I just did a water cut this week and missed my weight. I started out with a normal weight range around 168-172 and weighed in this morning at 164.4 instead of 162.8 (74kg) so I missed the mark by 1.6 lbs. I’m only testing my maxes later today and wanted to see what weight I would end up at without having to sweat or overheat my body. It’s technically a 10-12 hour weigh-in but I have to lift today since I plan to go on a tough hike tomorrow.
This was how much water I drank: 5 days out- 6L, 4 days out- 8L, 3 days out- 10L, 2 days out- 10L, 1 day out- 1L. I only had small protein shakes, almonds and chicken the day before to keep the food weight down (~1600 cals). At 30 hours out I weighed 170.4, 24 hours out I weighed 168.8, 12 hours out I weighed 166.8 and 9 hours out I weighed 165.8. About 90 mins after weighing in I was able to take a dump and probably lost .5-1.0 lbs so next time I’ll get up 2 hours early to go for a walk to get my bowel movement going. I don’t know if it was easier because I was hydrated.
Next time I’ll do the following things: 1) Start at around 168-169 average weight by cutting some fat (I’m probably around 12% body fat), 2) Cut sodium 2-3 days out instead of only 1 day out, 3) Drink lemon juice as a diuretic on the last day out, and 4) Wake up 1-2 hours early to go for a walk to stimulate bowel movement.
If this water cut affects my strength more than I expect, I’ll probably move up to the 83kg class sooner rather than later but want to take a shot at the state record (2 hr weigh-in). Besides the above, anyone have tips that can make the water cut easy?
Man, you were so close! I know you don’t want to have to sweat it out, but we’re talking about the last half pound!
Next time, maybe drink more water 5 and 4 days out. Really get things flowing.
This next tip is for adults only. Its not to be abused.
Wrap some saran wrap around your mid section or hips when you go on your pre-weigh in walk. Extreme dehydration is dangerous, but 20 minutes of extra sweating out of your belly or backside won’t kill you.
[quote]FlatsFarmer wrote:
Man, you were so close! I know you don’t want to have to sweat it out, but we’re talking about the last half pound!
Next time, maybe drink more water 5 and 4 days out. Really get things flowing.
This next tip is for adults only. Its not to be abused.
Wrap some saran wrap around your mid section or hips when you go on your pre-weigh in walk. Extreme dehydration is dangerous, but 20 minutes of extra sweating out of your belly or backside won’t kill you.
[/quote]
Thanks for the tips. I found a lot of different methods for water loading and next time I’ll go with more water early on like you suggested. I’ll definitely try out the saran wrap if I need to sweat it out. I just wanted to use this as a baseline since it’s not a real meet.
Exactly, there is no sense in getting extreme for your practice weigh in!
You’re right there, so you don’t need to do anything radical right before you break the state record! Run your 5 day plan again, and you’ll probably make weight no problem.
Practice makes perfect, so the trial run was a good idea.
But just in case, bring your hooded sweatshirt and trash bag to the real weigh in.
Have used this multiple times cutting a very easy 15lbs with out a sauna with sauna cut 32 from 230 to 198. This is with a 24 hour weigh in. If you have less than 10lbs to cut do not use the lasixs.
7 days out: All dairy products stop protein shakes ok if needed but cut them if you can. All red meat stops as well takes too long to digest do not want it sitting at all. Sodium load at least 3g. Carbs normal. Water Intake at least 1 gallon. Limit Caffeine if you can.
6 days out: Same as above water bumps to 1.5g.
5 days out: Same as above take Milk of magnesia before bed.
4 days out: Carbs cut to 100g water bumped to as close to 2 gallons as possible.
3 days out: Carbs Cut to 50g basically nothing but vegetables and chicken and fish at this point. Water consume as much as physically possible 2 gallons at least. Sodium cut as low as possible. Take potassium tabs before bed to keep from cramping next day.
2 days out: This day will vary depending on how close you are to weight. Basically eat some eggs and coffee in the morning and water stops 24 hours out of weigh ins. Food can be consumed if you are close enough to weight basically stand on the scale and see if you are overweight with the food in your hands donâ??t eat it. Lasik 10-20mg every 6 hours until weight is made. Take Potassium with each Lasikâ??s to help keep cramps at bay. This day will vary in how aggressive you really have to be. The closer you are the easier the day obviously. You need be within a pound before you go to bed. You may need to use a sauna or make shift hot bath if still way off. As long as you are with in 10-15 pounds you may not even need the sauna and if you do should only be for a few pounds.
Day of weigh in: The second you step off the scale you need to begin drinking a fluid mixture of 1:1:1 water, Pedilyte, and Gatorade. You will need to consume roughly a gallon of this mixture for every 6 pounds you cut. Throughout the day focus on high carb, moderate fat, low protein meals. Close to 750g of carbs should be consumed counting the sugar in the fluid mind you. May seem somewhat high but I aim for 1000g of carbs.
[quote]Reed wrote:
Have used this multiple times cutting a very easy 15lbs with out a sauna with sauna cut 32 from 230 to 198. This is with a 24 hour weigh in. If you have less than 10lbs to cut do not use the lasixs.
7 days out: All dairy products stop protein shakes ok if needed but cut them if you can. All red meat stops as well takes too long to digest do not want it sitting at all. Sodium load at least 3g. Carbs normal. Water Intake at least 1 gallon. Limit Caffeine if you can.
6 days out: Same as above water bumps to 1.5g.
5 days out: Same as above take Milk of magnesia before bed.
4 days out: Carbs cut to 100g water bumped to as close to 2 gallons as possible.
3 days out: Carbs Cut to 50g basically nothing but vegetables and chicken and fish at this point. Water consume as much as physically possible 2 gallons at least. Sodium cut as low as possible. Take potassium tabs before bed to keep from cramping next day.
2 days out: This day will vary depending on how close you are to weight. Basically eat some eggs and coffee in the morning and water stops 24 hours out of weigh ins. Food can be consumed if you are close enough to weight basically stand on the scale and see if you are overweight with the food in your hands donâ??t eat it. Lasik 10-20mg every 6 hours until weight is made. Take Potassium with each Lasikâ??s to help keep cramps at bay. This day will vary in how aggressive you really have to be. The closer you are the easier the day obviously. You need be within a pound before you go to bed. You may need to use a sauna or make shift hot bath if still way off. As long as you are with in 10-15 pounds you may not even need the sauna and if you do should only be for a few pounds.
Day of weigh in: The second you step off the scale you need to begin drinking a fluid mixture of 1:1:1 water, Pedilyte, and Gatorade. You will need to consume roughly a gallon of this mixture for every 6 pounds you cut. Throughout the day focus on high carb, moderate fat, low protein meals. Close to 750g of carbs should be consumed counting the sugar in the fluid mind you. May seem somewhat high but I aim for 1000g of carbs.[/quote]
Thanks for all the info! I think I would’ve made weight the first time if I followed this. The dairy, sodium and carb cut and potassium addition should make a noticeable difference.
Missed the squat PR last Friday. The weight didn’t even feel that heavy but I had no drive at all. It felt like none of the fluid weight stuck since I weighed in at 168 and I normally weigh at least 170 when training. I thought about how much carbs I had and it was only half of what Reed mentioned. I had only about 48 oz in sports drink and the rest was water. Next time I’ll get some gatorade mix and drink at least a gallon to keep chugging throughout the day (at least 1.5 gallons if I have 10+ hours until lifting). I’m going to cut back some more on volume work from one week out too. This must have been the same problem I had when doing the meet last year so it’s good to know how to improve.