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The Athlete’s Guide to

Making
Weight
The Athlete’s Guide to

Making
Weight
Michele A. Macedonio, MS, RD
Marie Dunford, PhD, RD

Human Kinetics
 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Macedonio, Michele A.
The athlete’s guide to making weight / Michele A. Macedonio, Marie Dunford.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN-13: 978-0-7360-7586-2 (soft cover)
ISBN-10: 0-7360-7586-0 (soft cover)
1. Sports--Physiological aspects. 2. Athletes--Nutrition. 3. Body weight--Regulation. 4. Sports medicine.
I. Dunford, Marie. II. Title.
RC1235.M26 2009
613.2’024796--dc22
2008052163
ISBN-10: 0-7360-7586-0 (print) ISBN-10: 0-7360-8524-6 (Adobe PDF)
ISBN-13: 978-0-7360-7586-2 (print) ISBN-13: 978-0-7360-8524-3 (Adobe PDF)
Copyright © 2009 by Michele A. Macedonio and Marie Dunford
All rights reserved. Except for use in a review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in any form or
by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including xerography,
photocopying, and recording, and in any information storage and retrieval system, is forbidden without the
written permission of the publisher.
This publication is written and published to provide accurate and authoritative information relevant to the
subject matter presented. It is published and sold with the understanding that the author and publisher
are not engaged in rendering legal, medical, or other professional services by reason of their authorship
or publication of this work. If medical or other expert assistance is required, the services of a competent
professional person should be sought.
Notice: Permission to reproduce the following material is granted to instructors and agencies who have
purchased The Athlete’s Guide to Making Weight: pp. 52-53, 54-55, 64-65, 68-69, 208-209, and 238-244.
The reproduction of other parts of this book is expressly forbidden by the above copyright notice. Persons or
agencies who have not purchased The Athlete’s Guide to Making Weight may not reproduce any material.
The Web addresses cited in this text were current as of October 2008, unless otherwise noted.
Developmental Editor: Heather Healy; Assistant Editor: Carla Zych; Copyeditor: Robert Replinger;
Proofreader: Kathy Bennett; Indexer: Nan N. Badgett; Permission Manager: Martha Gullo; Graphic
Designer: Robert Reuther; Graphic Artist: Kim McFarland; Cover Designer: Keith Blomberg; Pho-
tographer (cover): © Human Kinetics; Photographer (interior): © Human Kinetics unless otherwise
indicated; Photo Asset Manager: Laura Fitch; Photo Production Manager: Jason Allen; Art Manager:
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Human Kinetics books are available at special discounts for bulk purchase. Special editions or book excerpts
can also be created to specification. For details, contact the Special Sales Manager at Human Kinetics.
Printed in the United States of America 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
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To my parents, Annette and Carmine, who believed I could,
and to my husband, Matt, who knew I would.
—MM

To my husband, Greg, from whom all good things flow.

—MD
 Contents

Preface ix ◾ Acknowledgments xi ◾
Four Steps to Achieving Optimal Performance Weight 1

Part I Optimal Weight, Optimal Performance . . . . . . . . 5

Chapter 1 Tipping the Scales in Your Favor . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

Chapter 2 Identifying the Priorities for Your Sport . . . . . . . 19

Chapter 3 Analyzing Your Body, Assessing Your Weight . . . 43

Chapter 4 Charting Your Course for Success . . . . . . . . . . . 61

Part II Strategies for Achieving Your Target Weight . . 77

Chapter 5 Building a Solid Nutritional Base . . . . . . . . . . . . 79

Chapter 6 Adding Muscle, Gaining Mass . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93

Chapter 7 Losing Fat, Winning Results . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107

Chapter 8 Weighing In on Water Weight . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123

Chapter 9 Sizing Up Supplement Use . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135

◾ vi ◾
 Contents   ◾ vii ◾

Part III Meal Plans for Making Weight . . . . . . . . . . . . 151

Chapter 10 Building Muscle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153

Chapter 11 Losing Fat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171

Chapter 12 Building Muscle and Losing Fat . . . . . . . . . . . 185

Chapter 13 Precision Meal Planning System . . . . . . . . . . . 199

Appendix A: Additional Resources 235 ◾ Appendix B: Tools and Templates 237

Works Consulted 245 ◾ Index 249 ◾ About the Authors 257
 Preface

A ndre Agassi, a professional tennis player by age 16, was a rebel with
shoulder-length hair, a cheeseburger-heavy diet, and camera ads that
proclaimed, “Image is everything.” He had many successes early in his
career, but after 10 years the former number 1 player was ranked 141st and
playing on the satellite tour. His options were to quit or improve. He shaved
his head, changed his image, rededicated himself to a rigorous training and
conditioning program, and revamped his diet. In doing so, he changed
his weight and body composition. Agassi discovered a balance between
the demands of the sport, his skills and style of play, and the physical and
nutritional preparation essential to achieving long-term success. The rest
is history.
If you are serious about your sport and aspire to peak performance, you
need to be aware of how body weight and composition affect performance.
Whether you are a basketball player looking to increase size and power for
an improved inside game or a wrestler debating the advantages of dropping
to a lower weight class, The Athlete’s Guide to Making Weight provides the
information that you need to determine where you are, where you need to
be, and how you are going to get there.
This book is a guide to help you answer questions about weight and
performance. Should I lose weight? Should I gain weight? If so, how?
What are the advantages of adding muscle or losing fat? How can I do so
without jeopardizing my performance? How does water weight factor in,
and what role do supplements play in the overall process? Combining the
latest research and real-life examples, along with sample meal plans and
sport-specific programming, this book provides the answers to these sorts
of questions and puts you on the road to successful weight loss or gain.
The Athlete’s Guide to Making Weight leads the dedicated athlete through a
logical and thoughtful process of change. The book is designed to help you
determine the best weight and body composition for your sport and position.
The book begins with an explanation of the four steps needed to achieve
optimal performance weight so that you can briefly see the overall process
that will help you meet your goals. In part I you learn about assessments
and goal setting. Assessment is essential, so three chapters are devoted to
it. Chapter 1 helps you assess the relative need for strength, power, speed,
and endurance in different sports and how weight and body composition
affect these characteristics. To set realistic goals and objectives to improve
your performance, you need to complete a comprehensive assessment of

◾ ix ◾
◾ x ◾   Preface

your sport and yourself. Chapter 2 presents priorities for your sport and
your specific position, and chapter 3 explains the personal assessments that
will help you establish a baseline for your body.
Part II begins with a primer on nutrition (chapter 4) because proper nutri-
tion is a crucial support to training. In the quest to change weight and body
composition, many people focus too much on the amount of calories found
in food. Caloric intake is important, but you cannot afford to overlook the
nutrients that foods provide. Chapter 5 explains how caloric intake and
nutrients work together to fuel the body. Chapters 6, 7, and 8 provide infor-
mation about how to build muscle, lose fat, and maintain proper hydration.
Misinformation about these processes can lead to unrealistic or inappropriate
goals and action plans that can be detrimental to your training, performance,
and health. Chapter 9 evaluates many of the dietary supplements that are
advertised to help athletes build muscle and lose body fat.
Part III contains specific action plans for achieving your goals. You will
find meal plans to help you build muscle (chapter 10), lose fat (chapter 11),
or build muscle and lose fat at the same time (chapter 12). These nutritionally
sound meal plans include the proper amounts and proportions of calories,
carbohydrate, protein, and fat. In chapter 13 you will learn how to personal-
ize your meal plan and create daily meal patterns (meals and snacks) that
support your training and conditioning program.
Changing weight and body composition is a step-by-step process, so we
recommend that you read the introduction and then begin with the assess-
ments in part I. You may be tempted to start with part III, but without a
detailed assessment of where you are now and what you need to do to
improve your performance in your sport and at your position, you could
easily choose the wrong calorie level and meal plan. Begin at the beginning,
and you will see the results that you desire in the end.
 Acknowledgments

L ife takes us down many paths, and along the way we are blessed to
encounter people who help to shape us. My parents, Annette and Carmine
Macedonio, always believed in me and encouraged me to push my limits.
They planted the seeds for this book and for all my accomplishments, and
I only wish they could have enjoyed the fruit.
I could not have had a more perfect co-author than Marie Dunford, who
not only helped me realize a dream but also made the process enjoyable
and exciting. This project strengthened our friendship and increased my
admiration for Marie.
I’m grateful to Jason Muzinic at Human Kinetics for presenting the chal-
lenge and for having faith in us, trusting us to reach the goal line.
Many thanks to my friends Janet Thomas and Lisa Schackmann for their
expert eyes and insightful suggestions early in the writing process, which
helped us speak more clearly to our readers.
Thanks, too, to my wonderful clients, especially Rudi Johnson, Landon
Johnson, Erin Mikula, Evan Schwinfest, Jill Glassmeyer, Colin Cotton, and
Justin Haire, who have faithfully followed my counsel, given me inspiration,
and proven that this method works.
Special thanks to Heather Healy and the entire HK editorial and produc-
tion team for their support, encouragement, expertise, and creativity in
fine-tuning this work.
To my family—my husband, Matt Sokany; my children, Katherine and
Morgan; and my Aunt Mickey—thanks for being my biggest fans. And to
all who have helped me reach this place—thank you!
—Michele Macedonio

J ason Muzinic has long held a vision for a book about athletes and weight,
and I thank him for trusting me to be a part of it.
Michele Macedonio is a phenomenal co-author. Although we have known
each other for years, only in writing this book did we discover that we are
twin daughters of different mothers.
Thanks to Mike Newell for critiquing the chapters and dropping them
off on his early morning dog walks.
This book would not have been possible without Heather Healy and the
other members of the editorial and production team, who expertly trans-
formed the manuscript to its final form.
To all those named and unnamed, thank you for your help and encour-
agement.
—Marie Dunford

◾ xi ◾
 Introduction

Four Steps to Achieving

Optimal Performance Weight

L ike many people, athletes often look to quick fixes, crash diets, or shortcuts
to achieve weight loss or weight gain. You may have already tried some of
those methods and found that they did not work or that they hindered your
performance. Athletes who want to gain or lose weight and change body
composition to improve performance need to understand that achieving that
end is a process. A process is a series of well-thought-out actions directed
toward specific goals. Athletes work on at least three goals simultaneously:
a performance-based goal, a weight and body-composition goal, and a
health-based goal. Each step of the process builds on a previous step until
the goals are achieved. Although each athlete needs a personalized plan to
meet individualized goals, the process is the same.
To help you understand the process, we have created a four-step approach
that will help you achieve the performance improvements you want. Step 1
is assessment, a necessary precondition to understanding your situation. After
you have assessment information, you can proceed to goal setting (step 2).
Realistic performance, weight, and health goals and objectives are the basis
for creating an action plan, which is step 3. Many athletes are unsuccessful
in their attempts at weight loss or gain because they jump into an action
plan that is not based on realistic goals that suit their unique needs. Step 4 is
evaluation and reassessment, an important step because strategies often need
to be adjusted and because goals, objectives, and priorities change.

Step 1: Assessment
Assessment focuses on two specific areas: an assessment of your sport and a
personal assessment. You must have a clear understanding of your sport and
position and be aware of the height, weight, body build, and body composi-
tion of successful athletes in your sport. Personal assessments that evaluate

◾ 1 ◾
◾ 2 ◾   Introduction

your physical characteristics are critical because they serve as baseline mea-
surements. You need to measure your height, weight, body build, girth, and
body composition as well as your calorie intake and expenditure.
By comparing your physical characteristics with those of successful ath-
letes in your sport, specifically with those who play your position, you can
determine whether you need to change your body weight or body composi-
tion. Most athletes find that they need to make some changes. Because you
cannot make these changes without altering your current caloric intake
(that is, your diet) or your current caloric expenditure (your exercise), the
recording of these data provides valuable baseline information. You will
have to devote some time to obtain the measurements needed. This time is
well spent because assessment gives you the baseline information that you
need to set realistic goals and objectives.

Step 2: Goal Setting

When an athlete says, “I want to lose weight” or “I want to gain muscle
mass,” he or she is setting a goal. Such broad goals keep you focused on
the prize of improving your performance. You may want to gain weight as
muscle so that you are bigger and stronger and can overpower an opponent,
you may want to lose excess body fat to increase your speed, or you may
want to maximize muscle and minimize fat to successfully compete in a
lower weight class. Whatever your goal, to accomplish it, you need to take
many small steps. These small steps, known as objectives, need to be spe-
cific. For example, if your goal is to gain 20 pounds (9 kilograms) of muscle
mass, then one objective should be the amount of lean mass that you hope
to gain at one-month intervals. Gaining 20 pounds (9 kilograms) of muscle
mass may take a year, so objectives are minigoals that can help you stay on
track. Athletes usually have several major goals and numerous objectives.
After you set goals and objectives, you can institute an action plan.

Step 3: Action Plan

To make a change, you should understand the current situation and have
a specific plan to meet your goals. Basic nutrition knowledge is critical
because you need proper nutrition for optimal training, performance, and
good health. Knowing how muscle is gained and how body fat is lost is
prerequisite information for your action plan because you do not want to
make changes that impede progress toward your goals or interfere with
your training and performance. Changing weight or body composition
requires you to modify your diet, and dietary intake is a primary focus of
any action plan. Your plan should include the specific amounts of calories,
carbohydrate, protein, and fat that you need to consume daily.

