Lauren Werner has three core elements that she expects from her athletes as the trainer for the No. 1-ranked Iowa women’s wrestling team: sleep, hydration and feeling.
Eight hours of sleep a day, in particular, is non-negotiable. Most of these student-athletes have classes that end in the late afternoon, then workouts in the early morning; sleep is critical for well-being. Athletes must also get four to six daily fluids on top of their meals.
Managing all of this for the Hawkeyes is no easy feat. Werner describes herself as a “healthcare cruise director,” someone who is the “first line of defense for the health and well-being” of her athletes. She also acts as the point person, tasked with helping find solutions while serving as the communications coordinator for all staff members.
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Trainers like Werner and the team of nutritionists that also support women wrestlers are essential for the health of the athletes and their performance. Their days revolve around the athletes, and they are the individuals responsible for managing injuries and illnesses and working with coaches and staff. While the athletes perform under the brightest lights, it’s the trainers and support staff working behind the scenes who make their winning possible.
Day in the life
During a typical practice day, trainers have a wide range of tasks, including performing rehab treatments, counseling, evaluating performances and extensive tapping. They eat, sleep and breathe wrestling. They have to be diligent, too, watching their athletes for any patterns that could lead to injury and helping them recover when injuries do happen.
“I view [returning from injury] it as a baseball diamond,” Werner said. “First base manages the pain, second base reintroduces carotid and strength, third base is non-contact practice and home plate is back to the mat.”
Taylor McCormick, the athletic trainer for Ursinus College, is similarly strategic and methodical about helping her athletes recover.
“The biggest part of my job is to get them back on the mat, hopefully stronger than before,” she said.
One way McCormick works with athletes to prevent injuries before they happen is through intentional weight management and muscle mass development.
“Proper muscle mass helps the most with preventing injuries, which keeps them on the mat,” McCormick said. “Not to mention, in a sport that is based on weight, you can be the same weight as your opponent, but have a lot more muscle mass, which puts you at an advantage.”
Athletes who cut weight too intensely run the risk of increased injury. In fact, on collegiate wrestlers shows that for every 1% of body weight they lose through rapid cutting, their chance of competition injury increases by 11%. This is something that McCormick and Werner take seriously when working with athletes, but supporting athletes through weight management can come with emotional challenges.
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Athletes can struggle with weight class changes because they may associate their identity with a weight class, Werner said. They may also have previously found success in weight cutting in high school, but such an approach can have costly consequences for collegiate athletes navigating a longer, more intense season than they experienced when they were younger.
Werner instead asks her athletes to walk around at their competition weight to ensure that they are not taking extreme measures to cut down or having to work too hard to find stability.
“Rapid weight cycling is really bad for your metabolism and health,” Werner said. “If it seems too hard, then we encourage moving up a weight class.”
Some of the symptoms she looks for in women that might need to move up a weight class are: low energy, inability to focus, missed periods, or behavioral changes. To take extra precaution, Werner will even have bloodwork done so she can accurately assess her athlete's conditions.
Nutrition as performance fuel
Wrestlers will often work with athletic trainers like Werner and McCormick alongside nutritionists to help build strength through a healthy, balanced diet that allows them to maintain muscle mass and energy.
Erin Sparrold is one of those experienced nutritionists with a stellar track record of helping women wrestlers reach peak performance. She works with wrestlers from Lafayette and Lehigh and specifically helps athletes handle hydration and fueling as part of their weight management process.
Athletes “have a reduced power and endurance on the mats [if they aren’t hydrated], which will reduce conditioning capacity,” Sparrold said. “All of this adds up to increased risk of musculoskeletal and heat stress injuries.”
Poorly hydrated athletes also have a higher risk of concussions and the recovery process will be more difficult if they do experience the injury.
“This is important to note because the brain takes a while to rehydrate,” Sparrold said. “If you dehydrate too intensely to make weight, your brain will likely still be in a low hydration status by the time you hit the mats to compete.”
Sparrold also works to educate her athletes about the importance of food and teach them that “food is not their enemy.”
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“Athletes want to leverage every option to maximize their potential for competitive success,” she said. “Food is one of those levers.”
A key to good nutrition lies with frequency. Athletes need to be eating at least three meals a day and snacks to prepare for lifting, training and matches, Sparrold said. Male athletes partake in fasting sessions, which do not hold the same benefits for the female body.
Sparrold breaks down the ideal meal in the following ways:
- Protein that is “the size of the athlete’s hand or ¼ - ⅓ of the plate” (examples: eggs or Greek yogurt)
- Dense carbohydrates — size varies based on training day, from ½ of the plate on a heavy day to ⅓ of the plate on a lighter day (examples: potatoes, rice, pasta, sweet potatoes)
- Fruits and vegetables to “increase the volume of vitamins, minerals, antioxidants and other plant-based nutrients that help make our bodies and metabolism more efficient.”
“[Food] is an undeniable cornerstone in the health, development and performance of our athletes,” Sparrold said. “Without proper fuel and recovery resources from food, you won’t gain the benefits from your strength training sessions.”
Building relationships
Supporting athletes through injuries, nutrition management and weight class changes requires a strong personal relationship, one that is unique and distinct from the partnership between an athlete and a coach. This kind of deep relationship is one of the things that Werner likes most about her job.
“It’s why I choose to be a trainer,” she said.
At the beginning of each year, she sends out an intake form to get to know her players. She asks them to set three goals: one for wrestling, academics and well-being. Having these answers gives her insight into her players and allows her to help them reach their goals and take care of themselves.
It’s essential for her that her athletes feel heard, especially given the mental toll that women athletes face having to potentially change weights and manage their physiques while chasing their goals.
Werner is specifically tuned into burnout and advocates for modifications or breaks if needed. Not all wrestlers have to compete in every match, she said.
Sparrold also highlights the role nutrition plays in athletes’ mental well-being.
“Too often we overlook the relationship between nutrition, mental health and motivation,” Sparrold said. “An under-fueled athlete is more likely to experience anxiety and depression.”
These women are often the athletes' safe spaces for injury, fatigue, or mental struggles.
“I have found the best thing for them is to give them the time and to actively listen to what they’re going through,” McCormick said. “They want to be heard and understood. Letting them know that they will get through it and that once they weigh in, they can fuel up and just have to wrestle.”
The expertise provided by trainers like Werner and McCormick, as well as nutritionists like Sparrold, is what helps athletes perform at their best on the mat, particularly as the intensity ratchets up in the second half of the season.