I am sure many of you have wondered how fighters can walk into the cage looking 20 pounds heavier than their weight class. Most fighters go through some form of cutting weight and many of them consider their method to be personal, private and even secretive.
Here is a behind the scenes article we came across at www.Chicagonow.com. We hope
6 weeks before the fight he starts to cut weight:
If he’s going to fight at 185lb, you might be surprised that he is normally 25-35 pounds heavier at this stage of his training. At his point, he is measuring on a scale the carbs in particular, and the amount of protein he will consume. He eats 6 times a day and enters into his journal his weight in the morning and evening along with his training details and all the food and water he consumes. As the weeks progress he systematically changes what he eats and the amount based on his weight change.
2 weeks before fight night:
He will drink 2 gallons of water a day, which in the course of losing weight, lowers the toll it takes on his body. Although he has had the most intense workouts between week 6 and 1 from fight night, this overall nutritional progression and hydration process prevents depletion of the muscle, which keeps strength and explosivity at its peak.
The last week:
On the Monday of fight week, he hopes to wake up at 200 pounds (his highest has been 204). In the morning, he will consume his last meal of starches. He will have a lighter MMA to also avoid risking possible injury and muscle soreness.
On the Tuesday of fight week he switches his nutrition from 6 small meals a day to 3 meals of 4oz of chicken breast and 4 oz of berries (appxr- 500-700 calories a day). This is usually a travel day for most fighters in the US – fighting in the US, so no training.
On the Wednesday of fight week he continues eating 3 meals of the 4oz of chicken and berries and does a workout that consists mostly of stretching, shadow boxing and footwork.
On the Thursday of fight week he hopes to wake up at 194 pounds. The goal for the day is to drop 5pounds. It is at this point, he drops his water intake down to 1 liter. Although he has eliminated the water on the Monday of fight week in the past, he has ended up with the same results, so now he decreases water on the Thursday so he does not spend a extra days dehydrated. The work for this day is critical. He wears a sauna suit while doing mitt work. He uses albolene on his body under the sauna suit to assist with increasing his body temperature quickly and sweating. By bedtime on Thursday he 189 pounds.
On the Friday of fight week, he has 4-5 pounds to lose. He does not eat or drink anything on this day. Weight-ins are at 4pm for most organizations. About 2 hours before check-in time, he sits in his sauna suit with the albolene or walks on the treadmill to drop the remaining weight. He walks out of the sauna suit onto the stage, weighs in and hydrates and then begins to replenish with food.
Please feel free to share any weight cutting tips or stories you might have.