◾ 2 ◾
 Introduction   ◾ 3 ◾

Step 4: Evaluation and Reassessment

Evaluation and reassessment are necessary to determine whether you are
meeting your goals and objectives and whether your action plan is work-
ing. Remember, you will set goals that relate to performance, weight and
body composition, and health, and you need to evaluate your progress to
see if the results are those you intended. You will have to repeat many of
the personal assessments originally conducted because you will need com-
parative measurements to judge whether you are achieving your goals and
objectives. This step provides valuable feedback and can lead to adjustments
in your goals and objectives and modifications to the strategies needed to
meet them. Changes in weight and body composition cannot be precisely
predicted. Even a well-developed action plan will likely need adjustment
along the way.
The illustration of the four steps to achieving optimal performance weight
in figure 1 on page 4 gives you an overview of the process and shows how
each step builds on the previous ones. As you can see, each chapter in the
book gives specific information about one or more of the steps. Personalizing
this process will help you determine and achieve your optimal performance
weight. Here’s to your success!

◾ 3 ◾
◾ 4 ◾   Introduction

Step 1 Step 2
Assessment Goal Setting
Objectives
Sport assessment (chapter 4)
(chapters 1, 2)
Goals Objectives
Personal (chapter 4) (chapter 4)
assessment
(chapter 3) Objectives
(chapter 4)

Step 4 Step 3
Evaluation & Reassessment Action Plan

Reassessment Strategies for

(chapters 2, 6, 7) building muscle
(chapters 5, 6,
Evaluation of progress 10, 13)
(chapters 4, 6, 7)
Strategies for
losing fat
(chapters 5, 7,
11, 13)

Strategies for
simultaneously
building muscle
and losing fat
(chapters 5, 6, 7,
12, 13)

Maintaining water
and electrolyte
balance
(chapter 8)

Decisions about
using supplements
(chapter 9)

Figure 1 The four steps to achieving optimal performance weight.

E4577/Macedonio/InF 01.01/329570/Gary H./R2

◾ 4 ◾
 Part I

Optimal Weight,
Optimal Performance
 chapter

1
Tipping the Scales in
Your Favor
W hat is your optimal performance weight? The answer largely depends
on your sport and the position that you play. The right weight and body
composition reflect the physiological demands of your sport and position
and your genetic makeup. Understanding the physical characteristics of
successful athletes in your sport will help you identify your best weight
and body composition. Although individual differences must always be
accommodated, certain body characteristics are advantageous in particular
sports.
Take a moment to think about the physical characteristics of outstanding
athletes in your sport. How tall are they? How much do they typically weigh?
Do they have a large amount of muscle mass? Do they have a relatively low
percentage of body fat? Assessing your sport will give you a basis for com-
paring your body to successful athletes in your sport. Consider whether you
would perform better if you had more muscle. At what level would muscle
mass become excessive and thus be detrimental to performance? Conversely,
would your performance improve if you had less body fat, and if so, how
much? Keep in mind that losing too much fat undermines performance. By
asking yourself these questions you will begin to understand whether you
need to gain or lose weight and whether you need more lean mass or less
body fat to perform at your peak.
Four factors that you must consider when assessing your sport are height,
weight, body build, and body composition. These physical parameters
relate to size, and size is related to success in most sports. In many sports,
becoming bigger by adding more weight, especially as muscle, can be
advantageous. Some sports, however, favor lightweight bodies, so athletes
competing in those activities may benefit by losing weight or maintaining
a low percentage of body fat. The relative need for power and endurance
strongly influences optimal performance weight, and athletes must identify
the appropriate balance between the amount of muscle needed to produce
power and the additional weight that results from added muscle mass.

◾ 7 ◾
◾ 8 ◾   The Athlete’s Guide to Making Weight

Strength, Power, Speed, and Endurance

Some terms frequently used in athletics include strength, power, speed, and endur-
ance. In everyday language these terms have a variety of meanings, but exercise
physiologists use precise definitions. This book uses the following definitions in
application to athletics:
Strength. The maximal force that muscle can generate
Power. The explosive aspect of strength; a function of both strength and
speed
Speed. The rate of movement; distance divided by time
Endurance. The ability to resist fatigue; more often refers to cardiovascular
endurance (for example, endurance athletes) but can also refer to muscle
endurance

Sport-specific physical demands dictate, to a degree, the amount of muscle

mass or body fat that is well matched to that sport.

Size
Size refers to both height and weight. Size is a factor in many sports, espe-
cially certain positions in contact sports. Larger physical size can result in
greater strength, longer stride length, and the ability to cover more area and
see over other players. In basketball, height and weight are an advantage
for a center who uses size to score and defend near the basket. For a soccer
goalie, height offers an advantage in protecting a greater area of the goal,
but extra weight could slow response time. Conversely, smaller players in
contact sports may be overpowered or physically harmed. In sports such as
wrestling or boxing, weight categories exist because larger athletes would
have an overwhelming advantage over smaller athletes.
In football, linemen who are both “big” and strong have an advantage.
Offensive linemen use their size and strength to move the defensive line
back, protect the quarterback, and create holes for the running back. A
defensive lineman can overpower an offensive lineman who lacks size.
Offensive linemen who play in the National Football League (NFL) are
large. Most weigh over 300 pounds (136 kilograms) so that they can match
up with their defensive counterparts. Much of this weight is muscle, bone,
and fluid, but some of it is fat.

Achieving Proper Body Composition

Physical size is only one aspect of optimal weight; achieving proper body
composition is another. In contact sports, a large athlete who lacks sufficient
 Tipping the Scales in Your Favor   ◾ 9 ◾

muscle mass will not have the strength needed to perform well. Excessive
body fat can negatively affect speed and fitness, but too little body fat can
create a size disadvantage. Weight and body composition are both factors
in athletic success.
For example, offensive and defensive linemen typically have a higher per-
centage of body fat than other players on the football team because greater
body weight and size are important factors in their performance and their
positions do not require them to run across a large portion of the field. Extra
body fat can be advantageous if it contributes to size without diminishing
strength, speed, or flexibility. But excess body fat can interfere with mobil-
ity, create orthopedic problems, and contribute to sleep apnea (a temporary
stoppage of breathing while sleeping). Too much body fat may also increase
the risk for developing heart disease, diabetes, and severe obesity later in
life, or aggravate existing health problems such as high blood cholesterol.
Therefore, gaining weight simply to add heft is not recommended for reasons
of both performance and health.

© Human Kinetics

The body-composition goals of football players vary greatly depending on position. Wide receiv-
ers and running backs need a lower body-fat percentage because these positions require speed.
◾ 10 ◾   The Athlete’s Guide to Making Weight

Size and strength are also necessary for wide receivers, running backs, and
defensive backs, but running speed and agility are particularly important
for these players. Defensive backs and receivers tend to have the lowest
percentage of body fat among team members. Players in these positions
need to be fast runners, and extra body fat becomes “dead” weight. This
concept is relevant for many players in team sports such as basketball, rugby,
ice hockey, soccer, and baseball, in which speed is important for excellent
performance.
Football provides a great example of how players on the same team have
different weight and body-composition goals. American college football
players typically range from about 7 percent body fat (defensive backs) to
nearly 30 percent body fat (offensive linemen). Linemen typically want to
gain weight, mostly as muscle but some as fat. Running backs often want
to gain weight but only as muscle, not fat. Defensive backs frequently want
to increase muscle but reduce body fat.

Big, Bigger, and . . . Too Big?

Both casual observations and scientific studies suggest that athletes in contact
sports have been getting bigger. For example, records from the Montreal Cana-
diens, a professional ice hockey team, show that compared with players in the
1920s and ’30s, players in the 1980s and ’90s had a similar percentage of body
fat but were an average of 17 kilograms (37 pounds) heavier and 10 centimeters
(4 inches) taller. Presumably, these athletes are also stronger because they have
more lean body mass and better strength-training programs, but no measurements
of strength were made until the 1990s. Many other sports have shown similar size
progression.
Bigger, stronger, and faster are attributes that contribute to excellent athletic
performance, but can athletes become too big? The increase in body weights of
offensive and defensive linemen in the National Football League (NFL) has raised
some cause for concern. Studies have shown that players in these positions weigh
significantly more than players did in the 1970s. Most linemen on NFL rosters today
weigh more than 300 pounds (136 kilograms). Although much of this weight is
fat-free mass, many of these players have large amounts of abdominal fat, a risk
factor for several chronic diseases. Sadly, some former NFL players suffer from
serious health problems such as heart disease and diabetes.
Not surprisingly, the trend for increased size in professional linemen has had
an influence on the size of collegiate and youth football players. National Collegiate
Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I football players have also become bigger (as
well as stronger and faster). Of great concern is the extent of overfatness in youth
football, particularly among linemen, and the risk it may pose for obesity-related
health problems players may experience as adults.
 Tipping the Scales in Your Favor   ◾ 11 ◾

Getting Bigger
In the transition from high school to college, high school players often need
to become “bigger” (increase their height and weight) to compete success-
fully in collegiate athletics. Many college and semipro athletes also need to
be “bigger” (increase their weight and muscle) to succeed as professional
athletes. The way that these athletes become bigger depends on whether
they have finished the adolescent growth spurt.
Athletes who are experiencing their adolescent growth spurt will gain
body weight as a result of becoming taller, adding muscle mass, and increas-
ing body fat. Growth occurs in all these areas because hormones associated
with the adolescent growth spurt promote growth in a variety of tissues.
On average, females begin their growth spurt at approximately age 10 or
11 and complete it by age 16. In contrast, males typically begin their growth
spurt at age 12 or 13 and complete it by age 19. If you have not finished
your growth spurt, which may not occur until college for some males, then
becoming bigger will require some patience on your part.
After the growth spurt ends and adult height is reached, most athletes
who want to become “bigger” typically try to build muscle mass because
more muscle can result in increased strength and power and in improved
speed and performance. Some underweight athletes may also want to gain
a small amount of body fat.

Power Versus Endurance

Athletes are often divided into two major categories: power and endurance.
At one extreme are athletes who depend only on power, such as power-
lifters and shot putters. At the other extreme are those who rely primarily
on endurance, such as marathon runners (figure 1.1). Most sports however,
require a combination of power and endurance. For example, basketball
players need short bursts of power to execute a fast break, but the length of
the game requires that they also have cardiovascular endurance.
Running provides a good illustration of how the relative need for power
and endurance influences weight. A 100-meter runner needs explosive
power, but the distance is so short that cardiovascular endurance is not a
factor. To produce the necessary explosive power, the 100-meter runner needs
to have both upper- and lower-body strength. This requirement is reflected
in the athlete’s body composition and weight; most 100-meter runners have
a large amount of muscle mass.
As the distance to be covered increases, upper- and lower-body strength
remains important, but the need for endurance increases. Thus, middle dis-
tance runners (400 to 3,000 meters) have less upper- and lower-body muscle
mass and tend to weigh less than 100-meter runners do. Marathon runners
tend to be the lightest in weight compared with other runners because a lighter
body can move more efficiently than a heavier body over a long distance.
◾ 12 ◾   The Athlete’s Guide to Making Weight

Power Endurance
Bodybuilder

Discus thrower

100 m runner

Wrestler

Lacrosse player

Basketball player

Soccer player

Distance cyclist

Marathon runner
E4577/Macedonio/F 01.02a/329421/Gary H./R2

Power Endurance
Bodybuilder

High jumper

100 m runner

Gymnast

Tennis player

Basketball player

Soccer player

Distance swimmer

Marathon runner

Figure 1.1 The relative need for power and endurance varies among sports.

Marathon runners must have some upper- and lower-body muscle mass
to serve as a storage site for muscle
E4577/Macedonio/F fuel, but too much
01.01b/331069/Gary H./R2 muscle mass is a
disadvantage.
Table 1.1 provides a comparison of the height and weight of the male
runners who won gold medals in the 2008 Olympics. The 100-meter runner
weighs more than the other runners because of his height and the amount
of muscle needed to produce explosive power. Although he may weigh a
 Tipping the Scales in Your Favor   ◾ 13 ◾

lot he is not fat! The marathon runner is the lightest. The differences in body
weight and size reflect the physiological demands for power and endurance
in the various running events.

