WHen should you cut weight?
Let me define my terms, when I say “cut” I'm not saying cutting water weight what I'm referring to is a body recomposition or losing body fat, I also want to say I'm not a dietitian nor do I claim to know everything there is to know about dieting. But I do have some degree of understanding of how the body performs and what it needs to perform optimally. Let's start off with the basics.
What are calories?
Calories are the amount of energy released when your body breaks down (digests and absorbs) food.
Now this is important because this is what our bodies use for fuel. I know this is very basic and may seem redundant but I promise I'll make my point soon enough.
What makes up a calorie? Three macronutrients
Protein
Carbs
Fats
Again all very basic and silly I know but stay with me. Each one of these macronutrients has a job to do when you're training at the extreme levels of a fight camp. Think of all of these macronutrients having some role in your overall recovery during the mesocycle of camp or in the microcycle of your day-to-day training sessions. If these are not being replenished we are shooting ourselves in the foot. It doesn't stop here, what is a Micronutrient? Micronutrients are vitamins and minerals needed by the body in very small amounts. Now these are all important because they help us in our day-to-day living, for example, calcium, this little micronutrient is responsible for muscle contraction. What contracts involuntarily all day every day? Our heart and I really don't need to get into how important calcium is, not only for fighting but also for our overall longevity. When we are in a caloric deficit it is impossible to cover all of these bases and get the most out of your body.
During camp the last thing you should be stressing about is weight. Now when I say that a lot of fighters and grapplers cringe because that’s all they think about. So for you guys reading this saying no way, give me just a few more minutes of your time. There needs to be a very systematic approach to camp and your fight career. If you need to lose 20 lbs in camp, that is a huge problem. The reason this is a problem is that everything is stated previously.
1. The purpose of camp is to get to peak performance.
2. You need all the calories possible to get you to peak performance. 3. You need all the macronutrients for energy and to rebuild the system. 4. You need all the micronutrients possible to ensure long-term health. “Then I'll just do the keto diet and lose 20 lbs because you don't need carbs for energy” You can do the keto diet and find success in losing weight, but you have to understand how you're losing the weight. Think of the extra weight as energy storage, so just in case you run out of fuel your body has something to call on for the energy expenditure. So what is literally happening is you are putting your body in a caloric deficit so that your body has to use the extra to keep you alive there is nothing left over to help with recovery. Your body doesn't care about what you look like in a speedo so it will take muscle mass as well as fat. And it's probably going to take much more muscle mass than you would want. I hear all the time it's because muscle is more dense, while this is true that's not really how your body looks at it, muscle mass is expensive as hell, and it requires a lot of nutrients to keep it, and that's why it's so damn hard to gain and maintain. So when you're in a cutting phase you will lose muscle mass as well as fat mass but when done properly you will maintain as much of that muscle as possible. It is also worth noting that sports like MMA or grappling make it very difficult to gain solid mass but gaining is for another blog post.
So how in the world would I recommend being able to focus on the task of peaking for a fight or grappling match? The most simple is, never get out of shape and don't fight so far away from your natural weight. Now this is the most unpopular of every method because fighters and grapplers like food and sometimes partying or taking a break from training. But it can be done, by choosing a balanced lifestyle. Now I'm not typing this with my hands in a yoga position speaking about balance. I'm talking about staying consistent in the gym all year round. We need to understand the importance of calories as it relates to recovery from training. To be clear, the way we lose weight is with a calorie deficit or hypocaloric, there is no other way to lose weight. It's not carbs or fat that made us fat Americans, it's too many calories. So the only way to combat this would be reverse engineering our weight gain with fewer calories. But this comes at a cost. When you're not eating and going through very intense practices you will without a doubt be under recovered. And for something like fighting and grappling recovery is everything. Without recovery you will hinder your ability to develop new skills, higher risk of injury, decreased immune system and the list goes on. Very simply put, recovery is king. So the reason it is best to stay in shape all year round is so we can eat at either isocaloric or hypercaloric. Studies have shown that with regard to recovery, eating hypercaloric will promote better recovery. So when in camp my recommendation is to be as close to your fighting weight as possible. If you're going to cut water weight make sure it's minimal. because the larger the weight cut the higher the risk of dehydration and if you’re not working with a weight cut specialist that has a rehydration protocol you are running the risk of at the very least a less than optimal performance and in the worst case scenario potential death. So weight cutting should be done with care. Weight-cut suggestions would be
24-hour weigh-in 5%
12-hour weigh-in 3%
2-hour weigh-in 2%
Mat-side weigh-in 1%
Another way is to have a weight loss phase when not in camp. What this means is getting super focused on your weight by regulating calories before camp starts. Let's say 8 weeks with a 2-week phase where we bring calories up to find a good baseline so that we are isocaloric or in a weight maintenance phase. The way this is done is by monitoring calories and macros. The purpose of doing this before camp is so that you create a new set weight. A set weight should be looked at as the weight we maintain without any dietary intervention. Like stated previously we should be focused on what is important, which is the fight in the fight camp not the fight with the scale. The most obvious downside is time. And my immediate response would be, to be more disciplined all year or fight at a heavier weight class. It is my recommendation that when we are looking to book a fight or do a major grappling competition agree to a weight class that is realistic for you and your body type.
I know this entire blog post is about cutting weight but, maybe you shouldn't cut weight at all. Maybe the real advice you need is to go up a weight class and put size and strength on to compete a little bigger. But I'll save that for another post. Thanks for taking the time to read my blog post. I hope you have a great day and stay on the mats!!!
