# Olympic Star Holley Mangold On "The Biggest Loser"



## wrestlingguy (Sep 6, 2013)

*Interestingly, she claims that her weight was responsible for a 10th place finish at The London Games, though she was only 23 lbs heavier than her Olympic weight. 

Here's a link to the original article:* http://www.wdtn.com/news/local/montgomery/holley-mangold-wants-to-be-biggest-loser

DAYTON, Ohio (WDTN) - Let it never be said that Holley Mangold does not give it all to be the best.

The Centerville native played football in high school, lifted weights in the Olympic Games and will now take on The Biggest Loser weight loss challenge on NBC.

NBC Sports.com is reporting that Mangold is a contestant on the next season of the popular show.

She hopes it will be her ticket to the weightlifting competition at the Rio Olympic Games in 2016.

Mangold placed 10th in the super heavyweight division at the London Games. She told NBC Sports that her weight contributed to her poor performance along with a wrist injury. She weighed 346 games in London, 60 pounds heavier than the other competitors in her weight class.

Mangold will start the Biggest Loser at 351 pounds and hopes to trim down to a weight that will work in her favor to win a spot on the Olympic team in Rio.

She says the producers of the show reached out to her to appear. She pulled out of the Pan American Championships and the World University Games in order to participate.

The Mangold name is well known in local athletic circles. She graduated from Alter High School in Kettering having played on the boys football squad.

Her brother, Nick, is an All-pro lineman in the NFL. He plays for the New York Jets and was a standout during his years playing for the Ohio State Buckeyes.

Holley started weightlifting in 2008. The Biggest Loser begins its new season on WDTN-TV and NBC October 8.


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## moonvine (Sep 6, 2013)

That is really sad. I still remember Cheryl Haworth and a thin weightlifter doing the talk show circuit as proof women of all sizes had a place in sports.

By the way there is a documentary about Cheryl called "Strong." Has anyone seen it?

Strong


"Julie Wyman Tackles Body Image, Femininity, and Elite Athletics

Olympian Cheryl Haworth is on a mission to defend her champion status as her lifetime weightlifting career inches towards its inevitable end, challenging popular notions of power, strength, beauty, and health."


BIG difference in viewpoints here.


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## RabbitScorpion (Sep 6, 2013)

Had a big problem with that WDTN link. Running a PC with Safari browser, the link caused a hard crash (computer froze up and would not respond to ANY commands, not even ctrl+alt+delete - both times I had to pull the power cord)

Too bad, that photo of her shows a beautiful smile.


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## HeavyDuty24 (Sep 7, 2013)

moonvine said:


> That is really sad. I still remember Cheryl Haworth and a thin weightlifter doing the talk show circuit as proof women of all sizes had a place in sports.
> 
> By the way there is a documentary about Cheryl called "Strong." Has anyone seen it?
> 
> ...




I had suuuuuuuuch a huuuuuuge crush on Cheryl Haworth! loved her documentary. I remember watching it on PBS, loved it.


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## Yakatori (Sep 7, 2013)

moonvine said:


> "_That is really sad....women of all sizes had a place in sports. BIG difference in viewpoints here._"


I don' think you can hold it against-her to do whatever she feels she has to in order to meet her goal.

And regardless of how she puts-it, I don't think she really means it's a question of actual size or how she looks. It's more about body-composition.

If she happens to exploit _The Biggest Loser_ & whatever resources they throw her way just in order to come-out leaner & stronger & more "explosive," not to mention building publicity and sponsorship for her own personal endeavors; then I don't see how that's necessarily against size-acceptance, per se. 

She's doing it to win a medal. And she probably has a pretty good idea of what she's doing.


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## bigmac (Sep 7, 2013)

Yakatori said:


> ...
> 
> _*She's doing it to win a medal.*_ And she probably has a pretty good idea of what she's doing.



She's going to have to work on her technique. Her form at the Olympics was terrible. She has obvious natural ability but it was also obvious that she didn't have much training and experience.


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## tonynyc (Sep 8, 2013)

bigmac said:


> She's going to have to work on her technique. Her form at the Olympics was terrible. She has obvious natural ability but it was also obvious that she didn't have much training and experience.



Too bad the Olympic Press was dropped after the '72 Olympics - since this is a lift that would have favored Lifters that had more "brute strength" as speed and coordination played a greater role in the "snatch" and "clean and jerk"






Also is a bad bit of luck to have a 10th place finish...that is going to be a tremendous ground to cover to even hope to medal in 2016... I cannot fault her for participating in "The Biggest Loser" show. It must be tough to survive as an amateur athlete(not all sports - as far as endorsements are created equal)....


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## wrestlingguy (Sep 8, 2013)

tonynyc said:


> ... I cannot fault her for participating in "The Biggest Loser" show. It must be tough to survive as an amateur athlete(not all sports - as far as endorsements are created equal)....



