Metabolic, Functional and Nutritional Responses to Weight Cycling in Athletes: The WAVE Study

Many elite athletes are submitted to frequent rapid weight loss periods to meet their competition weight category and then experience weight cycling (lowing and gaining weight regularly). This weight cycling induce severe temporary energetic and metabolic changes and when repeated over time can lead to permanent metabolic adaptations that might favor metabolic disorders, body weight gain and body composition changes (favoring fat mass). The exact effects of this weight cycling are not clear yet, especially in terms of metabolic, energetics, nutritional functional and psychological impacts. Better understand these adaptations and their variations during weight loss and weight gain in regular weight cycler is of main importance to prevent these athletes for future health issues. The aim of the present project if to assess these metabolic, functional, energetic and nutritional adaptations during weight loss, weight stable and weight gain periods in athletes experiencing regular weight cycling.

Inclusion Criteria: * Subjects aged 18 to 35 (inclusive), * exercising at least 4 sessions of endurance or weight-based sporting activities per week for a performance objective, * having variations of at least 5% of their weight body during the last 3 sporting seasons (a sporting season corresponds to a year during which alternates the periods of training, recovery and participation in official competitions). * Subject capable of providing informed consent to participate * Subject with a social security insurance. Exclusion Criteria: * Medical or surgical history deemed by the investigator to be incompatible with the study. * Presence of chronic pathology. * Disorders of eating behavior. * Subjects born very prematurely defined as a pregnancy inferior to 28 weeks. * Subjects having used a treatment for a small stature (eg growth hormone). * For women: irregular menstruation (changes in menstrual cycles ≥ 6 days). * Sports subjects with a stable weight during the last three sporting seasons (weight variation \