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I think weight is the most common concern when a vaulter returns to action. At least that’s what I hear and read. I know when I came back in 2005 after losing nearly three years from Achilles surgeries and thought I was permanently and involuntarily retired, weight was a huge issue. My goal was to lose the weight slowly by conditioning, which worked well.

What I ultimately found is that being at a low weight is no guarantee of success. I jumped 12’ 8” last year at 162. I felt fast but not really powerful. I lifted a lot but didn’t really get much stronger. If my weight climbed three pounds I felt considerably stronger and more powerful but I would quickly drop the weight back down to be at “vaulting weight”. Whatever that means.

SO, the purpose of this post is to say that this year, if I felt stronger a few pounds heavier, I went ahead and jumped at that weight. I mean I was still in good shape, I just weighed a little more. BIG difference. I turned 55 in June and I ended up jumping 4.10m (13’ 5 ¼”) with four meets over 13’ while jumping at between 168-171 (+6-9 lbs.), which was my vaulting weight in my prime. I’m on much bigger poles than last year but not just because of my weight. The combination of the extra power by my run being back nearly two feet, combined with my body weight and increased strength, made a huge difference in how I feel jumping.

I guess the message is to get in good shape but don’t starve yourself to jump at a very low weight. You will do better if you find the lowest weight where you still feel powerful – relatively speaking of course. What will my jumping weight be for 2009? I’ve talked with my coach, Kris Allison, and we think it may be around 175. At age 44 (1997) I jumped 4.45m (14’ 7 ¼”), won Nationals and got 3rd at Worlds in South Africa. My weight was 178-181, 10 lbs. more than this year. I wasn’t in as good of shape as I am now so we think 175 will probably be where I settle out.
This post is totally meant to be food for thought for those just starting back who have pounds to lose. Always glad to hear other ideas, but in my mind, I wasted three years trying to jump too light. A good friend who is a top fitness expert used to tell his personal training clients who wanted to lose 20 pounds, “if you could stay at this same weight yet be 6% body fat would the weight still be an issue?” The answer was usually no. I’ll focus on my training and conditioning and follow the natural path of my body for awhile. Bubba

I've been thinking a lot about weight lately myself. I'm going to return to competition this indoor season, and after 4 years of limited to no workout routine, I find myself 20lbs heavier and in the worst shape of my life. Perhaps the only advantage I have now is the knowledge to not go out and try to train like Rocky the first week, injure myself, lose motivation, and quit again. I'm taking a very slow and periodized approach to training, and am just completing a month of strictly prehab activity, including jogging, swimming, lots of dynamic mobility and static stretching, foam roller, body-weight exercises, manual therapy, massage, and chiropractic. So far, so good, but I really haven't put any loads on my body yet.

Which brings up the weight issue. I jumped my best weighing between 165-170, and am currently at 185. I got here by eating anything and everything I felt like, and drinking a lot of beer. I've cut the beer drinking down to 2 beers a week, cutting as much saturated fat out of my diet as possible, and keeping a fairly balanced diet of carbs and protein. I'm hoping that these simple guidelines combined with gradually ramping up the volume of my workouts will cut me down to around 175 by indoor season. I don't want to have to start counting calories, but if I'm not seeing results come November, I guess I'll have to.

To go along with what Bubba said though, I would take 180lbs with 5% body fat and power on the runway any day over 170lbs, 10% body fat, and slow and weak.

Kris? Seriously, two beers a week? You're going to dwindle away to nothing. Moderation in all things. You could wipe out a whole decade of beer drinking at just one session of the hydration station. Please pace yourself. Your presence and participation is neccesary to a succesful completion of a great track meet the first weekend of April. Glad your back to jumping, just include a few more beers per week in your new training schedule.

Dang Kris, if you go down to 2 beers/week too fast, you might start seeing bugs crawl down the wall.

I would just focus on getting back in shape and eating right and let the numbers on the scale take care of themselves.