Tony, I can fault her. Let me explain why. I supported her financially during her campaign to compete in the 2012 Olympic games. It was tough for her....VERY tough. With that said, I know for a fact that Holley received some financial support from her brother Nick (who plays for the NY Jets).

I also know many people in the fat community who supported her financially as well. I blogged in an attempt to get her more money, as did many others. She, along with the other plus sized lifter, Sarah Robles, both received enough financial support to make it there.

If you recall, it was Holley who put herself in the position of defending the fat community when she responded to Conan O'Brien and his insulting tweets prior to the Olympic competition. She was also the girl who was the subject of the MTV special called "I'm The Big Girl", and was quoted in the show as saying "I'm comfortable with who I am".

Evidently, she's more comfortable with a bunch of NBC money in her pocket. I'm disappointed, to say the least.


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## tonynyc (Sep 8, 2013)

wrestlingguy said:


> Tony, I can fault her. Let me explain why. I supported her financially during her campaign to compete in the 2012 Olympic games. It was tough for her....VERY tough. With that said, I know for a fact that Holley received some financial support from her brother Nick (who plays for the NY Jets).
> 
> I also know many people in the fat community who supported her financially as well. I blogged in an attempt to get her more money, as did many others. She, along with the other plus sized lifter, Sarah Robles, both received enough financial support to make it there.
> 
> ...



Thanks for the insight - I was unaware of this - definitely puts things in a different light...


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## Yakatori (Sep 8, 2013)

bigmac said:


> "_She's going to have to work on her technique. Her form at the Olympics was terrible. She has obvious natural ability but it was also obvious that she didn't have much training and experience._"


But this is not like gymnastics where athletes peak before their mid-teens. She made a huge transition from being a very marginal youth sports-player to getting on an international stage. She's a very strong bet to win the gold at some point. But, yeah, she will probably have to improve in every possible way in order to get there.



wrestlingguy said:


> "_...it was Holley who put herself in the position of defending the fat community when she responded to Conan O'Brien and his insulting tweets prior to the Olympic competition...who was the subject of the MTV special called "I'm The Big Girl", and was quoted in the show as saying "I'm comfortable with who I am"...Evidently, she's more comfortable with a bunch of NBC money in her pocket. I'm disappointed, to say the least._"


Is the issue with her attempting to change her physique, just trying to become leaner? -Or- is it specific to the method by which she's trying to underwrite-it?


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## superodalisque (Sep 8, 2013)

i'm not surprised. i saw her POV doc and she did not seem to be_ personally_ happy with her body. i think she liked having it as a strong tool but it seemed like somewhat of an exchange for a personal life she had given up. a woman is more than just a physical tool. if this doesn't work i wouldn't be surprised to find her having weight loss surgery in the future. there isn't always much that can be done if someone does not genuinely like being fat in all aspects of their life. i'm sure she like a lot of other people have done a little exploration of size acceptance. for a lot of people it isn't their cup of tea. i think that is why we need to address it in different ways for people who aren't radically fat but just regular fat folk. sometimes they have to be gently shown how to be comfortable in their own skin. the fat community can be way too harsh for a lot of people in the beginning.


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## wrestlingguy (Sep 8, 2013)

Yakatori said:


> .
> Is the issue with her attempting to change her physique, just trying to become leaner? -Or- is it specific to the method by which she's trying to underwrite-it?



More like the sudden turnaround. Heading into the 2012 Olympics, she was all about being the big powerful woman who was happy with herself, an suddenly a year later, claiming that
1. Her weight was a hindrance at the London Games
2. She wants to inspire others that they too can be the smaller, happier person

I went into a little more detail on my blog, if you want to give it a read. Here's the link:
http://thenatural54.wordpress.com/2013/09/08/a-loss-of-olympic-proportions/


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## wrestlingguy (Sep 8, 2013)

*I also want to add that by "selling out" the way Holley Mangold is, to me she seems no better than the heat seeking missiles we have in our very own community who jump at the chance to be on shows like Springer, Dr. Oz, Dr. Phil, Dr. Drew, and any other doctor, lawyer or Indian chief, talking about being fat, and letting the editing of these shows make you come off looking like an idiot, or at the very least, not the person you wanted to present on TV.

You do the size acceptance cause no good by doing so, and whether you want to represent the fat community or not, you do, and I so wish most of you who engage in this would allow more articulate (and far less crazy) people be spokespeople for the cause, because most of them would choose far better media vehicles than the garbage shows that I mentioned above.*


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## moonvine (Sep 8, 2013)

superodalisque said:


> i'm not surprised. i saw her POV doc and she did not seem to be_ personally_ happy with her body. i think she liked having it as a strong tool but it seemed like somewhat of an exchange for a personal life she had given up. a woman is more than just a physical tool. if this doesn't work i wouldn't be surprised to find her having weight loss surgery in the future. there isn't always much that can be done if someone does not genuinely like being fat in all aspects of their life. i'm sure she like a lot of other people have done a little exploration of size acceptance. for a lot of people it isn't their cup of tea. i think that is why we need to address it in different ways for people who aren't radically fat but just regular fat folk. sometimes they have to be gently shown how to be comfortable in their own skin. the fat community can be way too harsh for a lot of people in the beginning.



