(for sports with LONG intervals between weigh-in and competition):
For those athletes who have some time between weigh-in and competition
(i.e. 24 hours), using a proper weight-cutting (depletion) and
rehydration/recovery strategy can allow you to compete at a weight much
higher than the actual upper weight limit of your weight class. If you’ve ever
seen 2 athletes in the same weight class squaring off on competition day and
one looks at least 10-15 lbs bigger and stronger than the other, it’s likely the
bigger-looking athlete depleted himself for weigh-in, made the weight class,
and then used the 24 hours between weigh-in and competition to refill with
water, energy, and nutrients. This allowed him to weigh in at the upper limit of
his weight class (198lbs for example), yet weight as much as 210-215lbs during
competition. Of course, outweighing an opponent who’s equally well-trained
is a decided advantage. So here’s how to seize this advantage.

What To Do Leading Up To Weigh-In:
Water Intake, Salt Intake, and Dropping Water Weight
First, 5 days out from the weigh-in, begin drinking 2-3 gallons of
water a day and salting your food more than usual. Next, with 2
days out, begin cutting back on your water and salt. On this 2nd
day drink only 1 gallon of water and eat no extra salt
whatsoever. On the last day, drink no water at all until weigh in.
Also, eliminate both extra salt and stay away from salty foods.
The logic behind this manipulation is that the initial huge amount
of water and salt intake will stimulate the body to urinate often in
order to maintain an appropriate water balance. This is good as
you’ll soon be cutting back on your water intake and salt intake
dramatically – before your body has a chance to reduce urine
volume. What this means is that you get rid of more water than
you’re taking in and you’ll drop a significant amount of water
weight.
Herbal Diuretics and Dropping Water Weight
On the day you begin your excess water intake (5 days out from
the competition), begin to stimulate water loss by taking a mild
diuretic like dandelion root. Diuretics stimulate the kidneys to
excrete more water than normal, leading to body water losses.
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Since dandelion root is a natural, gentle diuretic that slowly
removes small amounts of water from the spaces outside of your
cells, it’s probably the safest diuretic, reducing water weight and
total body weight without side effects (as long as you start out
well-hydrated before taking it). Continue taking your herbal
diuretic until weigh-in.
Carbohydrate Intake and Weight
Beginning 5 days out from weigh-ins, cut back on carbohydrate
intake. Reduce the amount of fruits, complex carbohydrates,
and sugars in your diet while increasing your protein and fat
inake. As each gram of carbohydrate holds around 3-4 times its
weight in water, by reducing carbohydrate intake you can
reduce both the amount of carbohydrate weight in your body
as well as the amount of water weight in your body.
Fiber and GI Waste
As your GI tract can contain both feces and partially digested
food, you can typically lose a pound or two of non-functional
weight with the ingestion of extra fiber. Adding a tablespoon of
ground flax seeds to each of your feedings can increase your
fiber intake and stimulate defecation, expelling extra materials
from your GI tract. Start this 5 days out from weigh-in’s and use
up until you weigh-in.
Laxatives and GI Waste
If more GI waste needs to be cleared, the use of a mild laxative
can help. Several laxative tea mixtures are available to gently
stimulate your GI to expel feces and waste. Begin taking your
laxative about 2 days out from your weigh-in (when you start to
cut back on water intake). But be careful, use only mild
laxatives. The use of strong laxatives or the abuse of laxatives
can lead to a diarrhea that persists until competition day. So
stick with the fiber and if you’re still not regular, add in some
laxative teas.
What To Do After Weigh-In:
As this process leading to weigh-in will induce weight loss, nonlife
threatening dehydration, and a low energy state, as soon as
the weigh-in has been completed, it’s time to begin the process
of refueling and rehydrating.
Don’t make the mistake that many athletes do and begin to pig
out! Large feedings cause slow gastric emptying and this means
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you’ll ruin your chances of proper rehydration and refueling.
Instead of pigging out, here’s what to do.
First, stop your diuretic and laxative intake. Next, eat a small
amount of food every hour or two leading up to the
competition. Your feedings should consist of 8-10oz of fluid
(usually a glucose electrolyte beverage such as Gatorade is a
good choice and a better choice than water; Biotest Surge is
also a good choice and better than water). The electrolytes
and carbohydrates in these drinks accelerate rehydration and
carbohydrate storage. By doing this, you should be able to
replenish your water reserves by about 500ml-600ml (1.1lb) per
hour.
During this time, you should also have some complex
carbohydrates (such as a small baked potato or yam) and
protein (protein supplements, perhaps added to your glucose
electrolyte drink, or animal protein). These will help restore
energy status AND help your body hang onto that fluid you’re
giving it.
Continue this strategy until competition, having your last feeding
about 2 hours prior to competition. At this point, you should be
10-15lbs heavier with full muscles and lots of strength and
energy.
Step 4: Record and Evaluate
As with the outcome-based strategies discussed in Chapter 9, it’s critical to
experiment, measure, and adjust. Not everyone will respond the same way to
the strategies laid out above. So it’s critical that you follow the plan, measure
your outcomes, and adjust – if necessary.
And a dry run might also be necessary. Many of our athletes will actually
practice these weight manipulation techniques during the pre-season or
during less-important competitions; just to see how their bodies respond. This
way, if the response is unfavorable and they don’t compete well, they can
alter their strategy for next time, a time when it does matter. The last thing you
want to do is try out a weight manipulation strategy for the first time when
competing for a national championship!
In the end, in grappling sports, where body weight is a critical part of the
competition, it’s impossible to avoid concern about making weight. Some
health experts (doctors, nutritionists, etc) who don’t understand grappling
sports often suggest that all weight cutting strategies are bad and athletes
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should just compete at their natural body weight. While this is good health
advice, it doesn’t always fit the demands of the sport. After all, there are
times when a grappler simply needs to drop a bit of water (or other) weight
quickly for an event. Therefore, this chapter was designed to show you the
safest and most effective ways of doing so.