I Might Just Not Cut Weight Anymore

Melvin_Smiley · November 8, 2010, 12:18am

I’m not a terribly strong guy, especially by T-Nation standards, but two times in my life I’ve had opponents comment on how strong I felt. Both times I didn’t cut any weight, just showed up and weighed in. Once I weighed in at 197 for an MMA fight at 205, afterwards opponent said “I’m not saying you look wimpy or anything, but you are WAY stronger than you look.” Weighed in at 201 for a 208 limit in a BJJ tournament this weekend, guy who beat me in the finals said “Dude, you are strong as a MOTHERFUCKER!”

Before anyone thinks I’m just tooting my own horn, another time I cut to 170, came into the ring at about 182 to fight a 155 lber who couldn’t find an opponent and came in at 165. He beat the shit out of me haha

Point is, does anyone else just feel 10x better when they don’t cut? For me it makes such a difference that I’d rather go against bigger guys than to have to cut and compete with guys my size or smaller. It just doesn’t give me the advantage it does for other people.

(For clarity, I mean cutting water weight the day or two leading up to weigh ins, not dropping weight through diet and training.)

goldengloves · November 8, 2010, 2:37am

No, I’ve never had a problem with cutting the water weight. Are you getting Pedialyte and carbing up after the weigh in? I don’t know if you’re doing it but a lot of kids I work with[boxing] used to feel sluggish after weigh ins but it’s because they didn’t rehydrate or eat properly after them.

It just might be a weight you’re most comfortable at.

devildog_jim · November 8, 2010, 4:02am

If you are really beat after cutting you’re probably not managing your recovery well (Pedialyte FTW!). You may also have some luck if you cut a little body weight via fat loss, so that you don’t have to dehydrate as much. Not sure what your stats are now, so I don’t know if that’s an option. In the alternative, you could lift more, and bulk up to come down to 205 from 210 or so.

I started out coming down to 205, but I decided to cut a little further and go to 185. I’m around 200 these days when I’m fully hydrated, but I can cut to 185 for a weigh-in with little ill effect. I feel like it’s a real advantage, because there aren’t a lot of guys that walk into a 185 lb amateur fight at 6’2" 195+ (except former college wrestlers, those guys can usually cut like crazy). I was afraid my strength would suffer, but I’ve tried it a couple of times now and I’m ready to go 8 hours after I weigh in. As a bonus, if I take an IKF-rules fight I can just skip breakfast and weigh in at 195 lb cruiserweight.

Rodimus_Black · November 8, 2010, 8:06am

[quote]devildog_jim wrote:
If you are really beat after cutting you’re probably not managing your recovery well (Pedialyte FTW!). You may also have some luck if you cut a little body weight via fat loss, so that you don’t have to dehydrate as much. Not sure what your stats are now, so I don’t know if that’s an option. In the alternative, you could lift more, and bulk up to come down to 205 from 210 or so.

I started out coming down to 205, but I decided to cut a little further and go to 185. I’m around 200 these days when I’m fully hydrated, but I can cut to 185 for a weigh-in with little ill effect. I feel like it’s a real advantage, because there aren’t a lot of guys that walk into a 185 lb amateur fight at 6’2" 195+ (except former college wrestlers, those guys can usually cut like crazy). I was afraid my strength would suffer, but I’ve tried it a couple of times now and I’m ready to go 8 hours after I weigh in. As a bonus, if I take an IKF-rules fight I can just skip breakfast and weigh in at 195 lb cruiserweight.[/quote]

When I was actively competing, I started out at heavyweight, however, given my height (5’10), most true heavyweights were much taller and a bit larger. I didn’t want to have to deal with their weight, so I changed my diet and training regimen and began fighting at 205. I would cut from around 220 fairly easily. The only issue I had was that the weigh-ins were just two to three hours before the fights began.

That is a recipe for trouble, if you ask me. I couldn’t stand that concept. This was in Colorado. As I look to compete again, I’m again going for 205. I can hang with the big boys, but it just takes more effort. I’m lazy. Just my thoughts.
The pic is my first fight at 205.

Melvin_Smiley · November 8, 2010, 4:38pm

Yeah, I’m pretty experienced with cutting and re-hydrating, it might just be a mental thing. I’m kind of a little baby baby sometimes, so when I don’t worry about cutting I can relax and focus more. Like this weekend, sure I was giving up a couple pounds, but I felt great physically and mentally. That could be it.

Funny side note: It caught me off guard when the guy commented on my strength, so I mumbled out something like “Thanks, I uh, like… lift weights and stuff.” Dorkmaster haha

WhiteFlash · November 8, 2010, 5:06pm

[quote]Beast27195 wrote:

[quote]devildog_jim wrote:
If you are really beat after cutting you’re probably not managing your recovery well (Pedialyte FTW!). You may also have some luck if you cut a little body weight via fat loss, so that you don’t have to dehydrate as much. Not sure what your stats are now, so I don’t know if that’s an option. In the alternative, you could lift more, and bulk up to come down to 205 from 210 or so.