Maybe it is just me but I'm completely skeeved out by The Biggest Loser and I can't imagine many things that would be harsher. It seems people view it as a positive thing but I view it as a negative soo...I mean I literally cannot watch it. I watched about 5 minutes of the first season. It offended me on every possible level. I can't imagine many things that I would consider harsher than that show.


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## moonvine (Sep 8, 2013)

wrestlingguy said:


> More like the sudden turnaround. Heading into the 2012 Olympics, she was all about being the big powerful woman who was happy with herself, an suddenly a year later, claiming that
> 1. Her weight was a hindrance at the London Games
> 2. She wants to inspire others that they too can be the smaller, happier person
> 
> ...




OK...assuming she would remain in the same weight class of super heavyweight, and she weighed 60 lbs more than her competitors ..346-60 is 286.....does 286 buy happiness and the approval of people like Conan O'Brien?

Or is she going to aim to go down a bunch of weight classes? Color me confused.


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## gangstadawg (Sep 9, 2013)

wait her weight does have ALOT of muscle mass. is it easier to lose muscle mass than fat mass or is it the other way around?


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## FA Punk (Sep 9, 2013)

What I'm not getting is that she's an olympian yet she has to go on the Biggest Loser? I'm guessing this could be a money issue but still I don't see how over exercising(which is what the Biggest Loser is all about) is gonna help matters, it be pretty sad for her if she does drop the weight yet doesn't make the cut and even worse if it's by someone as big as she use to be, then again NBC could just buy her in.


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## HeavyDuty24 (Sep 9, 2013)

FA Punk said:


> What I'm not getting is that she's an olympian yet she has to go on the Biggest Loser? I'm guessing this could be a money issue but still I don't see how over exercising(which is what the Biggest Loser is all about) is gonna help matters, it be pretty sad for her if she does drop the weight yet doesn't make the cut and even worse if it's by someone as big as she use to be, then again NBC could just buy her in.



If she lost the weight she probably wouldn't be as "explosive" either i think.


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## superodalisque (Sep 9, 2013)

moonvine said:


> Maybe it is just me but I'm completely skeeved out by The Biggest Loser and I can't imagine many things that would be harsher. It seems people view it as a positive thing but I view it as a negative soo...I mean I literally cannot watch it. I watched about 5 minutes of the first season. It offended me on every possible level. I can't imagine many things that I would consider harsher than that show.



i hate that show too. after figuring it out i never watch it. IMO it's just another way to be physically abusive to fat people. i can see why she chose it though. she is already a very physical person who does difficult things so it's probably right up her alley. plus she stands to make lots of money if she works it right.

i agree with people who've said she probably won't be as strong because she is composed of so much muscle mass and she will lose a lot of muscle mass with the types of weight loss they have on that show. leverage is also an important factor as well. but i actually am not sure she is being totally honest about exactly why she is losing the weight if she is saying it's only for sport since in her doc she talks about exactly how her size has made her powerful and helped her overcome the lack of technique. she also won't be able to compete in the top eight class where all of the attention is anymore.


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## bigmac (Sep 9, 2013)

Biggest Loser contestants do loose weight. However, few people can devote the time and effort required to duplicate the show's methods. Ordinary people just do not have the time, resources, or motivation to train at the level BL requires. Olympic athletes, however are not ordinary people, they train at even higher intensities.

One would think that, as an Olympic athlete, Ms. Mangold wouldn't need BL.


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## indy500tchr (Sep 9, 2013)

I would assume by losing the weight she will not only lose fat but muscle mass as well. Wouldn't that hinder her chances of doing better at the Olympics? I mean on the Biggest Loser she won't be able to train like she would as a powerlifter or would they allow her to train the way that she needs to train for the Olympics?


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## superodalisque (Sep 9, 2013)

indy500tchr said:


> I would assume by losing the weight she will not only lose fat but muscle mass as well. Wouldn't that hinder her chances of doing better at the Olympics? I mean on the Biggest Loser she won't be able to train like she would as a powerlifter or would they allow her to train the way that she needs to train for the Olympics?



exactly. if she trained the way she did for the olympics she would still be bulky and i doubt that would appeal to the kinds of audiences the biggest loser appeals to. they want to see everybody get to be tiny.


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## vardon_grip (Sep 9, 2013)

The Olympic games are a business. Athletes are independent contractors for the US team. The United States is one of only three countries where the Olympic team program is not government funded. Training takes money. Ms. Mangold may be able to parlay donations and/or sponsorship thru her appearance on the show. It is free advertising and she has a chance at some prize money to add to the training budget.


