20 March 2012 Last updated at 10:19 ET
Heading to a sauna before a race is a common ritual for many jockeys - not to relax, but to lose those few extra pounds before racing.
Racing legends including Frankie Dettori have spoken in interviews of their battles to stay under their "natural weight".
Tony McCoy, who stands at 5ft 10in tall, has been known in the past to slim down for some rides to 10 stone, a stone-and-a-half below his natural weight, with a punishing diet of saunas and snatched snacks.
A recent academic study found 82% of the 99 jockeys surveyed took "extreme measures" when dieting, ranging from exercising with "sweat suits" to fasting, skipping meals or vomiting before a race.
The Berkshire-based Professional Jockeys Association is now employing three extra members of staff to help stop jockeys using dangerous methods to lose weight.
Anna-Louise MacKinnon, medical advisor at the association, based in Newbury, said they had recruited three new members to their nutrition team to bring new ideas and approaches to diet.
She said there was no "hard evidence" that rapid weight loss methods were dangerous, but said anecdotally she had been told by jockeys that head injuries and concussions were harder to recover from when the rider was dehydrated.
She said there were also concerns about dehydration weight-loss methods leading to a lack of concentration which might lead to more accidents while riding.
Susan Lennie, a lecturer in nutrition at Robert Gordon University, warned that jockeys could damage their health by losing too much too quickly.
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Jockeys in dieting 'extreme measures'