Table 1.1

Comparisons of Height and Weight of Elite Male Runners

Height Weight

Name Event cm ft kg lb

Usain Bolt 100 m 196 6 ft 5 in. 86 190

LaShawn Merritt 400 m 191 6 ft 3 in. 84 185

Kenenisa Bekele 5,000 m 163 5 ft 4 in. 56 123

Samuel Kamau Wansiru Marathon (26.2 mi) 163 5 ft 4 in. 51 112

Power-to-Weight Ratio
Many athletes benefit from having a high power-to-weight ratio, also referred
to as relative peak power (RPP). Power can be thought of as explosive muscle
strength, such as that produced by the legs of a cyclist on a tough uphill
climb or by the arms of a swimmer performing the butterfly stroke. Weight
refers to body weight. A high power-to-weight ratio is advantageous in
many sports, and the body composition of competitive athletes reflects that
fact. For example, most elite sprinters in track, swimming, and cycling have
a relatively low percentage of body fat and a relatively high percentage of
muscle mass for their weight. A high power-to-weight ratio is also advanta-
geous in sports such as wrestling, gymnastics, and high jumping.
Changing the power-to-weight ratio is a primary goal for many athletes.
Most athletes focus first on increasing their power by building muscle size
and strength. Achieving this goal requires a well-planned resistance-training
program coupled with a carefully designed diet plan to support training and
the expected increase in muscle mass. Athletes can also change their power-
to-weight ratio by reducing body weight in order to lose excess body fat.
Unless an athlete has a large amount of excess body fat, maximizing power
by building muscle mass is likely to have a more advantageous performance
benefit than will minimizing body fat.
Some athletes misinterpret power-to-weight ratio to mean that attaining
a very low percent body fat or low scale weight will always be beneficial.
Consider the wrestler who weighs 130 pounds (59 kilograms) but decides to
wrestle in the 125-pound (57-kilogram) category. He reduces his weight by 5
pounds (2.3 kilograms) and presumably has a higher power-to-weight ratio.
But is it likely that he will improve his performance? The answer depends
on the nature of the weight loss.
◾ 14 ◾   The Athlete’s Guide to Making Weight

If the 5-pound (2.3-kilogram) weight loss represents excess body fat, then
his power-to-weight ratio will indeed be higher and he will likely improve
his performance. But if the 5-pound (2.3-kilogram) weight loss represents
loss of muscle mass, then his power-to weight ratio will be lower and he
will be unlikely to produce the amount of power that he did before the
weight loss. These opposite outcomes highlight why athletes must learn
to distinguish between weight and body composition and to monitor and
reassess both during the weight-loss process.
Being a successful wrestler requires many skills, but for two opponents
with equal skills, a higher body weight (relative to weight class) and a
higher power-to-weight ratio confer an advantage. For this reason, athletes
in weight-class sports such as wrestling, boxing, some of the martial arts,
Olympic lifting and powerlifting, and lightweight rowing face considerable
pressure to lose weight. If they can compete at a weight that is at the top
end of a lower weight category, they may have a competitive edge over
smaller opponents in that category. Many athletes, then, choose to attain
a lower-than-normal body weight so that they can compete in a lower
weight category.
To attain the desired qualifying weight within a short period, many
athletes resort to extraordinary weight-loss methods such as short-term
starvation and excessive water loss through sweating and use of diuretics.
These methods can have negative effects on performance (for example,
low muscle glycogen level, lower power-to-weight ratio) and health (for
example, elevated body temperature). Some athletes have died while trying
to cut weight rapidly when they are already dehydrated. Managing water
weight is a critical topic that will be covered in chapter 8.

Sport-Specific Physical Characteristics

By now it should be clear that athletes in various sports and certain posi-
tions within team sports vary significantly in their physical characteristics.
Table 1.2 groups sports together based on their physiological demands.
Similarities in physical demands lead to similar body composition, weight,
or nutrition-related issues for participating athletes. For example, basketball
and soccer players have some commonalities because each sport requires
some degree of strength, power, speed, and endurance.
Although some similarities exist, substantial differences are also pres-
ent. Furthermore, significant individual differences are found between two
players on the same team and even between two players who play the same
position. (See chapter 2 for additional information about specific sports.)
Although these general guidelines are useful, a sport assessment will help
you set specific individual weight and body-composition goals. Attaining
your optimal performance weight and body composition may require you
to build muscle mass, decrease body fat, or both.
 Table 1.2

Common Weight and Body-Composition Issues

Physiological
demands Sports Weight and body-composition issues

Combat sports Boxing ◾◾ Weight must be certified.

with weight Martial arts (kickboxing, judo, ◾◾ High power-to-weight ratio is desirable.
classes taekwondo) ◾◾ In lower weight categories, a relatively low percent
Wrestling body fat is generally desirable.

Sports that Bodybuilding ◾◾ Weight, body composition, or appearance is a factor

emphasize Figure skating in scoring.
appearance, Women’s gymnastics ◾◾ Attempts at low body weight or percent body fat may
aesthetics, put athletes at risk for developing eating disorders.
or low body Synchronized swimming
weight Cheerleading
Ballet
Rhythmic gymnastics
Jockeying
Ski jumping

Sports that Sprint distances in track (50–200 ◾◾ High power-to-weight ratio is desirable.
emphasize m), swimming (50 m), cycling ◾◾ High muscularity is needed for explosive power.
explosive (200–500 m) ◾◾ Relatively low percent body fat is usually desirable
power Field (jumping): high, long, or triple when body weight must be moved; percent body fat
jump, hurdles, pole vault is less important when an object (for example, shot
Field (throwing): shot put, discus, put) must be moved.
hammer throw, javelin ◾◾ Olympic lifting, Powerlifting, and Strongman
Men’s gymnastics competitions have weight categories.
Olympic lifting
Powerlifting
Kayaking or canoeing (flatwater or
slalom)
Strength athletics (Strongman)

Sports that Baseball ◾◾ Desirable weight and body composition vary

require Basketball depending on the sport and the position played.
strength, Football ◾◾ High muscularity and relatively low percent body fat
power, speed, are generally desirable if large areas of the field, rink,
and endurance Ice hockey
or court need to be covered quickly.
to various Soccer
degrees Tennis
Field hockey
Handball
Lacrosse
Racquetball
Rugby
Squash
Volleyball

Sports that Running: 400–3,000 m ◾◾ Weight and body composition are determined by
require a Swimming: 100–1,500 m optimal power-to-weight ratio.
balance Short-distance cycling: 1–4 km ◾◾ As distances increase, body composition tends to
between power change from high muscularity (for explosive power)
and endurance Rowing (crew)
to relatively low body weight and low percent body
Speed skating: 500–5,000 m fat (less dead weight to be carried longer distances).
(continued)

◾ 15 ◾
◾ 16 ◾   The Athlete’s Guide to Making Weight

Table 1.2 (continued)

Physiological
demands Sports Weight and body-composition issues

Sports that Distance running (>5,000 m) ◾◾ Weight and body composition are determined by
emphasize Distance swimming optimal power-to-weight ratio.
endurance Distance cycling ◾◾ Relatively low body weight and low percent body fat
Duathlon is advantageous (less dead weight).
Triathlon ◾◾ Extremely low weight or percent body fat is
detrimental.
Ultradistance racing

Sports that Golf ◾◾ Strength is important.

emphasize Softball ◾◾ Percent body fat is generally of lesser importance
precision skills Archery unless running speed is needed.
or reaction time ◾◾ Golfers need some endurance if they walk the
Bowling
course.

Building Muscle Mass

Regardless of the sport, most athletes engage in some form of resistance
training. In many cases their goal is to build muscle so that they can increase
strength and power and improve performance. Although greater muscle
mass is often associated with greater strength and power, for most athletes
the goal should not be to gain the greatest amount of muscle mass. Rather,
the goal should be to have the most effective amount of muscle mass for
their sport and position.
In other words, the athlete needs the right amount of muscle because the
ultimate goal is peak performance. Too little muscle can mean diminished
strength or power and less than optimal performance. Too much muscle can
mean reduced speed, flexibility, or agility and less than optimal performance.
The whole of chapter 6 is devoted to this important issue.

Decreasing Body Fat

Lowering scale weight can be beneficial for many athletes. Because excess
body fat can negatively affect speed, not carrying excess fat (dead weight)
offers a potential performance advantage. Excess is the critical word here
because some body fat is necessary for both performance and health. Reduc-
ing body fat too much can be detrimental. Essential body fat is approximately
3 percent of body mass in males and 12 to 15 percent in females.
Athletes also need to be careful about how they attain a lower scale weight
because reaching a goal weight by using methods that undermine perfor-
mance, such as dehydration and loss of muscle mass, is counterproductive.
The potential performance advantage that may result from a lighter body
weight can be offset by the disadvantages that may result from inappropri-
ate weight-loss methods or poor timing of weight loss.
 Tipping the Scales in Your Favor   ◾ 17 ◾

Too Much Muscle?

Dwayne (not his real name), a linebacker for an NCAA Division III college, had a
high likelihood of being drafted into the NFL. During his senior year, his agent sent
him to a high-level training and conditioning facility. Dwayne, a disciplined and
serious athlete, understood that power and strength are essential characteristics of
a successful linebacker. What Dwayne did not know was that too much of a good
thing is just that—too much!
Dwayne was convinced that he needed the greatest amount of lean mass that
he was able to build. He created his own nutrition plan and carefully chose high-
protein, low-carbohydrate, low-fat foods plus whey protein powder, creatine, and
various vitamin and mineral supplements. He was 6-feet-1-inch (185 centimeters)
and weighed 260 pounds (118 kilograms), but he wanted to trim to 252 pounds
(114.5 kilograms) and 9 percent body fat. By the end of his senior year Dwayne
was ripped.
But Dwayne’s overall caloric intake was insufficient to support his training and
conditioning; his diet was too high in protein, and his nutrient intake was imbal-
anced. Throughout his training and his NFL evaluation, Dwayne was not prepared
nutritionally. During his Pro-day evaluation, he was physically unable to complete
the test exercises and had to schedule a second evaluation. Despite his poor first
showing, an NFL team drafted him.
Sadly, within the first several weeks of minicamp, Dwayne was cut from the
team. Despite his ultralean body and strength, he could not meet the demands
of his position. The team’s strength coaches felt that Dwayne’s body composition
was more suited to bodybuilding, rendering him inflexible, slow, and ineffective as
a linebacker. Where did Dwayne go wrong? The simple answer is that he had too
much muscle to meet the demands of his sport and position.

Multisport Athletes
Multisport athletes must find the right balance when it comes to their opti-
mal weight and body composition. For example, a competitive marathon
runner typically has a fairly low body weight and a low percentage of body
fat. In comparison, an Ironman triathlete will likely have a higher weight
and body fat percentage, even though running a marathon is part of the
sport. Because of the additional demands imposed by the swim and cycling
portions of the event, triathletes often find that having an extremely low
percentage of body fat is not beneficial to performance.
Many high school athletes compete in more than one sport. After their
season ends, some football players go immediately into wrestling. Others
play basketball and then baseball. The right weight and body composition
for football may not be optimal for basketball. Thus, an athlete’s weight and
body-composition goals can change quickly.
◾ 18 ◾   The Athlete’s Guide to Making Weight

After the first season ends, the athlete should go through a systematic
process to determine an appropriate performance weight and body compo-
sition for the next sport. End-of-season weight and body-composition mea-
surements will need to be compared with desirable physical characteristics
for athletes in the new sport. The athlete can then set goals and lay out an
action plan, which includes conditioning and nutrition plans. If the time
between seasons is short, making substantial changes to weight and body
composition may not be realistic. Fine-tuning body composition, however,
may be beneficial. The four steps to achieving optimal performance weight
(assessment, goal setting, action plan, and evaluation and reassessment)
provides such a process.
 chapter

2
Identifying the Priorities
for Your Sport
A s discussed in chapter 1, weight and body composition are specific to
the sport, the position, and the individual. To make it easier for you
to understand the requirements of your sport and, ultimately, to set your
personal weight and body-composition goals for improving your perfor-
mance, this chapter provides position and performance characteristics for
21 sports (arranged in alphabetical order). Each sport section details typical
body-composition goals and additional considerations, such as seasonal and
gender information, that are unique to the sport.
You must consider when during the season or off-season you are going to
make changes because you can undermine your performance if your timing
is incorrect. For example, if you choose to trim 10 pounds (4.5 kilograms) of
excess body fat and increase lean mass by 5 pounds (2.3 kilograms) before
training camp begins, you will need to begin your action plan early so that
it does not interfere with your preseason training and conditioning. Some
factors may be sport specific, such as a requirement that your weight be
certified. You must give such factors high priority. Gender considerations
may be relevant. For example, body checking is allowed in male ice hockey
but not in female ice hockey, a rule difference that has implications for body
size, weight, and composition.
To use this chapter, begin by finding your sport and your specific position
or specialty. (If you do not find your sport, choose the one that is most similar.)
The performance characteristics listed are those that are highly influenced
by weight and body composition. Remember, improved performance is the
ultimate goal. After you set your weight and body-composition goals and
priorities according to your sport and position (see chapter 4), you need to
develop a specific and personalized action plan to achieve them. Once you
have progressed through the chapters in part II of this book and developed
your own goals, strategies, and action plan, you can incorporate the detailed
meal plans for building muscle, losing fat, or simultaneously doing both
found in chapters 10, 11, and 12 into your action plan. The relevant meal plan
chapter is indicated for each of the sports presented in this chapter.
◾ 19 ◾
◾ 20 ◾   The Athlete’s Guide to Making Weight

Baseball
Optimal weight and body composition depend primarily on the position played, the player’s
offensive role (for example, high batting average, power hitting), and the need for running
speed.

Seasonal Focus
◾◾ Make major changes to body composition and weight in the off-season.
◾◾ Fine-tune body composition and weight in the preseason.
◾◾ Maintain body composition and weight during the season.
◾◾ Avoid rapid weight loss during spring training camp because dehydration is likely to
be the cause.

Additional Considerations
◾◾ Making a successful transition between competition levels (high school and college;
college and professional) usually requires an increase in size, strength, and speed.
◾◾ At all levels, infielders and outfielders tend to have a lower percentage of body fat than
pitchers and catchers do.
◾◾ Frequent travel and late-night eating can lead to poor nutrient intake and weight gain.