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## Yakatori (Sep 10, 2013)

But some of these arguments are just upside-down & sideways:



superodalisque said:


> "_...and she did not seem to be *personally* happy with her body._"


That's not so unusual for a young woman at her age.



superodalisque said:


> "_...if this doesn't work i wouldn't be surprised to find her having weight loss surgery in the future._"


This is sort of out left-field. Just because you've conceded, I think, that she'd probably excel at this type of thing. So why'd you think "_it's not going to work?_" And then to just make the leap to WLS? Actually, I doubt that very much. I can think of quite a few people in the public-view that I would much more readily imagine vulnerable to that type of "sin."



moonvine said:


> "_...does 286 buy happiness and the approval of people like Conan O'Brien?.._


In retrospect, I would say Conan's comments were fairly tame and playful in tone, just considering he's a late-night comedian and that tugging at the bounds of good-taste is normally what he's paid to do. And how she rose to the occasion. Better-really, that this happened at all & in quite the way that it did. 

He basically gave her free publicity. 



gangstadawg said:


> "_wait her weight does have ALOT of muscle mass. is it easier to lose muscle mass than fat mass or is it the other way around?_"


It's actually quite easy to lose muscle mass. Just sit around, move your body as little as possible. Combine with very poor nutrition (enough empty calories not slow metabolism too much, but little or no protein or vitamins.) And don't sleep very much or very well.

That will cause your muscles to atrophy fairly quickly. Almost like you're rapidly aging. 



superodalisque said:


> "_...she probably won't be as strong because she is composed of so much muscle mass and she will lose a lot of muscle mass with the types of weight loss they have on that show. leverage is also an important factor as well... her size has made her powerful and helped her overcome the lack of technique. she also won't be able to compete in the top eight class where all of the attention is anymore._"


Muscle-mass does tend to go a long way towards overall strength, but the two are not one in the same. Nor is muscle strength the same as "functional" strength. And, of course, these competitions are not just about strength.

Look, she's about 70 lbs heavier than the Chinese woman who set the world-record overall in the very top weight class. And she's about 130lbs heavier than the Russian record-holder in the snatch-event, on a shorter & smaller frame. Even Sarah Robles, who's got that arm deformity, placed higher at 7 to Mangold's 10th overall, checks-in at a relatively lean 273lbs.

And, here, I think it's also important to add that this is all specific to this particular event under these particular rules. Where, as already we've discussed, the opportunity for sponsorship or endorsement is not at a level commensurate with, say, women's gymnastics or men's swimming. So, really, that's to say that is actually more like an amateur type of competition that just-happens to be open to professional athletes who may also want to compete. And that there are other types of strength competitions out there which, frankly, offer a more lucrative type of opportunity for a much wider field of participants. As such, I dunno if we can really say that any of these women (above) are "the world's strongest" like in the same sense as Usain Bolt is the world's fastest human.

And there, the disparity between mass & strength is that much greater. The elite competitors seem to top out in the area of 6 feet and 280lbs or so. And a bit below that mark, you will see some women who're just-average in overall size, that most folks seeing them walking around in street-clothes would have absolutely no-idea of just how strong they actually are. 



HeavyDuty24 said:


> "_If she lost the weight she probably wouldn't be as "explosive" either i think._"


I'm not any kind of expert on weights or lifting. And I'm sure there are people on here, not to mention those who're in her corner, that have forgotten more than I care to learn on the subject. But, just intuitively, I would tend to think that if you want to enhance a certain physical attribute, then you need to, at least for the time being, focus your training in a way that places greater & more consistent demand on that particular characteristic. In the case of "explosive-power," I'm thinking sprints, going-up hills, crab-walk type of speed exercises. Certain types of calisthenics (jumping rope, squat-thrusts, ect...) Even doing the very same type of exercises that she have to perform in competition. But, periodically, with less weight & more reps. And more attention to form and breathing and body-control. This would, hopefully, allow the fast-twitch muscle-tissue to repair & hypertrophy at a rate however greater than the slow-twitch type of fibers, thus better adapting their condition? 

More-so if you're already v. big & v. strong in the other sense. It's just a basic principle of training that, as you hit certain plateaus in performance, then you typically have to change-up what you're doing in order to tap into that 5th or 6th gear that some of us don't even realize we have (or might not have) until we actually get up to that speed? 

