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February 2013 The Galleon
Sports
Wrestling with their weight
River wrestling has done some wacky things to get an edge Lauren Villanueva Staff Reporter It can be said that students sign up for school sports to get or stay in shape. River’s varsity wrestling team knows first hand how important it is to maintain the same weight throughout the season in order to keep wrestling in a certain division. But what if the main outlet for weight loss included extreme tactics. Would it still be worth it? At the beginning of wrestling season, every wrestler registers his weight with the state wres-
tling governing body. As the season continues, the wrestler’s weight is charted weekly and only one percent weight loss is permitted per week. If a wrestler were to binge or gorge, they must get back to the weight class that they were initially registered in or they can participate in the next weight class up. “Everybody who cuts weight ends up doing something drastic,” wrestling team captain senior Jesse Miller said. Along with Miller, seniors Adam Moore and Egiz Seputis have lost the most weight for the team. One shortterm weight loss trick Miller uses is eating five small meals a day, one of those meals being just an apple. Moore keeps a strict diet as well and exercises vigorously, which can also be said for Seputis, who lost upwards of six pounds so far this season. But those seniors are not the only athletes this season to lose weight in drastic ways. Sophomore Michael Luongo spits into an empty water bottle throughout the day to cut back on water weight. “I don’t feel bad [about los-
ing the weight]. I actually feel healthier and stronger,” Luongo said. Like Miller, Luongo also eats small meals throughout the day to boost metabolism and prevent hunger. Another weight loss trick the team uses is wearing sweatpants and sweatshirts and turning off the air conditioning or running with this attire, creating a sauna-type atmosphere. Sophomore Luke Senyshyn has used this trick and has dropped nine pounds since joining the wrestling team. “I didn’t do anything crazy; usually we lose four to five pounds a practice,” Senyshyn said. But once the weight is gone and wrestling season is over, what happens next? Former wrestler and River alumnus Sam Kaplan cut weight behind his coach’s back with a loss of ap-
proximately ten pounds per week. As a side effect to his drastic tactics, Kaplan noticed that he was grumpy and tired due to lack of energy. When the season finished, Kaplan gained back twenty pounds in a four day period. He also noticed that the short-term weight loss had stunted his growth. “Fad dieting, or yo-yo dieting is never an effective weight loss method,” registered and licensed dietition Lori Rosel said. “Limiting food and water after workouts may deprive the body of important nutrients.” So the question still remains, is all of this really worth it? “Why do we do it?” Miller said. “It’s basically a part of the game.”
Photos Courtesy Arturo Rojas
Gyms: are they worth it?
Gyms may be places to “make gains”, but the dollars add up Josh Benrubi Sports Editor
Public gym or community gym? The Galleon has got the answers.
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Ryan Berger said. “Community gyms are smaller and there are less people you know. At these other gyms you socialize a lot and don’t work out enough, so a community gym is definitely better and it doesn’t cost you a dime.” It can be argued that certain gyms have more or less amenities than others, which expands the use of each gym. “The overall atmosphere of the [Lifetime] gym is literally a paradise,” Lifetime Gym member senior Andrew Shumaker said. “It is far superior, in terms of equipment and amenities. Ultimately, it can be difficult to decide whether to pay the money to work out in a public facility or to do the same thing near your home to avoid money adding up. If the time and money is there, then go for it — but make sure you are realistic about the outcome first.
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Each year, hundreds of dollars are spent on a gym membership. Aside from the money, a hard task is finding the right gym for you. With options ranging from L.A. Fitness to Lifetime to Evolution, there is an opportunity to live a healthy lifestyle. But as this membership continues, the bills add up. So that brings us to the question – is a gym membership worth the investment? What does a teen really do when they go to the gym? Do they hit the treadmill, the elliptical, and pump some iron? It tends to be the actual opposite. When going to a facility with a good purpose, it usually results in
socializing or staging pictures to post on Instagram. But what is the point of spending all this money to do what could be done in a backyard? That does not denounce the people who get a gym membership and prove that it is used frequently. “I think the gym membership is completely worth it,” junior and L.A. Fitness member Christian Conelly said. “I take advantage of the facility and its many features.” On the other hand, there are those who believe that if they had a gym membership, they would be too busy to use it and visit less frequently. In his article “Time Management Facts and Figures,” Dr. Donald E. Wetmore says that 90% of those who join health and fitness clubs will stop going regularly within the first 90 days. There are also those who prefer their local or community gym, arguing that it is very similar to a public gym and they can take advantage of it with no cost. “Gyms should be about working out and not socializing,” junior
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Art by Andrea Hoenigsberg
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