Anyone cutting weight for MMA or other athletic competitions?

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akatdrake
akatdrake Posts: 18 Member
in Introduce Yourself
I have about five weeks until my second amateur MMA fight, but have found this cut to be more difficult than the last. I have only about 9-10 lbs to go, but was wondering if anyone had particular strategies they use.

Up until 12 weeks out, I'm lifting full-body routines using about 60-70% one-rep max, training moderate and eating the normal 40% protein, 40% carbs, 20% fat.

Less than 12 weeks out, I will stop the lifting, up the training intensity. Drop the carbs drastically so my splits are 50/10/40. I will also not allow myself any food prior to two hours before sleep, so I get a few days of intermittent fasting involved. Sugars and alcohol limited to very rare occasions.

I look forward to a great discussion!

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  • akatdrake
    akatdrake Posts: 18 Member
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    I don't believe I will have any issues losing the weight. I am just looking for suggestions on what other folks do. I have been successful in losing the weight over my fight-camp. I'm 34 and really don't want to rely on a rough water de-load the week of the fight (I get super irritable haha).
  • EllaTaneva
    EllaTaneva Posts: 6 Member
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    HEY there!I am currently prepping for a semimarathon in 8 weeks. Have to drop maybe 6 pounds.
  • akatdrake
    akatdrake Posts: 18 Member
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    Good luck! What is a semi-marathon? Like a half? How do you plan on losing the weight?
  • akatdrake
    akatdrake Posts: 18 Member
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    Down to 7.5 lbs to go, with four weeks to go!
  • butler879
    butler879 Posts: 64 Member
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    A buddy and I had to cut weight once for a team cross fit competition where body weight was factored into scoring. The weigh in was the evening before the comp. Four days out we started consuming 2 gallons of water a day for the first two days. Third day was 1.5 gallons and stopped all food and water activity at 5:00pm Roughly 24 hours before weigh in. The night of the weigh in I weighed in at 187. After eating and drinking that night morning I was back to 200. The last 24 hours was the worst... but at least it didnt feel like we were draining our self for the whole week leading up to it. You just have to pee almost every half our drinking that water. When you stop drinking the water it tricks your body and that last day you continue to flush and without replenishment you cut weight. I read the process on an MMA forum
  • mathewhegan
    mathewhegan Posts: 1 Member
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    with a 24 hour weigh in cutting 5lbs of water is beyond easy with a super simple 5 day water de load....im 39 and easily drop at least 5lbs with morning-of weigh ins for grappling tournaments where there are several matches in a day.....also, for my last tournament i switched my entire eating protocols to IF following the Discipline Diet eating before bed only and fasting through the day...results have been AMAZING...not to mention the energy level during training is much higher and cleaner while training in a fasted state.....ive even been able to totally cut out caffeine which i thought would never happen...
  • akatdrake
    akatdrake Posts: 18 Member
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    butler879 wrote: »
    A buddy and I had to cut weight once for a team cross fit competition where body weight was factored into scoring. The weigh in was the evening before the comp. Four days out we started consuming 2 gallons of water a day for the first two days. Third day was 1.5 gallons and stopped all food and water activity at 5:00pm Roughly 24 hours before weigh in. The night of the weigh in I weighed in at 187. After eating and drinking that night morning I was back to 200. The last 24 hours was the worst... but at least it didnt feel like we were draining our self for the whole week leading up to it. You just have to pee almost every half our drinking that water. When you stop drinking the water it tricks your body and that last day you continue to flush and without replenishment you cut weight. I read the process on an MMA forum

    Thanks for that! I have actually read that before. About six months prior to my first MMA fight, I did a mock-water deload as described above and lost 11 lbs. It was hell on my body for that week and I had no stamina to lift, train, etc. I did a mock fight/sparring session after, to simulate energy level for the actual fight, and it was awful. I made the decision to lose the weight slowly over time. It appears though while I'm only 7.5 lbs away, I may need to incorporate a water deload this time... sigh... haha! Thanks Butler879!
  • akatdrake
    akatdrake Posts: 18 Member
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    mathewhegan wrote: »
    with a 24 hour weigh in cutting 5lbs of water is beyond easy with a super simple 5 day water de load....im 39 and easily drop at least 5lbs with morning-of weigh ins for grappling tournaments where there are several matches in a day.....also, for my last tournament i switched my entire eating protocols to IF following the Discipline Diet eating before bed only and fasting through the day...results have been AMAZING...not to mention the energy level during training is much higher and cleaner while training in a fasted state.....ive even been able to totally cut out caffeine which i thought would never happen...

    Mathewhegan, is Discipline Diet a name for a program or are you just saying to be disciplined while dieting? What benefits do you find eating before bed? I've always heard eating before bed isn't good because your metabolism slows during sleep and you end up retaining/storing more nutrients rather than burning them off?
  • JustRobby1
    JustRobby1 Posts: 674 Member
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    I am running my first half marathon on September 24th, and have been training for it the last 2 and a half months. Have I lost weight during this process? Yup, but to be honest the weight has fallen off of me like crazy since I got into distance running just in general. The amount of calories burned are such that I would have to eat like a glutton to gain weight.
  • akatdrake
    akatdrake Posts: 18 Member
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    Good luck on your half JustRobby1!! I've done one as a bucket list item, nearly 8 years ago. They're "fun" but not my dig.

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