Or, to look at it another way, consider fitness as a type of triangle where each side represents a different attribute of what we think it means to be truly fit. You can only go so far, strength-wise, before a lack of cardio-vascular conditioning will limit your ability to work-out longer & harder & more efficiently & more often with heavier weight. And, in turn, your gains in strength can enhance your flexibility. And your flexibility & strength, in tandem, will help you avoid injury while you're trying to improve your endurance by working yet further past your own sense of fatigue.



bigmac said:


> "_...few people can devote the time and effort required to duplicate the show's methods. Ordinary people just do not have the time, resources, or motivation to train at the level BL requires. *Olympic athletes, however are not ordinary people, they train at even higher intensities.*.
> 
> One would think that, as an Olympic athlete, Ms. Mangold wouldn't need BL._"


I would think as an amateur-athlete in her v. early 20's with very little money of her own and who's now poised to win the the US's very first gold-medal in some emerging-sport, she will take whatever opportunity she thinks might offer any sort of competitive advantage. Be it exposure, money, or training-resources. Robles was living off-of $400 a month. That Mangold is now substantially above the weight she competed at, and all of the other top-competitors at about 100lbs pounds less than that, this is a no-brainer. Especially since she's going-on after coming in 10th but before what's possibly her very best chance to medal so far. Even if she were to remain with _The Biggest Loser_ right up until the season's end, she'd still have plenty of time left to begin training again, but more specifically for the Olympics Talk about a golden opportunity. Except for that, maybe, we have a few crabs in the bucket. 



superodalisque said:


> "_...*if she trained the way she did for the olympics she would still be bulky* and i doubt that would appeal to the kinds of audiences the biggest loser appeals to. *they want to see everybody get to be tiny.*_"


Except-that, maybe, they've run into this type of critique a few times since their first season more than a decade-ago? And are setting-out to prove something that runs right across your all of your preconceptions at once.

For example, what if, when all is said & done, she comes out of this about 100 lbs lighter, but more compact and with more of hour-glass type of shape. And stronger. And faster. And tougher. And more confident. And "more explosive." And more focused. And then wins the gold-medal? What will that mean for some of us? What will than mean for others?


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## HeavyDuty24 (Sep 10, 2013)

indy500tchr said:


> I would assume by losing the weight she will not only lose fat but muscle mass as well. Wouldn't that hinder her chances of doing better at the Olympics? I mean on the Biggest Loser she won't be able to train like she would as a powerlifter or would they allow her to train the way that she needs to train for the Olympics?



I think the powerlifters well most of them have that high caloric high food intake? and i think that is what BL works against.


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## HeavyDuty24 (Sep 10, 2013)

Yakatori said:


> But some of these arguments are just upside-down & sideways:
> 
> That's not so unusual for a young woman at her age.
> 
> ...




I just thought most powerlifters did that high weight low rep type of training. Since that quick burst of explosive power and strength is what they need the most in their field. But they do also need some type of flexibility too. And nice post.


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## bigmac (Sep 10, 2013)

vardon_grip said:


> The Olympic games are a business. Athletes are independent contractors for the US team. The United States is one of only three countries where the Olympic team program is not government funded. Training takes money. *Ms. Mangold may be able to parlay donations and/or sponsorship thru her appearance on the show. * It is free advertising and she has a chance at some prize money to add to the training budget.



Good points -- I'm thinking you're right -- its all about the money.


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## KHayes666 (Sep 10, 2013)

What I'd love to see is for her to drop 60-70 pounds and then complete fail at weightlifting because she's lost so much weight. Probably won't happen knowing how things turn out today (Honey Boo Boo and her family has more money than all of us now) but still would be nice for some form of comeuppance.


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## Cobra Verde (Sep 10, 2013)

KHayes666 said:


> What I'd love to see is for her to drop 60-70 pounds and then complete fail at weightlifting because she's lost so much weight. Probably won't happen knowing how things turn out today (Honey Boo Boo and her family has more money than all of us now) but still would be nice for some form of comeuppance.


Finally a sane response. 


Take that, young woman who wants to lose weight!!


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## TheIceManVer2.0 (Sep 10, 2013)

Does she look good fat? No doubt. Does her weight hinder her lifting, maybe. I am a lifter (not to Holley's caliber) and sometimes extra fat mass makes recovering from your training harder. Usually the tradeoff in mass vs leanness is the endurance factor. Maybe she feels her endurance and recovery is compromised due to her excess body fat. She is front heavy, which could also compromise her balance. In all honesty, if she dropped 50lbs of fat, she could retain almost all of her strength, would still weigh 300lbs, which she obviously needs for her sport. On the flip side, going the Biggest Loser route is a crying shame. I get the fact that she is not a professional and cannot earn money to support herself, but the Biggest Loser? Really? Ugh.


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## superodalisque (Sep 10, 2013)

TheIceManVer2.0 said:


> Does she look good fat? No doubt. Does her weight hinder her lifting, maybe. I am a lifter (not to Holley's caliber) and sometimes extra fat mass makes recovering from your training harder. Usually the tradeoff in mass vs leanness is the endurance factor. Maybe she feels her endurance and recovery is compromised due to her excess body fat. She is front heavy, which could also compromise her balance. In all honesty, if she dropped 50lbs of fat, she could retain almost all of her strength, would still weigh 300lbs, which she obviously needs for her sport. On the flip side, going the Biggest Loser route is a crying shame. I get the fact that she is not a professional and cannot earn money to support herself, but the Biggest Loser? Really? Ugh.



don't you have to maintain amateur status in order to be an olympian?


