An athlete’s body fat percentage is not what makes them an athlete

Last month, we spoke with world-record powerlifter Regie Ramirez. This man is inspirational because he looks like someone chiseled out of marble—I have powerlifter friends and my stereotypical idea of one is that of a heavyset fellow or lady who packs on mass to augment their strength.

Powerlifters are impressive-looking because they’re just huge, but Ramirez was not massive like that. He looked like an action star or fitness model, with very aesthetic muscles. I asked him what and how he ate, and he simply said he didn’t really watch his diet like that because for one, he already knows the macronutrients he needs to take in in order to perform properly. And most importantly, he’s so active most days that he’s able to effectively burn anything and everything he eats.

But there was one thing Ramirez said about aesthetics that I felt all athletes should hear, especially those who constantly perform in front of remarkable crowds. Well, at this point almost all athletes have an audience thanks to the prevalence of social media, and anyone could go viral for equally the right and wrong reasons.

“It really doesn’t matter what an athlete looks like. Someone can look fat and ‘out of shape’ but most people don’t know that they are strong and have muscles hidden by those layers of fat. It doesn’t make them any less of an athlete,” says Regie Ramirez

“It really doesn’t matter what an athlete looks like,” Ramirez told me. “Someone can look fat and ‘out of shape’ but most people don’t know that they are strong and have muscles hidden by those layers of fat. It doesn’t make them any less of an athlete.”

There hasn’t been any major body shaming incident involving big-name athletes in a while, but that doesn’t mean these things don’t still happen. NBA players who go above 25 percent body fat end up being butts of a lot of jokes from vicious fans. (On the other end of the spectrum, even future Hall of Famer Kevin Durant isn’t safe from people thinking he’s too skinny.) As a wrestler myself, we’re still held to pretty high standards, thanks to the decades-long normalization of model-esque bodybuilder physiques—body types that are hard to achieve when your daily life isn’t fully dedicated to sports and exercise.

While leanness and a lower percentage of body fat is often associated with good health—and the science does back it up, to an extent—what’s considered “healthy” and “okay” still varies from person to person. Some may need to be really lean, while most will be just fine being at a decent weight that’s not obese or skinny. The problem is for a lot of onlookers, “decent” isn’t good enough, without realizing that looking like a superhero may not be physically or mentally sustainable. (It’s often believed to be easy because those who’ve attained it make it look easy.)

So for those athletes who may be feeling down because of their looks, because of what others around them might be saying, whoever needs a reminder: You are an athlete as long as you can and have performed your chosen sport, as long as you can move the way you need and want to move

Of course, it bears mentioning that if your weight or body fat does interfere with your performance, that’s the sign you should be doing something about it. But if you’re already an athlete, you already knew that. Otherwise, as long as you’re performing the way you should be, then there’s really no reason to try and destroy yourself just to look like a Greek god. (Unless you really, really want to put yourself through that, and not because someone else is jeering you.)

So for those athletes who may be feeling down because of their looks, because of what others around them might be saying, whoever needs a reminder: You are an athlete as long as you can and have performed your chosen sport, as long as you can move the way you need and want to move. Eat whatever you want and need to eat to be fueled for your sport, to be as strong as you can be.

There’s still a lot of work to be done in order to really break the stranglehold of what an “athletic” body should look like. It’s not something we’ll likely be shattering within our lifetimes, but a plea like this, to accept athletes for who they are and what they look like, is still worth a shot. I want you to know that you’re valid, and you are an athlete no matter what.