Position Performance
characteristics characteristics Body-composition goals Meal plan

Infielder: Lateral speed and Increase muscle for strength Chapter 12

Hits for contact agility Decrease excess body fat to increase speed
Speed on base paths Baserunning speed Excess muscle or fat will decrease speed
and agility

Infielder: Lateral speed and Increase muscle to improve power Chapter 12

Hits for power agility Decrease excess body fat to increase speed
Power hitting Too much muscle will decrease speed and
agility

Outfielder: Short sprint and Increase muscle and decrease excess body Chapter 12
Hits for contact baserunning speed fat to increase short sprint speed
Speed on base paths Excess muscle or fat will decrease speed

Outfielder: Short sprint speed Increase muscle to improve power Chapter 10

Hits for power Power hitting

Catcher: Explosive power to Increase muscle to improve explosive power Chapter 10

Hits for power stand from squat Excess fat may decrease stamina
Stamina
Power hitting

Pitcher: Arm strength Must set individual goals Choose chapter

May or may not hit Stamina Body composition of lesser influence 10, 11, or
compared with other positions 12 based on
individual goals
 Identifying the Priorities for Your Sport   ◾ 21 ◾

Basketball
Basketball requires size, strength, power, and speed as well as excellent aerobic conditioning.
Optimal weight and body composition depend on the position played.

Seasonal Focus
◾◾ Make major changes to body composition and weight in the off-season, at least three
months before the season starts.
◾◾ Maintain body composition and weight during the season.
◾◾ Avoid rapid weight loss during training camp because dehydration is likely to be the cause.
◾◾ Training and performance decline with dehydration; do not confuse water weight loss
with fat weight loss.

Additional Considerations
◾◾ Making a successful transition between competition levels (high school and college;
college and professional) usually requires an increase in size, strength, and speed.
◾◾ To stand out at any level, you must have sufficient size, strength, power, speed, and
cardiovascular endurance relative to your opponents.
◾◾ Cardiovascular endurance and speed often improve when excess body fat is lost. Reduc-
ing body fat may be the top priority for recreational players.

Performance
Position characteristics characteristics Body-composition goals Meal plan

Point guard: Speed Increase some muscle for strength Chapter 12

Quick reflexes and court speed Agility Decrease excess body fat to increase speed
Height and size of lesser Cardiovascular and endurance
importance endurance

Shooting guard: Speed Increase muscle for size and strength Chapter 12
Court speed Mobility Decrease excess body fat to increase speed,
Size and strength to take Strength mobility, and endurance
frequent shots and play Cardiovascular
perimeter defense endurance

Small forward: Quick reflexes Speed Decrease excess body fat to increase speed Chapter 11
and speed to cut to the basket Agility and endurance or 12
Cardiovascular Increase some muscle for strength
endurance

Power forward: Strength Increase muscle for size and strength Chapter 12
Height, size, strength, and Speed Decrease excess body fat to increase
mobility for rebounding and Mobility mobility and conditioning
posting up Cardiovascular
endurance

Center: Strength Increase muscle for strength Chapter 11

Height and size but less mobility Cardiovascular Excess fat will decrease mobility and speed or 12
Strength to score and rebound endurance
◾ 22 ◾   The Athlete’s Guide to Making Weight

Bodybuilding
The sport of bodybuilding is subjectively judged on muscle size, definition, and proportional-
ity, posing, charisma, and overall appearance. The goal is to have maximum muscle size and
a low percent body fat.

Seasonal Focus
◾◾ Working backward from the contest date, determine the number of weeks needed for
each phase.
◾◾ Carefully plan diet and training details for each phase.
◾◾ Cutting weight by way of rapid and large water weight loss is physically and mentally
difficult and potentially dangerous.
◾◾ Reducing body water to enhance muscle appearance is potentially dangerous.
◾◾ After a contest, muscle size and appearance decrease and weight and body-fat
increase.

Additional Considerations
◾◾ Natural bodybuilding competitions ban steroids and diuretics, resulting in more emphasis
on diet and training techniques.
◾◾ A long-term energy deficit (low caloric intake and high caloric expenditure) can cause
hormonal disruptions and menstrual irregularities.
◾◾ Mental and physical rest and recovery are needed after each contest.
◾◾ The amount of muscle that can be built varies according to gender and genetic predis-
position.
◾◾ The use of some supplements to enhance body build can pose serious health risks.

Contest preparation phase Conditioning strategy Body-composition goals Meal plan

Muscle building Greater muscle size through Substantially increase muscle, Chapter 10
diet and resistance training although small increase in body
fat may result

Muscle gain while losing fat Greater muscle size through Decrease excess body fat Chapter 12
(about 10 to 12 weeks before diet and resistance training Gain or maintain muscle to the
contest) Aerobic exercise for fat loss extent possible

Cutting weight (about 1 week Maximize and accentuate Decrease percent body fat to Chapter 11
before contest) musculature low level
Minimize body fat
 Identifying the Priorities for Your Sport   ◾ 23 ◾

Cheerleading (Females)
The sport of cheerleading involves cheer, gymnastic, and dance routines that are subjectively
judged. Cheerleaders require a strong but aesthetically pleasing body and good cardiovascular
endurance to perform continuously for 2 1/2 minutes.

Seasonal Focus
◾◾ Make body-composition changes slowly to prevent interference with year-round training
and competitions.
◾◾ Avoid rapid weight loss because dehydration is likely to be the cause.
◾◾ Training and performance decline with dehydration; do not confuse water weight loss
with fat weight loss.

Additional Considerations
◾◾ A long-term energy deficit (low caloric intake and high caloric expenditure) can cause
hormonal disruptions and menstrual irregularities.
◾◾ A realistic goal for a lightweight female who wants to build muscle mass is an increase
of about 1 1/3 to 3 pounds (0.6 to 1.4 kilograms) of muscle per month.
◾◾ Large, simultaneous changes in weight and body composition may not be realistic. A
feasible goal may be in the range of a 1- to 2-pound (0.45- to 0.9-kilogram) gain in
muscle and a 2- to 4-pound (0.9- to 1.8-kilogram) loss of body fat per month.
◾◾ The ability to attain a low percent body fat varies based on body build and genetic pre-
disposition to leanness.

Precompetition training Primary focus

phase of each phase Body-composition goals Meal plan

Muscle building Greater muscle size and Increase muscle Chapter 10

strength

Muscle gain while losing fat Greater muscle size and Decrease excess body fat Chapter 12
strength Gain or maintain muscle to the
Improved cardiovascular extent possible
endurance

Precompetition sculpting Lean and fit appearance Decrease percent body fat to Chapter 11
No excess body fat relatively low level
◾ 24 ◾   The Athlete’s Guide to Making Weight

Cycling
Cycling is a diverse sport that includes track sprints that last only seconds, road races that
occur over many days, and competitions that require cyclists to negotiate difficult terrain with
natural and manmade hazards. Cyclists need both lower- and upper-body strength for speed,
power, and handling of the bicycle, but excess body fat is not advantageous.

Seasonal Focus
◾◾ Make major changes to body composition and weight in the off-season (for example,
winter for road racing).
◾◾ Maintain body composition and weight during the season; high-volume training makes
weight maintenance difficult.

Additional Considerations
◾◾ Typically, building muscle is the primary focus because adding muscle increases power
and improves performance to a greater extent than losing body fat does. Competitive
cyclists typically have a low percent body fat because of rigorous training and multiday
races.
◾◾ Multiday road racers need to allow enough time to recover from grueling events and
may need to gain a small amount of fat before rigorous training begins again.

Specialty Performance characteristics Body-composition goals Meal plan

Sprinting (track) Strength for explosive power Increase muscle Chapter 12

and sprint speed Decrease excess body fat

Criterium (~5 km short Sprint speed and cardiovascular Increase muscle Chapter 12
course) endurance Decrease excess body fat

Single-day road racing Strength and endurance Increase muscle and decrease Chapter 12
excess body fat to increase speed
Excess muscle or fat will decrease
speed

Multiday road racing (for Strength and ultraendurance Increase muscle and decrease Chapter 12
example, Tour de France) excess body fat to increase speed
Excess body weight is a
disadvantage

Mountain biking Strength for explosive power Increase muscle Chapter 10

and sprint speed
Upper-body strength for bike
handling

BMX (bicycle motocross) Strength for explosive power Increase muscle Chapter 10
and sprint speed
Upper-body strength for bike
handling
 Identifying the Priorities for Your Sport   ◾ 25 ◾

Figure Skating (Females)

Figure skating is also known as artistic skating because it combines athleticism with artistry.
The athletic demands of the sport require well-developed lower-body musculature, but female
figure skaters are also expected to be thin.

Seasonal Focus
◾◾ Make body-composition changes slowly to prevent interference with year-round training
and competitions.
◾◾ Avoid rapid weight loss because dehydration is likely to be the cause.

Additional Considerations
◾◾ Skaters may set unrealistically low weight goals to offset the TV effect (people may
appear 10 pounds [4.5 kilograms] heavier on TV).
◾◾ Revealing clothing increases expectations for thinness.
◾◾ The drive for thinness and perfection may be a risk factor for eating disorders.
◾◾ A long-term energy deficit (low caloric intake and high caloric expenditure) can cause
hormonal disruptions and menstrual irregularities.
◾◾ To prevent health problems, calculate a minimum scale weight (see pages 66-67).
◾◾ Large, simultaneous changes in weight and body composition may not be realistic. A
feasible goal may be in the range of a 1- to 2-pound (0.45- to 0.9-kilogram) gain in
muscle and a 2- to 4-pound (0.9- to 1.8-kilogram) loss of body fat per month.
◾◾ The ability to attain a low percent body fat varies based on genetic predisposition to
leanness.

Precompetition Primary focus

training phase of each phase Body-composition goals Meal plan

Muscle building Greater muscle size and strength Increase muscle Chapter 10

Muscle gain while losing Greater muscle size and strength Decrease excess body fat Chapter 12
fat Improved cardiovascular Gain or maintain muscle to the
endurance extent possible

Precompetition Lean and fit appearance Decrease percent body fat to Chapter 11
sculpting No excess body fat relatively low level
◾ 26 ◾   The Athlete’s Guide to Making Weight

Football
Most football players are large bodied; the position played determines the relative need to be lean.

Seasonal Focus
◾◾ Make major changes to body composition and weight in the off-season.
◾◾ Maintain body composition and weight during the season.
◾◾ Avoid rapid weight loss during training camp because dehydration is likely to be the cause.

Additional Considerations
◾◾ Making a successful transition between competition levels (high school and college;
college and professional) usually requires an increase in size, strength, and speed.
◾◾ Sufficient size, strength, power, speed, and cardiovascular endurance are needed to
match up well with opponents.
◾◾ Receivers and defensive backs are leanest, linemen have the most body fat, and quarter-
backs and linebackers tend to fall in between.

Position
characteristics Performance characteristics Body-composition goals Meal plan
Offensive Strength Increase muscle for strength Chapter 11
lineman; Big and strong relative to Some excess body fat is acceptable but too or 12
Large body build opponent much is detrimental
Power Usually has highest percent body fat on the team

Running back: Explosive power and speed Increase muscle for size, explosive power, Chapter 12
Compact, Strength and strength
muscular build Agility Decrease excess body fat to increase
Endurance explosive speed

Receiver: Speed Decrease body fat to increase speed and Chapter 12

Lean and Strength conditioning
muscular build Cardiovascular endurance Increase muscle for strength and size
Jumping Ability

Quarterback: Sufficient speed, strength, and Varies Chapter

Height cardiovascular endurance Increase muscle for size and strength 10, 11, or
Arm strength Mobility Decrease excess body fat to increase speed 12
and conditioning

Defensive Strength Increase muscle for strength Chapter 11

lineman: Power Some excess body fat is acceptable but too or 12
Large body build Big and strong relative to opponent much is detrimental

Linebacker: Sufficient strength, speed, and Increase muscle for strength Chapter 11
Large, muscular cardiovascular endurance Excess body fat will decrease mobility and or 12
build Mobility speed
Agility

Defensive back: Sufficient strength, speed, and Increase muscle for strength Chapter 11
Muscular build cardiovascular endurance Excess body fat will decrease speed or 12
Jumping ability
 Identifying the Priorities for Your Sport   ◾ 27 ◾

Gymnastics (Women)
Women’s gymnastics requires strength, power, flexibility, and aerobic conditioning as well as
a visually appealing body. Based on current aesthetic standards, the ultimate goal for many
competitors is maximum muscle strength, minimum muscle size, and a thin appearance.

Seasonal Focus
◾◾ Make body-composition changes slowly to prevent interference with year-round training
and competitions.
◾◾ Avoid rapid weight loss because dehydration is likely to be the cause.

Additional Considerations
◾◾ A high percentage of lean body mass, low percent body fat, and low body weight are
technical advantages for rotational moves.
◾◾ Low body weight is currently an aesthetic advantage.
◾◾ The drive for thinness and perfection may be a risk factor for eating disorders.
◾◾ A long-term energy deficit (low caloric intake and high caloric expenditure) can cause
hormonal disruptions and menstrual irregularities and increase the risk of stress frac-
tures and injury.
◾◾ To prevent health problems, calculate a minimum scale weight (see pages 66-67).
◾◾ When comparing weight or body composition with the characteristics of the previous
year, account for growth. As a rule, for each 1-inch (2.5-centimeter) increase in height
expect a 5-pound (2.3-kilogram) increase in weight.
◾◾ A realistic outcome is a 1- to 2-pound (0.45- to 0.9-kilogram) gain in muscle and 2- to
4-pound (0.9- to 1.8-kilogram) loss of body fat per month.
◾◾ The ability to attain a low percent body fat varies based on genetic predisposition to
leanness.