I think to a very large degree Becca is right. Unfortunately most of us come back after years of doing little physical activity. Many of the posts in this section say they have been out 20+ years. I was out 11 years and when I came back after 8 years on Wall Street - I weighed 225. My high was 240. Over work and over stress combined with too much travel and too many meetings with surrounding meals. It was a danger to jump at that weight, especially being that out of shape. It was a very slow process but I still had fun doing a ton of very short run jumps with a low grip and small poles in flats while I worked myself into shape. Gratefully, 2009 will be 20 years back. Bubba

You bring up some interesting points....but I can't help but wonder....how tall are you and what do you weigh now? In my glory days I tipped the scale at about 150 0r 155, now I'm up around 195....but somewhat more muscular. I do have the old guy spare tire though and I would love to lose it for several reasons, health being the primary one, but also it just seems that vaulting would be easier at a lighter weight....not so much lbs to try to haul over the cross bar. I'd be happy being twenty pounds lighter right now, hopefully it'll drop off as I start running more. I did find out yesterday that I have a small hernia, so things might get put on hold a bit until this is taken care of.....getting older has it's disadvantages too I guess. Big sigh.

That's kind of why I started the post. Most of us return to vaulting at varying degrees of fat and out of shape. Hey – we’re honest with ourselves about it. I'm 5' 11" and as of this morning, weigh 173, but I came back at 225 (1989) and went down as far as 162 in the 2007 season.

My guess is that we need to get in the best shape we can get in and then not obsess about our weight. Hard not to in the beginning when we know we're out of shape. BUT, we didn’t get that way over night and the vault is a lifetime sport, so it’s smart to do it right and enjoy the journey. Bubba

Forgot to mention hernias. Get it fixed ASAP. I spent six months treating one with my ortho as an abdominal strain. Went to a GP to confirm that I didn’t have a hernia. He says, “I can confirm that you don’t have a hernia. You have three, both sides and umbilical”. Except for the umbilical they are quick fixes.

If you read the beginning of this post you know I lost 3+ years to Achilles surgeries. Like I tell my kids, “your advantage with me is that I have already made every mistake that you will ever make in your vault career”. And I keep finding new ways to make them. HeeHee!! Bubba

Great topic. Bubba and I have been talking about this for a few weeks and I knew he'd probably bring the conversation to the board at some point. When I came back I was around 170 and for the time that I was training and progressing pretty well I was maintaining that 165 to 170. Bubba can attest to the fact I was in pretty good shape.....that is if you consider ROUND a shape. Fortunately for me a job and lifestyle change has somehow allowed me to shed a bunch of pounds that I just couldn't get to go away. I don't know how it's going away or why, in otherwords I'm not really working at it. I'm just watching what I eat and how much. When I'm on the road I try to stay at motels that have a pool and go swim rather than go to the bar for a beer and that's about it. I'm sitting here now at around 155. Currently I'm doing little training (due to getting ready for another foot surgery to fix the "fix" that I had done last year). As I explained to Bubba in an e-mail, my plan is to see if I can continue with the weight loss (I know I'm losing some mass but most of what is going away is the fat that has been covering the muscle) and get myself under 150 (close to what I weighed when I jumped in high school). Then, with that being the start point I will train to rebuild the strength and muscle and not give a hoot about what the scale says. I'd love to be jumping at a strong 155 when I hit the runway next year. But like I said, I won't give much thought to any weight gain as long as it's not fat. Later................Mike

2 Guinness, Warsteiner Dunkels, Negra Modelos, or Chimays are probably like 5 or 6 Coors Lights!

I've been 5'10.5 since I was 16, weighed 140's in high school, 150's in college, 160's first 5 years after college, and am 185 currently. Hoping to hit a target competitive weight of 170-175 by January.

Some simple guidelines I follow:

Eliminate saturated fats (fried foods, etc.)
Eliminate simple sugars (white breads, potatoes, etc.)
Consume complex carbs (whole wheats)
Consume colored vegetables and fruits
Eat 4-5 small meals/day instead of 2-3 large meals
Drink lots of water

Any other suggestions welcome!

Lack of sleep when your new baby arrives will really help.