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## KHayes666 (Sep 10, 2013)

TheIceManVer2.0 said:


> Does she look good fat? No doubt. Does her weight hinder her lifting, maybe. I am a lifter (not to Holley's caliber) and sometimes extra fat mass makes recovering from your training harder. Usually the tradeoff in mass vs leanness is the endurance factor. Maybe she feels her endurance and recovery is compromised due to her excess body fat. She is front heavy, which could also compromise her balance. In all honesty, if she dropped 50lbs of fat, she could retain almost all of her strength, would still weigh 300lbs, which she obviously needs for her sport. On the flip side, going the Biggest Loser route is a crying shame. I get the fact that she is not a professional and cannot earn money to support herself, but the Biggest Loser? Really? Ugh.



Doesn't matter what she looks like, its the fact that instead of doing what she did before which was keep her training schedule with donations from Phil and other fans....she has to go on national television to lose weight and get yelled at like common trash by angry trainers that I'd deck with a right hook if they ever talked to me like that.

Making a spectacle of herself when she really doesn't have to. As Phil said, a big fat check from NBC spoke louder than common human beings.


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## superodalisque (Sep 10, 2013)

KHayes666 said:


> Doesn't matter what she looks like, its the fact that instead of doing what she did before which was keep her training schedule with donations from Phil and other fans....she has to go on national television to lose weight and get yelled at like common trash by angry trainers that I'd deck with a right hook if they ever talked to me like that.
> 
> Making a spectacle of herself when she really doesn't have to. As Phil said, a big fat check from NBC spoke louder than common human beings.



Olympians really don't have a lot of personal donations though. you should take a look at the doc they did on her at POV.


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## tonynyc (Sep 10, 2013)

superodalisque said:


> don't you have to maintain amateur status in order to be an olympian?



unfortunately... this is where things gets "dicey" ... if you are a professional Basketball player- Hockey - Tennis - and I think when they had Baseball (not sure on this) most were professional...

1.* Depends on the sport * not all sports created equally when it comes to endorsement... some amateur athletes -- like track and field's Usain Bolt - can make a very good living...

Usain St. Leo Bolt
Net Worth: $15 million Source of Wealth: sports, track and field
Forbes: 2012: $20.3 million ($20 million from endorsements and $300,000 salary from track) 

 Usain Bold Net Worth

*2. State of Olympic Weightlifting*... US has not done well since 1952...
and has had a steady decline since the 1960s - to present day. Though you've had some bright spots...







*1952 US Olympic Team- Gold Medalist *

*LR ( Pete George - John Davis (white lifting suit) - Norbert Schemanksy - Tommy Kono) 
*

Sad part is that even when the US did well in Weightlifting - athletes had a tough go of it. There was a story of Norbert Schemanksy requesting time of from work to compete- his employer at the time was more than happy to "fire" him....

*3. As for Holly* - this latest effort is all a publicity stunt and as others have said .... better time could be spent training and getting ready for 2016. Also - one wonders if she would not have gotten the publicity if not for her brother - Pro Football Player - Nick. 

A. does a 60 lbs. loss in weight translate to an increased strength - she also has to make some tremendous strides...

*2012 London results*

Chinas Zhou Lulu (gold medal) - combined weight of 333 kg (734 lbs.)
US Holly Mangold (10th Place) - combined weight of 240 kg (529 lbs.)

* Now granted that Holly was injured at this time and could have totaled in in the 550-560lbs range...but, we are looking at best a slightly over two hundred pounds(total) to overcome - can this happen by 2016? Anything is possible - but, this is an extremely tough road...


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## bbwbud (Sep 10, 2013)

You would think that folks here would be OK with people wanting to do whatever is the best thing for them. I don't mind having a few extra pounds on me, but I know I need to lose weight because carrying it makes me slower and less competitive in the sport I play, which is baseball. Also, it makes life easier on the knees, and I have only so many flexes in them. Maybe the biggest loser isn't the way I'd do it, but whatever is best for you.


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## superodalisque (Sep 10, 2013)

bbwbud said:


> You would think that folks here would be OK with people wanting to do whatever is the best thing for them. I don't mind having a few extra pounds on me, but I know I need to lose weight because carrying it makes me slower and less competitive in the sport I play, which is baseball. Also, it makes life easier on the knees, and I have only so many flexes in them. Maybe the biggest loser isn't the way I'd do it, but whatever is best for you.



i whole heartedly agree with this. i would love for her to be comfortable fat both emotionally or physically but i'm not hating on her for wanting to lose weight. that show is yucky though. but if she wants to lose weight needs money etc... all i can do is hope that she gets whatever she wishes for or at least gain some self knowledge. she doesn't owe us anything.