Precompetition
training phase Primary focus of each phase Body-composition goals Meal plan

Muscle building Greater muscle size and Increase muscle Chapter 10

strength

Muscle gain Greater muscle size and Decrease excess body fat Chapter 12
while losing fat strength Gain or maintain muscle to the extent
Improved cardiovascular possible
endurance

Precompetition Thin appearance Decrease percent body fat to relatively low Chapter 11
sculpting No excess body fat level
◾ 28 ◾   The Athlete’s Guide to Making Weight

Hockey (Ice Hockey)

Ice hockey is a full-contact sport that requires size, strength, power, and skating speed as well
as excellent aerobic endurance. Professional players today are taller and heavier (because of
increased muscle mass) than they were in the past.

Seasonal Focus
◾◾ Make major changes to body composition and weight in the off-season, at least three
months before the season starts.
◾◾ Maintain body composition and weight during the season; high-volume training makes
weight maintenance difficult.

Additional Considerations
◾◾ Making a successful transition between competition levels (high school, college or club,
and professional) usually requires an increase in size, strength, power, skate speed, and
cardiovascular endurance to match up well with opponents.
◾◾ Adult male hockey players must be large bodied because body checking is legal.
◾◾ Body checking is illegal in women’s hockey so body size is not as great a factor.
◾◾ Typically, building muscle is more likely to improve performance than losing body fat is.
◾◾ Cardiovascular endurance often improves when excess fat is lost. Reducing fat may be
the top priority for recreational players.

Position Performance
characteristics characteristics Body-composition goals Meal plan

Power forward: Size (for body checking) Increase muscle for size and strength Chapter 11 or 12
Big and strong Strength Decrease excess body fat to increase
Speed speed and conditioning
Cardiovascular endurance

Center: Speed Increase muscle for strength and size Chapter 11 or 12

Covers ice, Strength (esp. upper body) Decrease excess body fat to increase
wins face-offs, Agility speed, agility, and conditioning
distributes puck Cardiovascular endurance

Winger: Speed Increase muscle for strength and size Chapter 11 or 12

Intercepts passes, Strength Decrease excess body fat to increase
body checks Cardiovascular endurance speed and conditioning

Defender: Speed Increase muscle for size and strength Chapter 11 or 12

Blocks Mobility Decrease excess body fat to increase
Strength speed, mobility, and conditioning
Cardiovascular endurance

Goaltender: Size Increase muscle for size and strength Chapter 11 or 12

Reacts quickly to Mobility Excess fat will decrease mobility
prevent scoring Strength
Quick reflexes
 Identifying the Priorities for Your Sport   ◾ 29 ◾

Lacrosse
Men’s lacrosse is a contact sport that requires strength, power, speed, and endurance. Women’s
lacrosse has less physical contact and two additional midfielders; thus, the women’s game
tends to be faster than the men’s game. Optimal weight and body composition depend on
the position played.

Seasonal Focus
◾◾ Make major changes to body composition and weight in the off-season.
◾◾ Maintain body composition and weight during the season.

Additional Considerations
◾◾ Sufficient size, strength, power, speed, and cardiovascular endurance are needed to
match up well with opponents and complement teammates.
◾◾ Body composition and weight vary depending on the relative need for strength (more
muscular, heavier) and endurance (less muscular, lighter).
◾◾ Size is an advantage for men because of the physical contact of the men’s game.
◾◾ Size is less of an advantage for women because contact is limited; speed and endurance
are highly valued because the women’s game is faster.
◾◾ Athletes in positions that favor speed and endurance tend to have a relatively low percent
body fat.

Position Performance
characteristics characteristics Body-composition goals Meal plan

Attacker: Speed Increase muscle for strength Chapter 12

Goal scorer Endurance Decrease excess body fat to increase
Quick reflexes speed

Midfielder: Endurance Increase muscle for strength and size Chapter 12

Gains and keeps Speed Decrease body fat to increase speed and
possession of the ball Strength conditioning
Covers the entire field

Defender: Sprint speed Increase muscle for strength and size Chapter 10, 11,
Prevents goals from Strength Excess fat will decrease speed, endurance, or 12
being scored and mobility

Goalkeeper: Larger bodied (tall and Increase muscle for strength and size Chapter 10 or 11
Reacts quickly to heavier) Excess fat will decrease mobility
prevent scoring Quick reflexes
Covers small area in Strength
front of the goal
◾ 30 ◾   The Athlete’s Guide to Making Weight

Martial Arts
The martial arts are combat sports in which the goal is to defeat the opponent. Although the
many disciplines vary significantly, the martial arts typically involve striking or grappling.
Competitors are categorized by gender and weight.

Seasonal Focus
◾◾ Make body-composition changes slowly to prevent interference with year-round training
and competitions.

Additional Considerations
◾◾ Sufficient size, strength, power, speed, and cardiovascular endurance are needed to
match up well with opponents.
◾◾ The largest competitor in a weight class is considered to have an advantage, so competi-
tors are under pressure to compete in a lower weight category.
◾◾ Some athletes use a short-term strategy that involves losing body fat in the week before
weigh-in and gaining body fat in the days after competition. Athletes usually have dif-
ficulty achieving the lower weight when they use this strategy repeatedly.
◾◾ Cutting weight by way of rapid and large water weight loss is physically and mentally
difficult, dangerous, and potentially fatal.
◾◾ The dangers associated with dehydration as a weight-loss method include elevated body
temperature, which can be fatal.

Specialty Performance characteristics Body-composition goals Meal plan

Judo Strength Increase muscle for strength and power Chapter 10

Some explosive power
Balance
Flexibility
Stamina

Kickboxing Strength Increase muscle for strength and power Chapter 12

Explosive power Decrease excess body fat to increase speed
Cardiovascular endurance and conditioning
Balance
Flexibility
Stamina

Taekwondo Explosive leg strength and power Increase muscle for strength and power Chapter 12
Cardiovascular endurance Decrease excess body fat to increase speed
Balance and conditioning
Flexibility
Stamina

Making Goal is to lose enough weight (body fat or Chapter 11

or cutting water) to certify weight but maintain muscle
weight mass and strength
 Identifying the Priorities for Your Sport   ◾ 31 ◾

Powerlifting
Powerlifting measures strength in the squat, bench press, and deadlift. Competitors are
categorized by gender, age, and weight. Skeletal proportions, specifically bone length and
breadth, tend to be similar among the top competitors in each weight class.

Seasonal Focus
◾◾ Powerlifters may try to build muscle mass at any time during the season.
◾◾ Because weight classes are broad many competitors qualify easily, but some will need
to make weight before weight certification.

Additional Considerations
◾◾ Being the largest competitor in a weight class is considered an advantage.
◾◾ Powerlifters focus on building muscle mass, but an increase in body fat often occurs in
the process because of excessive caloric intake.
◾◾ Too much body fat is generally not a performance issue but excessive abdominal fat
may predispose a person to future health problems.
◾◾ A large body mass (weight) for height can contribute to joint problems.
◾◾ Some lifters use a short-term strategy that involves losing body fat in the week before
weigh-in and gaining body fat in the days after competition. Athletes usually have dif-
ficulty achieving the lower weight when they use this strategy repeatedly throughout
the season.
◾◾ Cutting weight by way of rapid and large water weight loss is physically and mentally
difficult, dangerous, and potentially fatal.
◾◾ The dangers associated with dehydration as a weight-loss method include elevated body
temperature, which can be fatal.

Performance
Weight class characteristics Body-composition goals Meal plan

Lightweight and medium Strength Increase muscle for strength and power Chapter 10
weight Explosive power Excess body fat acceptable as long as
weight-class requirement is met

Heavyweight: Large bodied Increase muscle for strength and power Chapter 10
Large body mass (weight), Strength Excess body fat acceptable as long as
girth, and body fat Explosive power weight-class requirement is met

Superheavyweight: Large bodied Increase muscle for strength and power Chapter 10
Very large body mass Strength Excess body fat acceptable but may create or 11
(weight), girth, and body fat Explosive power medical problems

Making or cutting weight Goal is to lose enough weight (body fat Chapter 11
or water) to certify weight but maintain
muscle mass and strength
◾ 32 ◾   The Athlete’s Guide to Making Weight

Rugby (Union)
Optimal weight and body composition depend on the position played. As rugby union has
become more competitive, the fitness and conditioning levels of all players have increased.

Seasonal Focus
◾◾ Make major changes to body composition and weight in the off-season.
◾◾ Maintain body composition and weight during the season.

Additional Considerations
◾◾ Successful players fall within a large range of percent body fat, so optimal percent body
fat cannot be defined for any position.
◾◾ Players in positions that require more strength and power are less concerned about the
amount of body fat that they have as long as they have enough muscle mass.
◾◾ Reducing excess body fat may improve cardiovascular endurance, speed, and agility.
◾◾ For those who play more than one position, body-composition goals are a hybrid of
those required for the various positions.

Position characteristics Performance characteristics Body-composition goals Meal plan

Prop and hooker: Large bodied (height and weight) Increase muscle for strength Chapter 10
Gains and keeps Strength Some excess body fat
possession of the ball Limited speed acceptable

Lock: Height Increase muscle for strength Chapter 12

All-around athletic skills Strength Decrease excess body fat to
Speed increase explosive speed
Endurance

Flanker: Large bodied (height and weight) Increase muscle for strength Chapter 12
Gains and keeps Strength and size
possession of the ball Speed Decrease body fat to increase
speed and conditioning

Number eight: Large bodied (height and weight) Increase muscle for strength Chapter 12
All-around athletic skills Sufficient speed, strength, and and size
endurance Decrease body fat to increase
speed and conditioning

Scrum-half: Size less important Varies based on the individual Chapter 10,
Exceptional ball-handling Agility 11, or 12
skills Quick reflexes

Fly-half and wing: Speed Increase muscle for strength Chapter 11

Fast runners Cardiovascular endurance Excess body fat will decrease or 12
Wings often score Agility mobility and speed
Lateral movement

Centre and fullback: Large bodied (height and weight) Increase muscle for strength Chapter 10
Tackling Strength Some excess body fat
Kicking acceptable
 Identifying the Priorities for Your Sport   ◾ 33 ◾

Running (All Distances; Track and Field: Track Events)

The goal of competitive running is to cover the distance in the shortest time possible. The
optimal weight and body composition depend on the distance covered and the relative need
for power and endurance.

Seasonal Focus
◾◾ Make major changes to body composition and weight in the off-season.
◾◾ Fine-tune body composition and weight in the preseason.
◾◾ Maintain body composition and weight during the season.

Additional Considerations
◾◾ As the level of competition increases (high school to college to professional or elite
recreational), competitors generally need to fine-tune body composition and weight.
◾◾ Most elite runners have a relatively low percent body fat because extra fat is dead weight.
◾◾ Sprinters tend to have a large amount of muscle mass to generate the power needed to
run short distances quickly.
◾◾ Beyond sprint distances, excessive muscle becomes a disadvantage because body mass
(weight) increases.
◾◾ Distance runners who have excess body fat may find that losing some fat improves per-
formance, but having too little body fat can be detrimental to performance and health.
◾◾ The drive for thinness and perfection may be a risk factor for eating disorders, particu-
larly for distance runners.
◾◾ A long-term energy deficit (low caloric intake and high caloric expenditure) can cause
hormonal disruptions and menstrual irregularities and increase risk of stress fractures
and injury.
◾◾ To prevent health problems, calculate a minimum scale weight (see pages 66-67).
◾◾ The ability to attain a very low percent body fat varies based on genetic predisposition
to leanness; very low percent body fat can also be difficult to maintain.

Performance
Specialty characteristics Body-composition goals Meal plan

Sprints—100 m, 200 m, Strength for explosive Increase upper- and lower-body muscle mass Chapter 12
and 400 m power and sprint speed Decrease excess body fat

Middle distances—800 Sprint speed and some Increase muscle somewhat Chapter 12
m, 1,500 m, mile, and endurance Decrease excess body fat
3,000 m Excess muscle or fat will decrease speed

Long distances—5,000 Endurance Low body weight is advantageous Chapter 11

m, 10,000 m, half- Excess muscle or fat will decrease speed or 12
marathon (13 mi)

Marathon (26.2 mi) Ultraendurance Low body weight is advantageous Chapter 11

Excess muscle or fat will decrease speed or 12
◾ 34 ◾   The Athlete’s Guide to Making Weight

Soccer
Soccer is a limited-contact sport whose positions require various degrees of strength, power,
speed, and endurance.

Seasonal Focus
◾◾ Make major changes to body composition and weight in the off-season.
◾◾ Maintain body composition and weight during the season.

Additional Considerations
◾◾ Competitors need sufficient size, strength, power, speed, and cardiovascular endurance
to match up well with opponents and complement teammates.
◾◾ Body composition and weight vary depending on the relative need for strength (more
muscular, heavier) and endurance (less muscular, lighter).
◾◾ There is no correct percentage of body fat based on position played.
◾◾ Excess body fat negatively affects speed and endurance and may limit playing time.
◾◾ Athletes in positions that favor speed and endurance tend to have a relatively low per-
centage of body fat.

