How you can keep away from a disastrous WEIGHT CUT
By Coach Dustin Myers, CSCS
Are your wrestlers chopping weight the WRONG method?
Ah, sure…the proverbial elephant within the room – weight chopping. Personally I’m an enormous proponent of wrestlers NOT chopping weight, notably at the highschool or youth stage, however till we have now a serious tradition change it is going to stay part of the game. Even when an athlete just isn’t chopping a considerable amount of weight the fact of being caught between two weights (say, an athlete that walks round at 190lbs) often leaves us with one choice and that’s taking off some water weight earlier than weigh ins. Nevertheless, like most issues, there are proper methods and much more flawed methods to go about it, with many athletes taking off weight in methods that may be detrimental to efficiency and their well being.
What to keep away from:
1. Do NOT restrict your water consumption early within the week. The simplest mistake to make is to restrict water as you might be bringing your weight down. A chronically dehydrated physique turns into a sponge, retaining any water that is available in and making it exhausting to really lose extra water when it comes time to make weight.
Answer: keep hydrated consuming 1 gallon of water or extra per day all week
2. Do NOT skip meals. Even when bringing your weight down in the course of the week your physique nonetheless wants gasoline for restoration. Ravenous your self will trigger your metabolism to grind to a halt and your physique will go right into a catabolic state, consuming away on the muscle you labored so exhausting to achieve.
Answer: proceed to eat small nutrient dense meals 3-4 instances per day the whole week. Restrict carbohydrates to fruits, veggies, and low glycemic advanced carbs like quinoa and brown rice – ideally after coaching. Excessive fats meals equivalent to eggs, avocado, and nuts will present vitality and fulfill starvation even in small quantities.
3. Do NOT work exhausting to take off the load. When it comes time to make weight, you need to be roughly the identical variety of kilos over you could safely lose in a single follow. In case you usually sweat off 4lbs every follow then your purpose ought to be to stroll round not more than 4lbs over by the tip of the week – however the secret’s to lose that final 4lbs by expending the LEAST quantity of vitality doable.
Answer: use low depth actions equivalent to biking and stance movement to sweat. I might advocate operating solely firstly to get your sweat going then proceed with decrease depth actions.
4. Do NOT gorge after weigh ins. As tempting as it may be, don’t pig out after making weight.
Answer: Rehydrate first – I like to recommend 32oz of Water with Max Effort Muscle Amino Restoration instantly – then soak up some easy carbs equivalent to a banana. 20minutes or so later deal with your self to a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and proceed to drink water.
5. Do NOT get behind the 8-ball. It is pure to have an enormous cheat meal(s) after competing and keep in mind that your physique goes to be a sponge after being dehydrated. Do not let that saturday night time bloat carry over into monday or tuesday.
Answer: the day after competing get an excellent sweat with some lengthy, sluggish, low depth energetic restoration. You may not really feel like using the bike for an hour the morning after your match title, however it is going to assist work out the soreness and do away with the bloat out of your victory feast – and make the following weight reduce that a lot simpler.
These are only a few ideas to ensure your weight reduce just isn’t a catastrophe. I might a lot somewhat see wrestlers eat wholesome, elevate heavy all season, and revel in wrestling!
Wish to study extra? Be part of my FREE weekly Wrestling Energy publication with all the newest coaching ideas and methods to take your efficiency to the following stage! I may even provide you with a coaching PDF with 8 of my hardest FINISHERS free of charge only for signing up! Be part of NOW
Take a look at my e-books and study the identical exercises I take advantage of with my elite wrestlers: Coach Myers Energy & Conditioning Applications
