Kelsey HigginsonSports Nutrition Coach and Founder at Clutch Day Coaching

Female Athletes. Don't pursue small and skinny

7 Apr 2026 · 1 min

Watch on YouTube

0:44

In this coaching monologue, a seasoned trainer of hundreds of female athletes debunks the long‑standing belief that being lighter or skinnier automatically leads to better performance. She explains that many athletes chase extreme leanness, fear carbohydrates, and end up with health problems such as stress fractures and loss of menstrual cycles, which in turn degrade their athletic output. The speaker argues that athletes who properly fuel their bodies and prioritize strength and sport‑specific excellence consistently outperform those who starve themselves to achieve a minimal body size, emphasizing that nutrition and strength are the true drivers of performance for women in sport.

Chapters

You have been taught for years that being lighter or smaller as a female athlete is better, and I'm here to tell you that it's not. I coach hundreds of female athletes who once thought, man, I need to be as lean as possible, I need to be the smallest version, I need to be like that female runner who's crushing it. They chase being small, skinny, they're fearful of carbs and food, and then they end up getting stress fractures, losing their period, and having worse performance. So if you're a female athlete and you keep buying into the story of, hey, pursue smaller, lose weight, you're going to perform better. I promise you, the athlete who fuels their body, who chases being strong and excellent at their sport, is going to outperform the one who is starving themselves to be the smallest version of themselves 99 times out of 100.