Position Performance
characteristics characteristics Body-composition goals Meal plan

Forward: Height Increase muscle for strength Chapter 12

Playmaker and goal Speed Low percent body fat for speed,
scorer Endurance endurance, and mobility
Decrease excess body fat to increase speed

Midfielder: Strength Increase muscle for strength and size Chapter 12

Ball control and Speed Decrease body fat to increase speed and
accurate passing Endurance conditioning

Defender: Strength Excess fat will decrease speed, Chapter 10,

Prevents goals from Speed endurance, and mobility 11, or 12
being scored Endurance Varies based on relative need for strength
Ball control and (more muscular, heavier) and endurance
accurate passing (less muscular, lighter)

Goalkeeper: Height Increase muscle for size and strength Chapter 10,
Fast reaction time Strength Excess fat will decrease mobility 11, or 12
Agility
Quick reflexes
Jumping ability
 Identifying the Priorities for Your Sport   ◾ 35 ◾

Softball (Women’s Fast Pitch)

Optimal weight and body composition depend on the position played and expected contribu-
tions to scoring (short- or long-ball hitter, base stealing).

Seasonal Focus
◾◾ Make major changes to body composition and weight in the off-season.
◾◾ Fine-tune body composition and weight in the preseason.
◾◾ Maintain body composition and weight during the season.
◾◾ Avoid rapid weight loss during training camp because dehydration is likely to be the
cause.

Additional Considerations
◾◾ Better fitness and conditioning is expected now than in the past.
◾◾ With the exception of the pitcher, most softball players do not expend much energy over
the course of the game or practice sessions. Some players struggle to avoid gaining
weight as body fat.
◾◾ Some players have a body type that favors fat deposition. For them, reducing body fat
will be a slow process.

Position characteristics Performance characteristics Body-composition goals Meal plan

Infielder: Lateral speed, agility, and quick Some increase in muscle Chapter 10 or 12
Hits to get on base reflexes for strength
Speed on base paths Baserunning speed Decrease excess body fat to
increase speed
Excess muscle or fat will
decrease speed and agility

Infielder: Lateral speed, agility, and quick Increase muscle to improve Chapter 10
Hits for power reflexes strength and power
Power hitting

Outfielder: Short sprint speed for fielding Increase muscle and Chapter 10, 11,
Hits to get on base and base running decrease excess body fat to or 12
Speed on base paths increase short sprint speed
Excess muscle or fat will
decrease speed

Outfield: Short sprint speed for fielding Increase muscle to improve Chapter 10
Hits for power Power hitting strength and power

Catcher Explosive power to stand from Increase muscle to improve Chapter 10, 11,
squat explosive power or 12
Stamina Excess fat may decrease
Power hitting stamina

Pitcher (windmill motion) Arm strength Must set individual goals Choose chapter 10,
Stamina 11, or 12 based on
individual goals
◾ 36 ◾   The Athlete’s Guide to Making Weight

Swimming
The goal of competitive swimming is to cover the distance in the shortest time possible. The
optimal weight and body composition depend on the distance covered and the relative need
for power and endurance.

Seasonal Focus
◾◾ Make major changes to body composition and weight in the off-season.
◾◾ Fine-tune body composition and weight in the preseason.
◾◾ Maintain body composition and weight during the season; high-volume training makes
weight maintenance difficult.

Additional Considerations
◾◾ As the level of competition increases (high school to college to elite), athletes generally
need to fine-tune body composition and weight. Finding the proper balance between
the amount of muscle and body fat needed for optimal performance typically requires
some trial and error.
◾◾ Swimmers are typically not ultralean because that body composition would be a per-
formance disadvantage. Body fat improves buoyancy.
◾◾ Swimmers generally have a higher percent body fat when compared with runners and
cyclists who cover an equivalent distance.
◾◾ Distance swimmers who have excess body fat may find that losing some fat improves
performance, but having too little body fat can be detrimental to performance and
health.
◾◾ Revealing clothing may increase expectations for thinness.
◾◾ The drive for thinness and perfection may be a risk factor for eating disorders.
◾◾ A long-term energy deficit (low caloric intake and high caloric expenditure) can cause
hormonal disruptions and menstrual irregularities.

Specialty Performance characteristics Body-composition goals Meal plan

Sprint—50 m and 100 m Strength for explosive power Increase muscle Chapter 12
and sprint speed Decrease excess body fat

Middle distance—200 m Sprint speed and some Increase muscle Chapter 12

and 400 m endurance Decrease excess body fat
Excess muscle or fat will decrease
speed

Distance—800 m and Endurance Excess muscle or fat will decrease Chapter 11

1,500 m speed or 12

Long distance—greater Endurance Excess muscle or fat will decrease Chapter 11

than 1,500 m speed or 12

Open-water long-distance Ultraendurance Increase muscle Chapter 10

swimming (for example, Higher level of body fat may be
English Channel) advantageous
 Another Random Document on
Scribd Without Any Related Topics
Fincham, called in old writings "the Lode ditch." It would be
interesting to know if it is used elsewhere than in Norfolk, and it may
be Suffolk; but, at all events, I should much like to come at the real
meaning.
J. N. C.

Ballad quoted by Sir Walter Scott.

—Effie Deans, in the Heart of Mid-Lothian, sings this stanza of a

ballad:
"The elfin knight sate on the brae,
The broom grows bonnie, the broom grows fair,
And by there cam' lilting a lady so gay,
And we daurna' gang down to the broom nae mair."
There is a traditional ballad, very similar, of which the following is
the only stanza preserved:
"Ae kings dochter said to anither,
Broom blooms bonnie, an' grows sae fair,
We'll gae ride like sister and brither,
But we'll never gae down to the broom nae mair."
Sir Walter Scott delighted in preserving scraps of old ballads; and
perhaps the two fragments above quoted may be part and parcel of
the same original. Some friend in the "north countrie" may perhaps
settle this point.
Edward F. Rimbault.

Ann Stewart, Wife of Christopher Hall.

—Can any of your readers inform me, by referring to an old work

called Stewart's History of the Stewarts, page 156., whether Ann
Stewart therein mentioned, who married Christopher Hall, was a
descendant of the daughter of Henry VII.?
John of Gaunt.
 Moveable Organs and Pulpits.

—In looking over a small pamphlet, entitled The Temple Church,

an Account of its Restoration and Repairs, by William Burge, Esq.
(8vo. 1843, Pickering), I met with the following passage, which
serves me for a peg on which to hang a Query:
"Mr Etty justly observes that 'in St. Peter's at the present day,
the organ is a very small one comparatively to the building,
and is wheeled about, like the ancient pulpits, to different
parts of the church!'"—P. 34.
Are movable organs common in Italy or elsewhere? With regard to
pulpits, the chapel of King's College, Cambridge, has two at the
present time, placed in one of the small chapels on the north side.
They are moved into the choir when required. Besides these, the
neighbouring church at Grantchester has a large pulpit, which,
tradition says, also once belonged to the same noble edifice. Can
any of your correspondents mention other examples of churches or
chapels so well supplied?
W. Sparrow Simpson, B.A.

Nobleman alluded to by Bishop Berkeley.

—Bishop Berkeley, in his Minute Philosopher (Dialogue II. vol. i.),

makes mention of "an English nobleman who in the prime of life
professeth a liberal art, and is the first man of his profession in the
world." Who was this nobleman?
J. M.

Chelwoldesbury.

—I shall be glad to have the opinion of your readers on the

derivation of the name of a village, which in early records is spelt
"Chalwoldesbury," "Chelwardesbury," "Chilwardesbury,"
"Chedwoldesby," &c. It is partly on the site of a British or Danish
encampment, in a good state of preservation. The soil is chalky, and
the country for some short distance round may have been open, but
more probably the woods closely surrounded the camp. These
particulars may assist in arriving at the derivation of the name, now
corrupted into Cholesbury.
W. H. K.

Swallows' Nests.—

"... That wond'rous stone, which the

swallow,
Brings from the shore of the sea to restore the sight
of its fledglings;
Lucky was he who found that stone in the nest of
the swallow!"
Longfellow's
Evangeline, Part I. i.

May I ask for information respecting the allusion contained in

these lines?
W. S. T.

Quotation from Arthur Hopton.

—Arthur Hopton (Baculum Geodæticum, 1610, preface) says:

"If this hold, it is time to ... take the globe out of the king
Ptolomies hand, and there place a poore Siquis, such as
forlorne forreiners use to have in Paul's Church."
What does this mean?
M.

Group at Prague.
 —I have in my possession a print representing Mercury in a flying
attitude, bearing a female figure in his arms: the latter figure carries
a cyathus in her right hand.
The inscription at the bottom of the print is—
"IVSSV RVDOLPHI · II · CÆSARIS AVGVSTI,
ADRIANVS DE VRIES HAGIENSIS FACIEBAT. PRAGUÆ.
OPVS ALTITVDINIS PEDVM OCTO EX ÆRE. 1.5.9.3."
I apply to "N. & Q." in hopes that this "Q." may meet the eye of
some erudite correspondent, and draw forth a satisfactory "N."
Was Prague ever decorated with such a group? If the group in
question be not a myth, what is the meaning of it? Who is meant by
the first line of the inscription?
Tecede.

Cards prohibited to Apprentices.

—When was the prohibition to play at cards or dice first

introduced into apprentices' indentures? It occurs in the form of an
indenture for an apprentice in A Book of Presidents, printed about
1566, and compiled by Thomas Phaer, who describes himself as
"Solicitour to the King and Queenes Majesties."
Edward F. Rimbault.

Cursitor Barons.

—Can any of your correspondents guide me to a list of the

Cursitor Barons, or refer me to any account of their origin and
history? I find no such officer named up to the reign of Henry VIII.,
beyond which I have not yet inquired; nor does any notice occur of
them in Madox's History of the Exchequer.
Edward Foss.

Phelps's Gloucestershire Collections.

 —The late John Delafield Phelps, Esq., who died in December,
1842, was well known among the literati as an ardent bibliophile,
and a great investigator and accumulator of antiquities. He was one
of the original members of the Roxburghe Club, established nearly
forty years ago, and had devoted a long life to his favourite pursuits.
Having been a native of Gloucestershire, he felt a particular interest
in everything which regarded that county, and had in his lifetime
collected a great mass of materials for the elucidation of its history,
antiquities, &c., in every respect. It is understood that an ample
catalogue (raisonné perhaps) was printed under his direction for
circulation among his particular friends, giving great evidence of his
assiduity and talents, and of the value of the collection. Participating
to a great extent the interest which actuated Mr. Phelps to ascertain
a local knowledge of Gloucestershire, I should feel obliged if any
reader of the "N. & Q." could inform me what has become of Mr.
Phelps's collection; if it remains entire, and if it be accessible by any
recommendation to the present possessor?
Δ. (2).

Huant Le Puisné.

—I have in my possession a small gold bonbonnière exquisitely

enamelled with portraits and landscapes, and bearing the following
inscription:
"Huant Le puisné pinxit à Berlin."
Can any of your readers refer me to a work where I shall find any
account of this painter?
A. O. O. D.

Arms of Roberson.

—What is the meaning of a man, chained hand and foot, placed

horizontally beneath the arms of Roberson?
R. S. B.
 Minor Queries Answered.
Winterton.

—Information is requested of John [Ralph] Winterton, Fellow of

King's College, Cambridge, who translated, revised, and published
Gerard's Meditations and Prayers, Cambridge, 1674, dedicated to
John (Dolben), Lord Bishop of Rochester: the second part is called
on the title-page the tenth edition. This book measures only four by
two inches, and one inch in thickness, and contains 560 pages.
E. D.

[Ralph Winterton, in 1632, translated the Considerations of

Drexelius upon Eternity, in the Preface to which he says, "I
left the temple of Hippocrates and the Muses, and betook
myself into the sanctuary, to which consisteth in the due
numbering of the days of this short life, by comparing them
with the years of eternity; and so I fell upon translating this
book of eternity. And this I found, by daily experience, to be
the best hypnoticon that ever I used; for it brought me to my
rest better than if had taken diacodion." In 1634 he was
nominated Professor of Physic in the University of Cambridge;
and in 1635 published an edition of the minor Greek poets.
The first edition of his translation of Gerard's Meditations and
Prayers was published in 1631, and in 1640 he translated
Gerard's Summe of Christian Doctrine, 8vo. There is a Latin
distich by Winterton among the Additional MSS. in the British
Museum, No. 5955.]

Emblems of a Saint.

—At the sale of the late Mr. Cottingham's Museum of medieval art
was sold on the seventh day "a corbel with a figure of a saint with a
basket of birds in one hand, in the other a staff." Will you allow me
to inquire, through your valuable columns, the name of this saint?
 Buriensis.

[Joachim, the Father of Mary, is sometimes represented as

holding in his hand a basket with two turtle doves in it.—See
Die Attribute der Heiligen, &c., Hanover, 1843.]

Quack.

—Why are certain members of the medical profession so called? I

have seen "in print" that the Egyptian hieroglyphic for a doctor was
a duck. Does this afford a clue?
A. A. D.

