting in work to shave lbs, she just embraced it and fell into whatever that weight suited. A 5’8 350 lb anyone in HS playing football would be ineffective. She should have been told then to cut some weight so she could become nimbler and a more effective lineman. A 5’8 350 lb hammer thrower would have been told to cut some weight to improve flexibility and stamina. However, She just ignored all that and discovered she was freakishly strong enough to be a power lifter so now she’s using that as an excuse to not lose weight but the fat remains that even as an olympic level athlete, she can still stand to lose weight without any impact on her performance. ps, I didn’t think SCSimmons’s joke was overly crude or juvenile. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2012, 7:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-young-woman-too-fat-or-does-she-need-her-bulk-for-her-sport-of-weightlifting/625812/33 "2012-06-22T07:09:03Z")
> [@Ambivalid](#): > > What about this [olympian](http://tnation.t-nation.com/forum_images/5/8/58fec-W75_Jenna_Bussard_120kg_264_lb_jerk.jpg)? Not obese? > > Her name is Jenna Bussard > At the 2009 USA champs As he said, you can’t tell just by looking nor by measurements. Fat is just a layer on top of muscle. Just because the outside layer is high fat doesn’t mean that the bulk of the girth is not created by muscle. My actual fat percentage rate is lower (by a factor of 20%) than if you just went by my BMI, and I’m nowhere near an athlete. ---
**Author:** ![pancakes3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ba9def/32.png) [@pancakes3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pancakes3)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2012, 7:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-young-woman-too-fat-or-does-she-need-her-bulk-for-her-sport-of-weightlifting/625812/34 "2012-06-22T07:44:11Z")
yeah, after watching the episode her coaches think she’s too heavy at 360 also. once she got to colorado’s olympic training facility, she had dropped down to 320 and counting. ---
**Author:** ![Sleel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/73ab20/32.png) [@Sleel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sleel)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2012, 8:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-young-woman-too-fat-or-does-she-need-her-bulk-for-her-sport-of-weightlifting/625812/35 "2012-06-22T08:12:14Z")
Being fat is not of any particular help in Olympic lifting. It can be a hinderance if the extra body weight is actually holding you back from putting more weight on the bar. Anything that impacts your max lifts is not a good thing. You can be lean, conditioned, and still be a great Oly lifter. In the 105 kg and over class for men and the 75 kg and over class for women, body weight makes absolutely no difference for scoring, so you get some really big people. In the lower weight classes, it absolutely makes a strategic difference what class you qualify to compete in. I doubt you’d find any chubby athletes in those weight classes. ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2012, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-young-woman-too-fat-or-does-she-need-her-bulk-for-her-sport-of-weightlifting/625812/36 "2012-06-22T13:08:07Z")
> [@SCSimmons](#): > > I don’t think I could date a woman with a 242-pound snatch. Not even gonna mention that clean and jerk. Holy fuck, would you ever make that kind of a joke if it was a male bodybuilder with the exact same stats? I mean I’m all for humor but that’s ridiculous. ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2012, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-young-woman-too-fat-or-does-she-need-her-bulk-for-her-sport-of-weightlifting/625812/37 "2012-06-22T13:46:10Z")
> [@colonial](#): > > I bet if I did a search on this guy’s posts I would get treated to all kinds of arrested development > in the form of jokes which any 13-year old would get a real kick out of. If not, feel free to search mine and you won’t be disappointed. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2012, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-young-woman-too-fat-or-does-she-need-her-bulk-for-her-sport-of-weightlifting/625812/38 "2012-06-22T14:26:15Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > 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. I don’t understand this claim. Why can an Olympian not be fat? You’re not going to see any fat people running the 100-metre dash, but Mangold is not a sprinter; she is a weightlifter, a sport where it’s theoretically possible that fat wouldn’t necessarily stop you from competing. Furthermore, she’s a FEMALE weightlifter. I’m sorry if this offends anyone, but female weightlifting is a pretty minor sport as these things go. The sport has been in the Olympics only since 2000 and is a far less popular and internationally developed sport than most you’ll see at the Olympics, so it is quite plausible that the level of talent and development in the sport is not up to the standard of other Olympic events. Look, the woman is fat. She just is; there’s no serious debate here. She has lots of muscle but she has a lot of flab, too, and there are sports where that doesn’t necessarily stop you; we’ve had lots of fat-ass NFL linemen. And there have been other female Olympic medallists who were fat, too, so it doesn’t stop them. The U.S. got a bronze in super heavyweight from Cheryl Haworth, and she was pretty fat. Most Olympic super heavyweights are porky; it’s just something that seems to be common to the folks who compete in that sport at that weight class. ---
**Author:** ![SCSimmons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e495f1/32.png) [@SCSimmons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCSimmons)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2012, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-young-woman-too-fat-or-does-she-need-her-bulk-for-her-sport-of-weightlifting/625812/39 "2012-06-22T15:40:30Z")
> [@Anaamika](#): > > Holy fuck, would you ever make that kind of a joke if it was a male bodybuilder with the exact same stats? I mean I’m all for humor but that’s ridiculous. Yes, I probably would. And yes, it is ridiculous. > [@colonial](#): > > I was hoping it would not happen, but I guess it was inevitable: > > Someone was bound to show up and make a really stupid joke along the lines of the above. > > I bet if I did a search on this guy’s posts I would get treated to all kinds of arrested development > in the form of jokes which any 13-year old would get a real kick out of. In all fairness, my 15-year old son read that last night and told me there’s something wrong with me. Try as I might, I can’t argue with that assessment. So, in recompense, let me be serious for a moment. (For a change.) I can’t see any point to criticizing the body style of a successful athlete. It seems obvious to me that if someone is competing at the highest level of a sport, then they are in appropriate physical condition for that sport. This applies to a 350-pound weightlifter (male or female) just as much as a 90-pound gymnast. The first isn’t overweight, and the second isn’t underweight, relative to the unique requirements of their sport. It may be that their dedication to competition will lead to long-term health problems, but that’s a personal decision. And it’s certainly uncalled for to show contempt for those decisions when it’s clear that their focus is on winning championships, whether they succeed in that or not. Finally, in my defense, if weightlifters don’t want to be made fun of by immature jokesters, they shouldn’t name their events things like ‘the snatch’. C’mon, now. ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2012, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-young-woman-too-fat-or-does-she-need-her-bulk-for-her-sport-of-weightlifting/625812/40 "2012-06-22T16:17:50Z")
Pretty sure I saw Lou (The Hulk) Ferigno joke about that on the Tonight Show. Maybe it was R-nold. Their competition was body building, tho, not competitive weight lifting. So, maybe the accepted humor culture is different. At the gym I worked out in, immature\* humor was the norm. - in someone’s opinion ymmv [Previous 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=1) [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=3)