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## wrestlingguy (Sep 10, 2013)

I don't recall anyone in this thread taking this woman to task for wanting to take control of her own body. This is the crux of size acceptance, and anyone who would begrudge her for that should be taken to task. Again however, I didn't read any comments that would indicate that, so I'm wondering what post(s) BBWBud read that indicated that.

The issue I have was that she grabbed the baton for size acceptance, and then threw it back at those who supported her. If she'd gone to see a nutritionist and personal trainer privately, there would be no report, no blog. Or, if she had refused the Olympic donations from people who publicly messaged her, saying they supported her repping for size acceptance and said, "sorry, that's not my thing", no one would have said a word. You can't have it both ways, however.

As I said in an earlier post, she's a heat seeking missile right now, looking to make a name for herself, and TBL offers her a better opportunity than repping for size acceptance does.


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## KHayes666 (Sep 10, 2013)

bbwbud said:


> You would think that folks here would be OK with people wanting to do whatever is the best thing for them. I don't mind having a few extra pounds on me, but I know I need to lose weight because carrying it makes me slower and less competitive in the sport I play, which is baseball. Also, it makes life easier on the knees, and I have only so many flexes in them. Maybe the biggest loser isn't the way I'd do it, but whatever is best for you.



Like I said, its not about looks or losing weight its about making an ass out of yourself on national television when you really don't have to.

The Biggest Loser is designed to make its competitors look pathetic, weak and in need of the saintly Jillian Michaels and the other morons who stab, shoot, spit and scream at how pathetic and overweight they are. Does Holly Mangold (or anyone really) need to be told how fat and pathetic she is on national television, hell no.


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## moonvine (Sep 10, 2013)

superodalisque said:


> don't you have to maintain amateur status in order to be an olympian?



Not in many years. "After the 1988 Games, the IOC decided to make all professional athletes eligible for the Olympics, subject to the approval of the IFs.[133] As of 2004, the only sport in which no professionals compete is boxing, although even this requires a definition of amateurism based on fight rules rather than on payment, as some boxers receive cash prizes from their National Olympic Committees."

From Wikipedia 

In the popular sports such as gymnastics, figure skating, track and field, swimming, etc big commercial endorsements are possible. If you want to maintain NCAA eligibility that is harder, and I'm not too up on that

As a practical matter athletes in the less popular sports (in the us), weightlifting, curling, fencing, what not, those folks are much more likely to be true amateurs. Other countries have different rules, if you win a gold medal in any event in some countries you and even your family are set for life, also it is not unusual for all training to be paid for by the state. Communist countries back in the 70's, 80's before the fall of communism would search the country looking for promising athletes and put them in training as young as 4/5..Romanian gymnasts and East German swimmers come to mind, of course after the fall of Communism all that has changed.

Sorry, sports/Olympics geek.


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## moonvine (Sep 10, 2013)

wrestlingguy said:


> As I said in an earlier post, she's a heat seeking missile right now, looking to make a name for herself, and TBL offers her a better opportunity than repping for size acceptance does.



She's a US Female Olympic Weightlifter so good luck with that regardless of the size class. Tara Nott won a gold in flyweight for the US in 2000 when Cheryl Haworth won the bronze in the super heavyweight. Neither are household names and Tara was the first gold medalist for the us since 1960.

Step away from the sports trivia, Moonvine:doh:


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## KHayes666 (Sep 10, 2013)

moonvine said:


> She's a US Female Olympic Weightlifter so good luck with that regardless of the size class. Tara Nott won a gold in flyweight for the US in 2000 when Cheryl Haworth won the bronze in the super heavyweight. Neither are household names and Tara was the first gold medalist for the us since 1960.
> 
> Step away from the sports trivia, Moonvine:doh:



Being yelled at by Jillian Michaels will be seen by more people than powerlifting in Olympics, that's how awful this country has gotten.


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## moonvine (Sep 10, 2013)

superodalisque said:


> Olympians really don't have a lot of personal donations though. you should take a look at the doc they did on her at POV.



I saw a puff piece they did on a female weightlifter during the last Olympics or was it the one before, ack, but she was so poor she literally could not afford to feed herself the kind of food you need to build muscle mass, she was going to the food bank and getting high carb food and her coach was helping to feed her - that is hard core wanting to be an Olympian.


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## wrestlingguy (Sep 10, 2013)

moonvine said:


> I saw a puff piece they did on a female weightlifter during the last Olympics or was it the one before, ack, but she was so poor she literally could not afford to feed herself the kind of food you need to build muscle mass, she was going to the food bank and getting high carb food and her coach was helping to feed her - that is hard core wanting to be an Olympian.



