T Nation

Cutting Weight for Meet

Powerlifting
#1

I weigh about 210 to 215 when I wake up. I need to be 205lbs for the meet. We have to weigh in at what we wrote down on the application or we can not compete. I need some help from people who have some experience. I have tried reading about it and so far all I have got is sweating it out or drinking tons of water before the meet and cutting it out the day before.

I have also had someone tell me about fasting a couple days before for a complete 24 hours on just water and tea. Any advice would be welcome. The meet is on sun sept 30 so i have got around 12 days .

#2

Oh and it is a 7am weigh in with lifting starting at 9

#3

Unless you are competing at worlds, you don’t have to make weight. It’s just so that the local meet director can kind of plan accordingly. I run the OPA site and post all the information for upcoming Ontario meets. If you have any concerns you can email me questions through the site at Ontariopowerlifting.org.

If this is your first meet, don’t stress about making weight. Just enjoy yourself. Don’t fast. If you want to make weight to get a qualfier then go for it. I can drop several pounds by hyper hydrating; drinking a couple of gallons of water a day a few days out and then shutting it down.

Have fun in North Bay.

#4

they may mean that you must lift in the divison you entered rather than the bodyweight you nominated, …so are you in the 100kgs or the 93kgs

#5

http://articles.elitefts.com/nutrition/bulk-cut-bloat-the-basic-science-of-weight-manipulation-and-powerlifting/

http://articles.elitefts.com/training-articles/powerlifting-articles/4-day-guide-how-to-cut-for-a-short-weigh-in/

My current method is loosely based off of Matt Kroc’s hot bath method. My weigh-ins are usually the day before the meet, at 7pm.

Sunday-Tuesday: 2 gallons of water, normal diet
Wednesday: 2 gallons water, cut out sodium and carbs
Thursday: Begin total fast (no food/water) somewhere around 12-4pm (this varies depending on how much I need to cut)
Friday: Continue fast until weigh-in. If I am ahead of schedule to make weight, I drink 8oz water every two hours, or more/less depending on exactly how close I am.
If I am behind, or if this is a big cut, I will begin dropping water weight by sitting in a tub filled with water as hot as I can stand for 30 minute intervals, with a 5 minute break, refilling the tub with fresh hot water whenever needed. I can lose at least 1.5lb/hour using this method.

Immediately after weighing in, I drink a gallon of 1:1 Powerade/water mix with a couple spoonfuls of salt mixed in, and I eat as much as I can. The point here is to replenish glycogen and water stores. Carbs and sodium are my friends here. During the meet, I drink either more Powerade/water mix, straight water, or Pedialyte. Pedialyte is also an excellent option post weigh-in.

Cutting water is no joke. You can die. Don’t be an idiot. You can put yourself through absolute hell during a big cut. Personally, I don’t cut anymore than 8 pounds for a meet. I know my body well enough from cutting for wrestling in high school (sweatsuits and starvation is fucking stupid, I’m glad I never was dumb enough to do that shit) and cutting for meets a few times that I can do this without harming my performance very much.

#6

Start really limiting your carbs now. Considering it is a weigh in on the day of the meet, you won’t have much of a chance to replenish. So you’ll want to cut as little as possible.

I follow a plan exactly like Black Angus above for 10-12 lb cuts. Also, I got a very good recommendation of rehydrating with lactose free low or non fat milk. It holds much better than pedialite, gatorade, etc. I thought it was crazy, but it actually worked out really well.

For those who cut, the cut is the easy part, getting the weight back is even more important.

#7

I pretty much followed what black angus wrote as well. Only thing is I didn’t start my fast quite as early, and I kept drinking water till around 12-14 hours out. Weighed in at 130 the night before, and the next morning I was back at 136.

#8

[quote]black_angus1 wrote:
http://articles.elitefts.com/nutrition/bulk-cut-bloat-the-basic-science-of-weight-manipulation-and-powerlifting/

http://articles.elitefts.com/training-articles/powerlifting-articles/4-day-guide-how-to-cut-for-a-short-weigh-in/

My current method is loosely based off of Matt Kroc’s hot bath method. My weigh-ins are usually the day before the meet, at 7pm.

Sunday-Tuesday: 2 gallons of water, normal diet
Wednesday: 2 gallons water, cut out sodium and carbs
Thursday: Begin total fast (no food/water) somewhere around 12-4pm (this varies depending on how much I need to cut)
Friday: Continue fast until weigh-in. If I am ahead of schedule to make weight, I drink 8oz water every two hours, or more/less depending on exactly how close I am.
If I am behind, or if this is a big cut, I will begin dropping water weight by sitting in a tub filled with water as hot as I can stand for 30 minute intervals, with a 5 minute break, refilling the tub with fresh hot water whenever needed. I can lose at least 1.5lb/hour using this method.

Immediately after weighing in, I drink a gallon of 1:1 Powerade/water mix with a couple spoonfuls of salt mixed in, and I eat as much as I can. The point here is to replenish glycogen and water stores. Carbs and sodium are my friends here. During the meet, I drink either more Powerade/water mix, straight water, or Pedialyte. Pedialyte is also an excellent option post weigh-in.

Cutting water is no joke. You can die. Don’t be an idiot. You can put yourself through absolute hell during a big cut. Personally, I don’t cut anymore than 8 pounds for a meet. I know my body well enough from cutting for wrestling in high school (sweatsuits and starvation is fucking stupid, I’m glad I never was dumb enough to do that shit) and cutting for meets a few times that I can do this without harming my performance very much.
[/quote]

Thanks for this, umm after drinking the mentioned mix or pedialyte along with some salt, would it be beneficial to eat a large meal or just keep drinking powerade