Weight cutting secrets - how do you do it?

[ThaiFighter_83]

Can anyone recommend any sites for cutting weight for MMA/fighting tournaments in general? I found one on google. Does this cover everything I need to know?

Cutting and making Weight for MMA, BJJ and grappling

[Ifight4Beer]

Originally Posted by Ian Coe
Right, so, with the abundance of 'how to I cut weight' threads abound recently, I have been asked to produce this thread, such that it may answer any and (if I'm really good, which I'm not) all questions regarding weight cutting.

I will split it down into 2 sections because there are 2 times when weight cutting comes into play (I will attempt to be short and sweet as well):

Weigh ins on the day-
One of the hardest things to do. You seriously don't want to be stripping water weight if your fighting in 4 hours, you'll be weak as a kitten (takes maybe 11 hours to full rehydrate, depending on how hard you went). Also the day before a fight (and the monring) you need to be eating high carbs meals, quite a few of them, to get you rearing to go on fight day.
Honestly, you want to walk around at maybe 4 or so pounds above your fighting weight, then you can train your arse off and cut a few calories leading up to the fight day. So if your fighting sat at 190lbs and at 10 days out your 194, cut some calories out (they say 500 cal a day and you'll loose a pound a week).
You want to ideally get to <188 on the thursday night so that you can eat some high carb foods on the thursday night and friday night (and sat morning) to replace glycogen.
Leading up to the fight, I personally cut out rice and bread. That usually helps me loose 4 lbs in a month. I'll also eat 4 meals a day:

breakfast being- either oats, a banana and honey with milk, or some museli.

lunch would be chicken (or any other lean meats), some nuts (cashews, peanuts), and as much kale, spinach and brocolli that i can stand (I'll often use some curry sauce or something with the chicken and have just enough to make the veg tasty....its a lot easier if you do this then have everything bland. I started off having just raw everything and grilled pieces of chicken, no sauce, nothing...it was hard not to vear off 'just this once' and have something bad for me)

dinner would be pretty much the same thing as lunch, but with some variation in veg composition (more kale, cabbage, spring onions, less broccoli and cauliflower)

I'd train about 3-4 hours after that. I didn't know about protein and carbs during training sessions at this point, but if I had done so I would have included some with BCAA's during training. I would always chug a 50g:30g (sometimes less) carb:protein drink straight after training.

When i got home I would often have some full fat milk and caesium based protein. Even though your cutting weight, having a treat like full fat milk (which i would have with the museli, and occasionally add some peanut butter...I train a lot btw) can keep you on the straight and narrow. Its a mental thing, like cheat days, but having pre determined cheat 'meals'





If weighing in the day before:
You have a lot to work with here.
Say your fighting on the sunday and your weigh in is at 2pm sat.
Depending on how experienced you are at it, you can cut down the food from wed, having much smaller meals, but having many more of them (in essence grazing, always feeling slightly hungry). You can go for a sweat run (in a sauna suite or numerous layers) on the thursday night, friday morning, a sauna friday night, and if your still over weight, sauna it up on the sat morning before the weigh in. If you don't have access to a sauna, a very hot bath for a hour and when you get out stay in the bath room (and put on a sauna suite or many layers again). You sweat like a monkey for about 20 minutes after you get out (and look very lobsteresk). During this 2 day period, sip water, don't down it. By friday night, you want to be sipping enough water to make you feel better, but not really satisfy you.
I also tend to wear maybe 4 layers up top and a pair of trousers and shorts when I go to bed. You'll loose 4-5 lbs over night doing that (I lost 6 because I was in a un air conditioned room in bangkok.....in June)


As soon as that weigh ins over, get some electrolytes in you (pedilyte is it, something to rehydrate you). Do not down it, sip it over the course of 20 minutes (say a litre or so). Nothing high GI if you can afford it. You want to slowly get your body back into the swing of things if you've been dieting hard. Start out with some porriage and milk (or water), some nuts and if your feeling good enough, a banana. Eat that then in about 30 minutes, get some oats in you, then 30 min after that, some whole wheat bread with some lean meats. After say 4 or so hours of grazing like that (with constant drinking of water and electrolyte solutions), its time to start eating full high carbs meals (rice, potatos, some veg).



I'll add stuff if I think its needed


I'm just really back from training, so need to eat now.

Any questions/comments, post them up and I'll answer them to the best of my knowledge and update this to include it.


edit- oh yeah, fish oil is pretty good at helping get rid of extra flab, but thats a side issue.
You should be taking fish oil as a matter of course anyway

Thats from the FAQ I think theirs more in there but I did't feel like reading through it all again

[andrewbc]

theres a weight cutting thread in the DnS faq

[Ifight4Beer]

Originally Posted by andrewbc

theres a weight cutting thread in the DnS faq

oh thats where I seen the weight cutting thread, I couldn't remember where it was

[ThaiFighter_83]

if i weigh 180 in the morning, before breakfast, how much should I weigh for a weigh in? I typically weigh 188 after eating a few meals throughout the day and drinking my normal amount of water. But after training and a night of sleep, I go back to 180.

[Ian Coe]

put down the folk!

[No-Gi-Fighter17]

im going to a competition this feb and i weight from 150 to 160 and the weight for the tournament is Meio Pesado (Medium Heavy): 147.1 to 169.0 pounds. would i have to lose any weight or no

[Steakeater]

say the weigh in is about an hour before the comp, should i just stick with almonds for that day, and then carbs after the weigh in?

[Hova_8118]

I walk around at about 185.

Grappling tourney last Saturday.

Made weight Friday at 169.9. Weighed in fight time at around 182.

Started cutting Monday after lunch. Went to the gym, whey PWO. Cut out all creatine.

Tuesday, went to all fruit, water, mostly liquids and PWO shakes.

Wednesday, same. Hard day of cardio and rolling.

Thursday, only enough water to keep me sane, two 100 cal granola bars during the day, little water to take in supplements. Slept in plastics.

Friday, nothing at all. No energy to run around? Sauna time, maybe an ice cube.

Made weight, rehydrated with water, gatorade, nuts, a chocolate bar, turkey, wheat bread. Next morning back to business.

[Quest4Glory]

Originally Posted by Hova_8118

I walk around at about 185.

Grappling tourney last Saturday.

Made weight Friday at 169.9. Weighed in fight time at around 182.

Started cutting Monday after lunch. Went to the gym, whey PWO. Cut out all creatine.

Tuesday, went to all fruit, water, mostly liquids and PWO shakes.

Wednesday, same. Hard day of cardio and rolling.

Thursday, only enough water to keep me sane, two 100 cal granola bars during the day, little water to take in supplements. Slept in plastics.

Friday, nothing at all. No energy to run around? Sauna time, maybe an ice cube.

Made weight, rehydrated with water, gatorade, nuts, a chocolate bar, turkey, wheat bread. Next morning back to business.

How lean a 185? Well regardless it's not like you cut fat really so I will have to give that a try cause I need to weight in 169 to fight 170 and i'm pretty lean at 185-190 right now will have to test run that.