[Our English Quack, or Quacksalver as it was originally

written, is from the German Quacksalber, or rather the Dutch
Kwaksalver; which Bilderdijk, in his Geslachtlijst der
Naamwoorden, states should be more properly Kwabzalver
(Iatroliptes), from Kwab, a wen, and zalver, to salve or
anoint.]

Dr. Hieron Mercurialis.

—Who was Dr. Hieron Mercurialis, the author of a book having the
following title: Medicina Practica, seu de cognoscendis, discernendis,
et curandis, omnibus humani corporis affectibus, earumque causis
indagandis?
W. S.

[Hieron Mercurialis, an eminent and learned physician, was

born at Forli, in Romagna, in 1530. During a sojourn of seven
years at Rome, he paid great attention to classical literature
and the monuments of antiquity, and composed the learned
and elegant work which first rendered him celebrated in the
literary world, De Arte Gymnastica Libr. sex, printed in 1567.
After filling the Professor's chair at Padua for eighteen years,
he removed, in 1587, to Bologna, and subsequently to Pisa.
 He died in his native place in 1606. See Rose's Biographical
Dict.]

The Book of Sports.

—This celebrated royal indulgence of Sabbath-breaking was first

issued in 1617, and again in 1633. On its first promulgation,
Archbishop Abbott forbad the reading of it in the parish church of
Croydon; but in 1637 many clergymen were deprived of their livings
for not complying with the royal ordinance. In that year, at least,
Lawrence Snelling, Rector of Paul's Cray, was for that offence
excommunicated and then deprived.
In 1643 it was ordered by the Lords and Commons that this book
should be burnt by the common hangman in Cheapside and other
usual places. The Sheriffs of London and Middlesex were required
"to assist effectually" in the execution of the order; and all persons
were required forthwith to deliver up all copies to the sheriff. The
10th of May was the day fixed for putting this order into execution.
Was it complied with generally? I cannot find that any penalty was
attached to disobedience. Is the book now scarce? I presume it is
accessible in public libraries.
S. S. S.
[The earlier editions of The Book of Sports are now scarce, but
may be seen in most public libraries. It was reprinted in 1709, with
the following title: The Book of Sports, set forth by James I. and
Charles I., with remarks upon the same in vindication of Charles I.
4to. It was also reprinted in the Harleian Miscellany, and in The
Phœnix, vol. i.]
 Replies.

MEANING OF GROOM.
(Vol. v., p. 57.)
Several of the recent articles of the "N. & Q." having had relation
to the word groom, I may be allowed to submit to you a most
ludicrous misconception of the duties attributed by our continental
neighbours to our court-office of "Groom of the Stole," which struck
me some years ago. One of the most laborious, and, from his
extensive historical knowledge, one of the most competent editors of
French memoirs, is M. F. Barrière, whose introductory discourses
have been used so frequently by the writers on French subjects in
the Quarterly Review, though not always with frank avowal of the
obligation. In 1828 he published Les Mémoires du Comte de Brienne,
a distinguished public man during the minority and early reign of
Louis XIV., and there, at p. 372. of the second volume, referring to
Brienne's father's Mémoires, tome i. p. 407. (Amsterdam, 1719,
8vo.), produces the following singular misapprehension of our habits
and language. In 1624 the elder of these noblemen, it seems, was
deputed by Louis XIII. to adjust the preparatory arrangements of
our Charles I.'s marriage with Henrietta Maria, the French monarch's
sister, who, it was stipulated, should be attended equally by French
and English ladies. Among the former are named the Duchess of
Chevreuse, the Maréchale de Thémines (wife of the Marshal), and
Madame de Saint-Georges, who had been the princess's governess
and lady of honour,—a title unknown, it is said, at the English court,
but for which the Duke of Buckingham, the representative of
Charles, proposed as an equivalent, that of Groom of the Stool (sic)
"qui revient assez bien à ce qu'on appelerait dans notre langue, le
gentilhomme, ou la dame de la chaise-percée. Cette charge est très
considérable; elle fait jouir de très grands privilèges," &c. A natural
expression of surprise follows this portraiture of a high and regular
functionary, whose attributes not even majesty could ennoble or
strip of indignity. The transposition of the name and duties of Groom
of the Stole has caused this most ridiculous blunder—a double one,
indeed, for the office does not belong to female majesty, though it
may, as of course at present, form part of a royal consort's
household. The living editor of De Brienne, who dwells on these
"étranges usages de nos voisins d'outremer," tells us, and it is
confirmed by De Brienne himself, that this nobleman felt proud and
honoured at the familiarity and confidence of Louis XIV., who often
conferred with him on state affairs, enthroned "sur sa chaise-
percée." The Duchess of Burgundy, mother of Louis XV., it is known,
never hesitated to administer to herself a relieving remedy, not to be
pronounced by name in English society, in presence of Louis XIV. and
his attendant courtiers; so that these violations of decorum, falsely
imputed to our court, were of historical truth at Versailles.
J. R. (Cork).

May not groom be the literal English of the French écuyer, and
have in the places quoted the same meaning as esquire, which is
evidently the Anglicised French?
W. C. Trevelyan.

Wallington.

BALLAD OF LORD DELAWARE.

(Vol. ii., pp. 104. 158.; Vol. v., p. 243.)
As I have reason to believe that several of your readers are
interested in this old ballad, I send you an exact transcript of the
oral version contained in Mr. Lyle's (not Lyte's, as incorrectly printed
in my former communication) now rare little volume.
 Your correspondent C. W. G. thinks that it relates to some
transaction much later than 1622; and possibly he may be right. It
may be as well, however, to mention that Mr. J. H. Dixon, who
inserted the ballad in his Ancient Poems, Ballads, and Songs of the
Peasantry of England (Percy Society, No. LXII.), thinks otherwise,
and, indeed, claims for it an antiquity as high as the reign of Edward
III., A.D. 1377. He suggests that for De la Ware we should read De la
Mare, and believes Sir Thomas De la Mare, Speaker of the House of
Commons, to have been the hero. Mr. Dixon says:
"All historians are agreed in representing him as a person using
'great freedom of speech,' and which, indeed, he carried to such an
extent as to endanger his personal liberty. As bearing somewhat
upon the subject of the ballad, it may be observed that De la Mare
was a great advocate of popular rights, and particularly protested
against the inhabitants of England being subject to 'purveyance;'
asserting that 'if the royal revenue was faithfully administered, there
could be no necessity for laying burdens on the people.'"
The title of the "Welsh lord, the brave Duke of Devonshire," offers
some opposition to Mr. Dixon's hypothesis, as no Duke of Devonshire
was created before 1694; but, as Sir Walter Scott observed, upon a
friend pointing out an inaccuracy in his "Bonnets of bonnie Dundee,"
"We cannot always be particular in a ballad." Possibly the name of
some other country or place should be substituted for that of
"Devonshire." Indeed I remember, some ten years ago, hearing a
version of this ballad sung at a village in Staffordshire, where the
"minstrel" (for he was a true descendant of the wandering tribe)
used Hereford in the place of Devonshire.
There is an old ballad in Deloney's Garland of Good Will, upon the
quarrel between the two Dukes of Hereford and Norfolk, in the reign
of Richard II. See Hume's Hist. of Eng., chap. xvii., A.D. 1398, for a
full account of the transaction. There seems to be some
"relationship" between this "combat" and that of the Lord Delaware.
At any rate, the following ballad smacks wonderfully (allowing for
the march of time, and Mr. Lyle's "smoothing down") of the style of
the "ballading silk-weaver," and his cotemporary poetasters.
 "LORD DELAWARE.

"In the Parliament House, a great rout has been

there,
Betwixt our good King and the Lord Delaware:
Says Lord Delaware to his Majesty full soon,
Will it please you, my Liege, to grant me a boon?

"What's your boon, says the King, now let me

understand?
It's, give me all the poor men we've starving in this
land;
And without delay, I'll hie me to Lincolnshire,
To sow hemp seed and flax seed, and hang them all
there.

"For with hempen cord it's better to stop each poor

man's breath,
Than with famine you should see your subjects
starve to death.
Up starts a Dutch Lord, who to Delaware did say,
Thou deservest to be stabb'd! then he turned
himself away:

"Thou deservest to be stabb'd, and the dogs have

thine ears,
For insulting our King in this Parliament of peers;
Up sprang a Welsh Lord, the brave Duke of
Devonshire,
In young Delaware's defence, I'll fight this Dutch
Lord, my sire.
 "For he is in the right, and I'll make it so appear:
Him I dare to single combat, for insulting Delaware.
A stage was soon erected, and to combat they
went,
For to kill, or to be kill'd, it was either's full intent.

"But the very first flourish, when the heralds gave

command,
The sword of brave Devonshire bent backward on
his hand;
In suspense he paused awhile, scann'd his foe
before he strake,
Then against the King's armour, his bent sword he
brake.

"Then he sprang from the stage, to a soldier in the

ring,
Saying, Lend your sword, that to an end this
tragedy we bring:
Though he's fighting me in armour, while I am
fighting bare,
Even more than this I'd venture, for young Lord
Delaware.

"Leaping back on the stage, sword to buckler now

resounds,
Till he left the Dutch Lord a-bleeding in his wounds:
This seeing, cries the King to his guards without
delay,
Call Devonshire down: take the dead man away!

"No, says brave Devonshire, I've fought him as a

man,
 Since he's dead, I will keep the trophies I have
won;
For he fought me in your armour, while I fought him
bare,
And the same you must win back, my Liege, if ever
you them wear.

"God bless the Church of England, may it prosper

on each hand,
And also every poor man now starving in this land;
And while I pray success may crown our King upon
his throne,
I'll wish that every poor man may long enjoy his
own."
Edward F. Rimbault.

FAMILY LIKENESSES.
(Vol. v., p. 260.)
To most persons the discovery by Vokaros of a family likeness
existing between the face on the brass of the Abbess of Elstow, and
the portrait of the Marquis of Bristol, after a lapse of three centuries,
would probably seem moderately far-fetched; but when this is
adduced as "valuable evidence on the disputed point, whether
portraits were attempted in sepulchral brasses," a very great
demand indeed is made upon our credulity. I have not the means
now of referring to the works of Fisher and Rokewode; but I have
before me a rubbing of the Elstow brass. Any person tolerably
familiar with the subject will at once see that the face of the lady is
identical with that which is repeatedly to be found on numerous
brass effigies of persons of both sexes at the beginning of the
sixteenth century; in fact, it is not very dissimilar to that of the
fellow brass of the Abbot at Dorchester, Oxon. If, therefore, we
might judge by the likeness, very many brazen-faced gentry of olden
time might claim the honour of being ancestors of the noble lord.
And so far from its being a disputed point, whether the faces on
brasses are attempted likenesses, no one, I think, who has at all
studied our monumental brasses, can fail to have come to the
conclusion that they were not intended to be portraits. The great
proof of this lies in the obvious similarity in the faces of cotemporary
figures which have been produced by the same artists, who,
probably from their residing in London, and perhaps in a few other
places, very rarely had an opportunity of seeing the persons to be
commemorated. The instructions forwarded to the engravers would
seem to have been confined to the inscription and other details,
chiefly the costume, at least if we may judge from the large brasses
at Digswell, Herts, and other similar figures. The ready adoption of
unaltered palimpsest effigies may also be cited as an additional
proof of the likeness being entirely a matter of indifference; and it is
not improbable that many brasses were kept ready made, half-
length figures of priests for instance; and files of children, all bearing
a strong family likeness, may have been engraved, ready to be cut
off on the shortest notice, and laid down at so much per foot. The
only approach towards a likeness, if it may be termed such, seems
to be the distinction between youth and age, and even that was
almost wholly neglected in the fifteenth and earlier half of the
sixteenth centuries. The foregoing remarks apply chiefly to brasses
before the latter end of the sixteenth century; after that period
portraits were evidently not unfrequently attempted. Very rare
instances, however, before this time, may be found. I may specify
the effigy of Nich. Canteys, 1431, Margate, Kent.
Mr. Doyle, in his able painting of Caxton submitting his proof-sheet
to Abbot Estney (noticed in "N. & Q." No. 54. p. 398.) has taken the
likeness of the Abbot from his brass in Westminster Abbey, which is,
I suppose, as good a likeness of the original as any other that can
be found; but the members of Queen's College, Oxford, have not
been so fortunate. Several years ago, while hunting up a likeness of
their founder (Robt. Egglesfield, 1340), they stumbled upon an old
brass in the College Chapel, from which a painting and engraving
was made purporting to be that of the founder. Recent researches
have unfortunately fatally dispelled this illusion, as the effigy in
question undoubtedly commemorates Dr. Robt. Langton, who
deceased 1518.
H. H.