I started out coming down to 205, but I decided to cut a little further and go to 185. I’m around 200 these days when I’m fully hydrated, but I can cut to 185 for a weigh-in with little ill effect. I feel like it’s a real advantage, because there aren’t a lot of guys that walk into a 185 lb amateur fight at 6’2" 195+ (except former college wrestlers, those guys can usually cut like crazy). I was afraid my strength would suffer, but I’ve tried it a couple of times now and I’m ready to go 8 hours after I weigh in. As a bonus, if I take an IKF-rules fight I can just skip breakfast and weigh in at 195 lb cruiserweight.[/quote]

When I was actively competing, I started out at heavyweight, however, given my height (5’10), most true heavyweights were much taller and a bit larger. I didn’t want to have to deal with their weight, so I changed my diet and training regimen and began fighting at 205. I would cut from around 220 fairly easily. The only issue I had was that the weigh-ins were just two to three hours before the fights began.

That is a recipe for trouble, if you ask me. I couldn’t stand that concept. This was in Colorado. As I look to compete again, I’m again going for 205. I can hang with the big boys, but it just takes more effort. I’m lazy. Just my thoughts.
The pic is my first fight at 205.[/quote]

Did you win?

devildog_jim · November 8, 2010, 5:37pm

[quote]Melvin Smiley wrote:
Yeah, I’m pretty experienced with cutting and re-hydrating, it might just be a mental thing. I’m kind of a little baby baby sometimes, so when I don’t worry about cutting I can relax and focus more. Like this weekend, sure I was giving up a couple pounds, but I felt great physically and mentally. That could be it.

Funny side note: It caught me off guard when the guy commented on my strength, so I mumbled out something like “Thanks, I uh, like… lift weights and stuff.” Dorkmaster haha[/quote]

Looking at your profile, you’re 6’4". That’s plenty of frame to hold 205 lbs, you should be fine fighting at that weight. I’d try to get even bigger/stronger, then cut from a little over 205 rather than coming up from 197 or so and giving up 10 lbs on fight day. No reason not to capitalize on your advantage by making it even more pronounced, right?

Melvin_Smiley · November 8, 2010, 6:18pm

[quote]devildog_jim wrote:

Looking at your profile, you’re 6’4". That’s plenty of frame to hold 205 lbs, you should be fine fighting at that weight. I’d try to get even bigger/stronger, then cut from a little over 205 rather than coming up from 197 or so and giving up 10 lbs on fight day. No reason not to capitalize on your advantage by making it even more pronounced, right?[/quote]

That’s pretty much the plan. I was up around 215 this summer and felt really good, then I got into running a lot (lots of hot girls run) and dropped about 20 pounds. But that would be a real good weight for me I think.

cycobushmaster · November 8, 2010, 7:01pm

[quote]Melvin Smiley wrote:
I’m not a terribly strong guy, especially by T-Nation standards, but two times in my life I’ve had opponents comment on how strong I felt. Both times I didn’t cut any weight, just showed up and weighed in. Once I weighed in at 197 for an MMA fight at 205, afterwards opponent said “I’m not saying you look wimpy or anything, but you are WAY stronger than you look.” Weighed in at 201 for a 208 limit in a BJJ tournament this weekend, guy who beat me in the finals said “Dude, you are strong as a MOTHERFUCKER!”

Before anyone thinks I’m just tooting my own horn, another time I cut to 170, came into the ring at about 182 to fight a 155 lber who couldn’t find an opponent and came in at 165. He beat the shit out of me haha

Point is, does anyone else just feel 10x better when they don’t cut? For me it makes such a difference that I’d rather go against bigger guys than to have to cut and compete with guys my size or smaller. It just doesn’t give me the advantage it does for other people.

(For clarity, I mean cutting water weight the day or two leading up to weigh ins, not dropping weight through diet and training.)[/quote]

well, some of the numbers people put up here are also a) posted on the internet and b) some guys here might be a lot stronger from a weightlifting perspective, but not have that weird fighter strength. an example of this, is i was rolling this morning and a guy mentioned how good my throws were…my throws really aren;t that great, but i’ve always done a stuff to develop rotational strength, so i think that’s why i’m able to throw better than most people.

heavythrower · November 9, 2010, 7:11pm

well, some of the numbers people put up here are also a) posted on the internet and b) some guys here might be a lot stronger from a weightlifting perspective, but not have that weird fighter strength. an example of this, is i was rolling this morning and a guy mentioned how good my throws were…my throws really aren;t that great, but i’ve always done a stuff to develop rotational strength, so i think that’s why i’m able to throw better than most people.

