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Asked by skywalker to Charlotte, hannahmoir, Majid, Richard, Sam on 8 Mar 2016.
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Hannah Moir answered on 8 Mar 2016:
I can only think of obvious sports like Sumo wrestling, I’m not sure what other sports need someone to maybe be ‘fatter’. Typically its bulk from muscle and strength that’s needed. Unless you think about a multi-day or long duration adventure such as crossing the arctic where fat stores help provide energy needs for survival.
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Sam Smith answered on 8 Mar 2016:
@skywalker – thanks!
Some sports have different goals – if you think of sprinting where the goal is to go as quickly as possible, there is a big need for muscle rather than fat. Other sports, need less explosive power and are more likely to draw on fat stores. That said, few sports need someone to be overweight to be the best at them, and most athletes have a very low body fat percentage!
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Charlotte Green answered on 8 Mar 2016:
There is also a strange but true finding in exercise physiology : that athletes have a relatively high amount of fat in their muscles. This seems to go against what you would think of someone who is fit and healthy. But it is likely they use the fat as a source of energy and are adapted to do this more quickly than some one who is not an athlete.
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