Every competitor in any kind of combat sport, from boxing to wrestling to mixed martial arts will tell fans and friends that a large part of their sport is cutting weight. For those that aren’t aware, the process of cutting weight typically takes place in the last few days or up to a week before the competition and involves rapidly losing weight in order to fit into the right weight class. Many varying techniques are used to ensure that the fighter, boxer or wrestler tips the traditional scales or digital scale at exactly the right weight at which they’re supposed to compete. Weight cutting usually leads to extreme dehydration and isn’t good for the body so athletes must be very careful to only cut under the supervision of somebody who really knows what they’re doing and should always have somebody with them to help in case things get out of hand.
One thing that the athletes do a lot in order to lose weight quickly is to sit in a steam room. The sauna helps because the steam and high temperatures lead to heat, obviously, which results in intense sweating. This sweat, in addition to being the body’s way of trying to cool the person down, is water being released from the body and results in the loss of water weight. Human bodies are mainly made of water, and given that the athlete has probably been trying to keep well hydrated in the weeks prior to cutting weight they typically have lots of water weight to get rid of. This releasing of water weight can lead to drastic weight loss in a very small amount of time, with some combat athletes known to cut up to twenty pounds of water weight in a single day, and then rehydrating after weigh ins to regain strength.
Another, and perhaps clear, weight cutting strategy is to eat very little and drink very little water. Typically only done at the very last stages of weight cutting, dehydrating oneself obviously reduces the amount of water and food weight that makes its way into the body. But, the obvious con is that the body feels less strong when it isn’t being properly nourished, and therefore this strategy is used as more of a last resort than anything in terms of dropping the last few pounds. After being put on the scales, as with cutting water weight, athletes often times will gorge themselves on a huge meal the day or night before competition to regain strength lost in starving the few days prior.
One final strategy that people use to cut weight rapidly before a wrestling match, boxing match, or fight is to wear a special suit while working out that increases greatly the amount of sweat generated. Although these sweat suits are hard to come by and expensive, a trash bag can be substituted to help increase sweat during workouts.
As previously mentioned, cutting weight is a sometimes annoying and often times difficult part of combat sports and typically done to gain a size advantage over opposition that compete at the same weight class.