Good point. It may have been American weightlifter Sarah Robles, who related the following story on her blog page:



> During one of my brokest times, my friend told me, dude, you eat like crap. My produce rotted fast, there was a lot of bread, $5 hot n' readies, canned meat and vegetables, frozen chicken quarters, and boxed food. Basically when you're living on $400 a month and your car payment is $250 and your rent is $150 (very generously cheap) there's no money to get decent food. $16 a month in food stamps can get you about 2 weeks worth of food from the food bank. That's if you're an average person. For an athlete, that amount of food, won't last long.
> 
> The tables turned at one point when she was out of money and I had some so she asked if I could help her with groceries. She's never one to buy generic foods or be seen in the cheaper stores. I tell her she shops like an "elitist." Anyway taking her to the store was an interesting trip. I got her peanut butter and jelly and a little lunch meat and cheese that would roughly 7 sandwiches, 1 gallon of whole milk, chicken legs, rice, cereal and bananas. I heard things like "I don't really like milk that much." "Can I get whole grain bread?" "This lunch meat has preservatives." My response wasn't very nice but, very true. "Dude, you're broke. Broke people can't eat the way you do. The main priority is to not feel hungry." I can say with thanks to my parents an the generosity of others, I have never had to go a day without food. I cannot say the same for thousands of people out there and many of my closest friends growing up. One of my friends, who is the oldest of four children said she remembers skipping on meals so her siblings had enough to eat.



In case someone wants to read the rest of Sarah's blog....


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## moonvine (Sep 10, 2013)

KHayes666 said:


> Being yelled at by Jillian Michaels will be seen by more people than powerlifting in Olympics, that's how awful this country has gotten.



I would so proudly do anything in the Olympics in front of like 5 people. Dressage was always my dream and hey I still have a few years for that if I win the lottery tomorrow and can purchase a large ass Olympic caliber dressage horse! 

Jillian Michaels, I'd pretty much slap down.


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## moonvine (Sep 10, 2013)

wrestlingguy said:


> Good point. It may have been American weightlifter Sarah Robles, who related the following story on her blog page:
> 
> 
> 
> In case someone wants to read the rest of Sarah's blog....



That is some serious, serious I really want to represent my country in the Olympics mojo:smitten:

I remember watching a US diver who had trained for years and sacrificed..not to win a medal...but to represent her country. She cried upon achieving her goal of making the Olympic diving finals. I cried like a baby and emailed her to congratulate her and she emailed me back. I am really upset with myself that I now cannot dig her name out of my sports trivia riddled brain and even a careful go at Wikipedia did not help. 

I guess some people bawl when watching people get yelled at by Jillian Michaels. I would bawl but for an entirely different reason. Or yell. Or something.

Off to watch the US soccer vs Mexico.


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## bigmac (Sep 10, 2013)

moonvine said:


> She's a US Female Olympic Weightlifter so good luck with that regardless of the size class. Tara Nott won a gold in flyweight for the US in 2000 when Cheryl Haworth won the bronze in the super heavyweight. Neither are household names and Tara was the first gold medalist for the us since 1960.
> 
> Step away from the sports trivia, Moonvine:doh:



Thanks for bringing up the issue of size class. Athletes who compete in sports with size classes are constantly trying to find the class that works best for them. To this end its very common for athletes to purposefully gain or loose weight to be more competitive.

As a high school wrestler my starting weight put me in the heavyweight class. However, I was not strong enough to be even remotely competitive as a heavyweight so I lost 35 pounds and wrestled in the 86 kilo class where at least I didn't totally embarrass myself. Likewise, Ms. Mangold may have plans to compete as a heavyweight rather than a super heavyweight so as to be more competitive.


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## KHayes666 (Sep 10, 2013)

bigmac said:


> Thanks for bringing up the issue of size class. Athletes who compete in sports with size classes are constantly trying to find the class that works best for them. To this end its very common for athletes to purposefully gain or loose weight to be more competitive.
> 
> As a high school wrestler my starting weight put me in the heavyweight class. However, I was not strong enough to be even remotely competitive as a heavyweight so I lost 35 pounds and wrestled in the 86 kilo class where at least I didn't totally embarrass myself. Likewise, Ms. Mangold may have plans to compete as a heavyweight rather than a super heavyweight so as to be more competitive.



BigMac is right about being in the right class for you. I was 178 pounds at the end of football season my junior year which would have put me in the 189 pound division. Luckily I had lost enough weight where I was competing in the 152 division by December. A 37 pound difference is a major drop in weight, just wish Holly had a less embarrassing way to go about it.


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## GrowingBoy (Sep 15, 2013)

HeavyDuty24 said:


> I think the powerlifters well most of them have that high caloric high food intake? and i think that is what BL works against.



Then biggest loser is all about weight loss, not fat loss. Lifting the weights she does, she has got to have a lean body mass of 200+ pounds. That means there is no way for her to be competitive on the show without jeopardizing her Olympic chances. It could take years for her to build up her muscle mass after all the damage that could be done if she tries to lose too much weight rapidly.


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## J34 (Sep 15, 2013)

I think the whole thing is a publicity stunt. It makes the network happy, and she gets the publicity and the weight loss she wants. Its like the joker said "if you are good at something never do it for free."


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