EARL OF ERROLL.
(Vol. v., p. 297.)
According to Burke's Peerage for 1850, the present Lord Erroll is
"the twenty-second High Constable of Scotland; and as such is, by
birth, the first subject in Scotland after the blood-royal, having a
right to take place of every hereditary honour, which was granted to
his lordship's father on the visit of George IV. to North Britain" (in
1822).
In a small treatise, De Jure Prelationis Nobilium Scotiæ, printed by
the Bannatyne Club in 1827, from a manuscript in the Advocates'
Library, with a preface and numerous additions by Sir Alexander
Seton, Lord Pitmedden, I find the following remark, under the head
of "Comes de Erroll":—
"The Earle of Erroll claims precedency of all the nobilitie of
Scotland nixt to the Chancellour, though of ane ancienter
creation than himself, be vertue of his office of Constabulary,
of the which that precedency is a priviledge; and to instruct
that it is a priviledge, he produces a Report of a Commission
that was granted be the King under the Great Seal anno
1631, to take tryall of the priviledges of the Constable; which
Report, in the second article thereof, bears that the
precedency is due to the Constable next to the Chancellor, but
he has never been in possession of it, but only takes place by
his antiquity as Earle."
 The report here referred to is given in Nisbet's Heraldry, vol. ii. p.
67. In the eighth chapter of Sir George Mackenzie's treatise on
"Precedency" (p. 534. of the second volume of his works), your
correspondent will find some interesting information regarding the
ancient office of High Constable. In the course of his remarks the
learned author says:
"Next to these (i.e. the Chancellor, Justice-General,
Chamberlain, High Steward, Panetarius, and Buttelarius) are
named, in the laws of King Malcolm Canmore (1057-1093),
the Constable and Marishal; but now the Constable and
Marishal take not place as officers of the Crown, but
according to their creation as Earls: the reason thereof I
conceive to be, because of old offices did not prefer those
who possessed them, but they took place according to their
creation; whereas now the Privy Seal precedes all Dukes, and
the Secretary takes place before all of his own rank; but the
Constable and Marishal, being now the only two officers of
the Crown that are heritable in Scotland, continue to possess
as they did formerly. But in France, England, and all other
places, the Constable and Marishal take place as officers of
the Crown; and it seems very strange that these, who ride
upon the King's right and left hand when he returns from his
Parliaments, and who guard the Parliament itself, and the
honours, should have no precedency by their offices; and yet
I cannot deny, but that of old other Earls were placed before
them; for in the former Charter granted by King Alexander,
Malcolm Earl of Fife is placed before them. And I conceive
their precedency has not risen of late to the same proportion
with others, because, of late, our armies have been
commanded by other officers, and so there was little use for
the Constable and Marishal."
E. N.

THE BOWYER BIBLE. (Vol. v., pp. 248. 309.)

 Seeing a fresh notice of this great book in No. 124. of "N. & Q.," I
venture to forward a few particulars concerning Bowyer, who was an
old friend, even of between thirty and forty years' standing. He is
long since gone to his rest; he has left neither widow nor child,
scarcely a distant relative, so that the following can neither "give
offence nor grieve." He has often told me particulars of his early
career. Being a poor youth in search of employment, and withal
moody enough at his prospects, he was one day walking down
Newgate Street, and pausing to look at a print or two in a shop-
window, it struck him he could take a likeness; so he went home to
his indifferent lodging, having procured implements suitable, seated
himself before a glass, and took his own portrait, which he
considered was as successful as a first effort could be. Encouraged
thereby, he was soon employed to paint others, and such note did
he acquire that his miniatures were carried into court-circles, so that
he became a sort of celebrity in that line, and Queen Charlotte
appointed him her official miniature-painter—if such be the proper
term.
He soon struck out much more important occupation, planning
various publications, the most promising of which was his large
edition of Hume's History of England; and this was so ponderous an
undertaking that it was only at last disposed of by a lottery. His
fondness for taking portraits never left him, and a very few years
before his death he gratified my family by volunteering to paint a
miniature of my father, and a capital likeness it was. He was much
pleased with one of his successes, of which he has more than once
told me with great glee. Just before George III. was secluded finally
from public view, he and another artist, an old acquaintance, went
one Sunday together to the Chapel-Royal at Windsor, and during the
service each sketched the King on one of his nails: they adjourned to
an inn, and while the impression was yet fresh, transferred to a
sheet of paper the likeness of the venerable monarch. On returning
with it to London, Bowyer sent it for the inspection of the Prince
Regent, who was so pleased with this rough pencil-drawing, that he
sent word back he would never part with it, and begged to know
Bowyer's price. The latter said 105l., which the Prince Regent
immediately forwarded.
I once found Bowyer drawing at a table, a wig placed on a stick
before him, and he was taking the likeness of a very old friend, who
was dead and gone, from memory. In this attempt he entirely
succeeded, even to the surprise of all who knew the deceased.
About ten years ago a little book, called Henry VIII. and his
Contemporaries, by B. Bensley, contained, concerning the earlier
impressions of the Bible, the following note:—
"I trust to be pardoned for introducing a little anecdote
relative to the Bible, exactly three hundred years after the
period about which I am writing, that is not the less
appropriate for being likewise illustrative of episcopal
shrewdness. [The text is recording an instance of the then
Bishop of London being bitten in an arrangement with a
bookseller.] The most splendid Bible ever issued was that
published by Macklin, printed by my late father, and the
execution of which even his son may say, would alone hand
down his name to posterity. Bowyer, publisher of another
great national work—the folio edition of Hume's History of
England, also a splendid specimen of my father's typography
—had a copy of Macklin's Bible, which he employed his leisure
during many years to illustrate, having the best opportunities,
from his pursuits as an artist, publisher of prints, &c. On the
completion of his labours, he valued the massy product,
consisting of an immense number of prints, at 2500l.; and,
after unsuccessful efforts to procure a purchaser, he put it up
to be raffled for, issuing proposals to the nobility and gentry,
&c. Among others, an aged bishop sent his name as a
subscriber to this kind of lottery, and shortly after called at
the rooms in Pall Mall to pay the two guineas; but, before he
did so, he drew Mr. Bowyer apart, and gravely told him he
could not quite make out how, by paying that sum, he could
ensure possession of the great work. Upon its being explained
to his lordship, that he could only take a chance with 1249
 others, he expressed surprise and vexation, and declined to
pay two guineas for the chance, which he then, probably, saw
was objectionable in a moral point of view, as a species of
gambling! The parties are all long since dead."
B. B.
Pembroke.

Replies to Minor Queries.

Exeter Controversy (Vol. v., p. 126.).

—Your correspondent A. N. will find, probably, that the "Exeter

Controversy," to which Gifford alludes, was that between John
Agate, of St. Mary Arches Church, in Exeter, and John Withers, a
Presbyterian. The controversy commenced in 1707, and was carried
on with great violence till 1715. The tracts are numerous, but many
very scarce. Agate's chief tract was entitled Plain Truth, and is in
three parts, Exon, 1708. Withers replied in a work of three parts
also: Truth Try'd, or Mr. Agate's pretended Plain Truth proved an
Untruth, Exon, 1708-9-10. This of course called forth a rejoinder,
and so on. Although carried on with great personalities, the
controversy shows considerable ability on both sides. I possess
almost all the tracts, and shall be happy to send a list to A. N., if
required. Withers, Trosse, and Pierce are all well-known Dissenting
names in the history of Exeter at the beginning of last century, when
that city was the stronghold of Arianism.
Richard Hooper.

Coleridge's "Friend" (Vol. v., p. 297.).

—The passage quoted by your correspondent J. M. can refer to

one man only, viz. Thomas Wedgewood. His introduction to that
gentleman, and his brother Josiah, is related by Cottle.
(Recollections of Coleridge, 1837, vol. i. p. 305.) Coleridge might well
call the former his "munificent co-patron;" for we learn from Cottle
that these brothers, soon after making the poet's acquaintance,
settled upon him 150l. per annum, in order to prevent him sinking
the man of letters in the Unitarian minister. Cottle adds:
"Mr. C. was oppressed with grateful emotions to these his liberal
benefactors. He always spoke, in particular, of the late Mr. Thomas
Wedgewood as being one of the best talkers, and as possessing one
of the acutest minds of any man he had known."
The following details, which J. M. will not find in any book, may be
interesting, to him:—Joseph Wedgewood, the illustrious potter, lived
at Etruria, in Staffordshire; for such was the appropriate name of the
house he built for himself. He had six children,—three sons, John,
Thomas, and Josiah; and three daughters, Sarah, Catherine, and
****. John married a Miss Allen (one of four Devonshire lasses),
who was accounted one of the most accomplished and excellent
ladies in the county. Joshua married another of the sisters. Thomas
never married. He was indisposed, both from ill health and taste,
towards the pottery business, and took to philosophy. He was
endowed with a rare genius, and enjoyed the society of the first
literati of his day. But he died while he was still a man of promise.
Of his sisters, Sarah was an accomplished lady with a strong
intellect, which captivated Basil Montagu, without reciprocity.
Catherine was a first-rate horse-woman. The third daughter married
the celebrated Dr. Darwin, of Shrewsbury. All of them, I believe, are
dead.
C. Mansfield Ingleby.

Birmingham.

Praying to the Devil (Vol. v., p. 273.).

—Bishop Hall, in his Cases of Conscience (Decade iii. Case 2.

Lond. 1654), alludes to the fact of Satanic compacts, as indeed do
many others of our old divines. The master work on the subject is, I
believe, that entitled Disquisitiones Magicæ by Martinus Delrio. Let
me particularly refer your correspondent R. S. F. to Lib. ii. of said
volume, Quæst. 4. pp. 99., &c., and to Lib. v. sect. xvi. pp. 759., &c.
(Coloniæ Agrippinæ, 1633, 4to.)
In turning over the leaves fortuitously, I stumbled upon the name
of Catherine de Medicis, and perhaps in a connexion that will render
the legend of the steel box not incredible:
"Sic ille ipse, Bodino non ignotus, faciebat Italus Parisiis, tam
carus Catharinæ Mediceæ, qui chirothecis, globulis, vel
pulveribus suave fragrantibus, alios solo necabat odore
illæsus ipse, et hoc pacto à se interfectam Navarræ Reginam
Albretham, veneni vi per nares in cerebrum penetrante,
gloriabatur. Vera causa est, hæc ex pacto fieri per
dæmonem," &c.
Lib. iii. pars i. quæst. 3. sect. 2. p. 394.
Rt .
Warmington.

The Word "shunt" (Vol. iii., p. 204.).

—I can confirm what Mr. Way says on this word. I have looked for
the word in all the dictionaries and glossaries I could lay my hands
upon, both in this country and abroad, but in vain. Singular enough,
however, I have found it in the small edition of Bailey, and in Dr.
Ash's Dictionary.
In reading the other day Victor Hugo's Notre Dame, I met with the
word Pignon, which has exactly the same signification as the Welsh
word Piniwn, the gable or pine end of a house. Is the French word
derived from the Welsh, or the Welsh from the French? or is the
coincidence in sound and sense purely accidental? Perhaps some of
your Welsh correspondents can explain this.
E. Jones.

Aberayron, Cardiganshire.

St. Paul's Quotation of Heathen Writers (Vol. v., p. 278.).

 —Acts xiv. 17. Ὑετὸς does not occur, according to the Indexes, in
Sophocles, Euripides, or Pindar.
The style of the Hellenizing Jews was sometimes very poetical, as
in the Wisdom of Solomon: but in one of the most inflated passages
in that book, it does not go so far as οὐρανόθεν. It says only ἀπ'
οὐρανῶν. Nor does Wetstein quote οὐρανόθεν from any author but
Homer. Hesiod might have been added (Passow), but that is the
same thing. It seems a word unfit for prose.
Καιρὸς καρποφόρος is quoted by Wetstein from Achmet.
C. B.

Rex Lucifer.—It would be a most horrid barbarism to impute to

such a Latin poet as Milton the use of this word for the devil;
although in his theological poem he may have adopted that popular
and discreditable gloss upon Isaiah xiv. The palace of the light-
bringing king is no other than that known to our earliest school-
days, in Ovid 1. ad fin. 2. ad init. Phaëthon passes the "positos sub
ignibus Indos," and then "patrios adit impiger ortus," where
"Regia Solis erat sublimibus alta columnis," &c.
Milton uses the word as an adjective, as in Ovid, "luciferos, Luna
regebat equos." Otherwise it would necessarily signify the Planet
Venus, or morning star.
A. N.

Sir Edward Seaward's Narrative (Vol. v., p. 185.).

—Miss Porter's letter speaks of the piety and domestic concord of

the Seawards. Your readers may be amused to know that this piety
affords one proof of the fiction of the narrative. They sometimes
give the dates both of the day of month and week, and derive
together much comfort from the singular applicability of passages in
the lessons for the day. When I was reading the book, the days of
the month and week fell the same as in the narrative, and as it
happened to be at the same time of year too, I made the
unpalatable discovery, that, however suitable the passages might be,
they were not as they professed to be, at least not always, from the
lesson of the day.
P. P.

Spanish Verses on the Invasion of England (Vol. v., p. 294.).—

L. H. J. T. will find the Spanish verses which form the subject of

his Query in Southey's Quarterly Review article on Lord Holland's Life
and Writings of Lope de Vega (Quarterly Review, vol. xviii. p. 6.),
together with the following lively version:
"My brother Don John
To England is gone,
To kill the Drake,
And the Queen to take,
And the heretics all to destroy;
And he will give me,
When he comes back,
A Lutheran boy
With a chain round his neck;
And Grandmamma
From his share shall have
A Lutheran maid
To be her slave."
Southey's reference is, Romancero General. Medina del Campo,
1602, ff. 35. The lines form part of "a child's poem, or, more
properly, a poem written in the character of a child (a species of
playful composition at that time popular among the Spaniards)," and
are quoted by Southey, together with an Ode by Luis de Gongora, to
show the exultant anticipation with which the success of the
Armada, in which expedition Lope de Vega had entered himself as a
volunteer, was expected by the Spaniards.
E. V.
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