[/quote]

THIS

I was always a pretty strong guy. in my 20’s, i was a respectable s a competitive strength athlete, throwing, Olympic lifting and powerlifting. A couple of buds of mine that i lifted with were really good high school wrestlers, one went on to be a decent college wrestler.

just goofing around we would tangle a bit, and i am not just talking technique, but they gad this weird “grappling” strength that just shocked me. one of the guys could hurt me just by grabbing me by my wrist with one of his hands and the other hand behind my head, and i could not get away from him, he basically made me go wherever he wanted. pretty humbling.

both these guys would have been CRUSHED if they had tried getting under the weights i was lifting at the time.

if you get the chance, google the episode of pros verses joe’s where randy couture was grappling with these average gym rat weekend warriors. he was any bigger than they were, and of course his technique is world class, but you could just tell that he was SO much stronger than those guys on the mat, maybe not so much under a hammer chest press machine, but on the mat, it was a man against small children.

cycobushmaster · November 9, 2010, 9:44pm

also, i forgot to attach this thread before…i asked a while back for some weight cutting advice, so there’s some good info in here: Cutting Weight - Combat - Forums - T Nation

kmcnyc · November 10, 2010, 4:12am

the knee jerk institutionalized wrestling part of my brain
says to man up.

that you need to suck it up and just do you cut.

The more rational side tells me that if you can be competitive at close to your natural weight
if your body comp and conditioning are good then you should cut as little as possible.

Really at a certain level of competition - you may very well need to cut- to stay competitive

cutting is an emotional topic for me I feel like a female gymnast sometimes,

squeaky voice and all
that I exhausted my limited resources before I could perform well

Getting on a scale 3 times a day
kind of fucks with your head.

I have spoke on this before- so I will summarize
I cut 12 to 15 lbs - while weighing les then 150 2x a week that is just what we did.

weighing 140 and competing at 125 and 118.5 isn’t healthy.
and promotes injuries.

I did not shave til 22 or 23
did not go through puberty properly
had some liver and kidney damage from hydration issues

and I shorted myself a few inches in height from being malnourished
got allot of recurring concusions - those also have to do with hydration
and I passed out once in a match- from cutting too much.

I performed the best when I did not cut-
no pressure-
and felt healthier and did not get injured as much-

the cutting or not cutting is case by case basis-
in the big show things like UFC - all of the fighters who do not cut
are undersized for their respective weights
and eventually it becomes an issue.

really the drama with cutting is just something you have to endure-
I always think things that are unpleasant- particularly training type shit

is stuff you have to get good at- soley for the purpose of
making the discomfort be as short as possible.

Rodimus_Black · November 10, 2010, 8:26am

[quote]WhiteFlash wrote:

[quote]Beast27195 wrote:

[quote]devildog_jim wrote:
If you are really beat after cutting you’re probably not managing your recovery well (Pedialyte FTW!). You may also have some luck if you cut a little body weight via fat loss, so that you don’t have to dehydrate as much. Not sure what your stats are now, so I don’t know if that’s an option. In the alternative, you could lift more, and bulk up to come down to 205 from 210 or so.

I started out coming down to 205, but I decided to cut a little further and go to 185. I’m around 200 these days when I’m fully hydrated, but I can cut to 185 for a weigh-in with little ill effect. I feel like it’s a real advantage, because there aren’t a lot of guys that walk into a 185 lb amateur fight at 6’2" 195+ (except former college wrestlers, those guys can usually cut like crazy). I was afraid my strength would suffer, but I’ve tried it a couple of times now and I’m ready to go 8 hours after I weigh in. As a bonus, if I take an IKF-rules fight I can just skip breakfast and weigh in at 195 lb cruiserweight.[/quote]

When I was actively competing, I started out at heavyweight, however, given my height (5’10), most true heavyweights were much taller and a bit larger. I didn’t want to have to deal with their weight, so I changed my diet and training regimen and began fighting at 205. I would cut from around 220 fairly easily. The only issue I had was that the weigh-ins were just two to three hours before the fights began.

That is a recipe for trouble, if you ask me. I couldn’t stand that concept. This was in Colorado. As I look to compete again, I’m again going for 205. I can hang with the big boys, but it just takes more effort. I’m lazy. Just my thoughts.
The pic is my first fight at 205.[/quote]

Did you win?[/quote]

…

Rodimus_Black · November 10, 2010, 8:28am

[quote]WhiteFlash wrote:

[quote]Beast27195 wrote:

[quote]devildog_jim wrote:
If you are really beat after cutting you’re probably not managing your recovery well (Pedialyte FTW!). You may also have some luck if you cut a little body weight via fat loss, so that you don’t have to dehydrate as much. Not sure what your stats are now, so I don’t know if that’s an option. In the alternative, you could lift more, and bulk up to come down to 205 from 210 or so.

I started out coming down to 205, but I decided to cut a little further and go to 185. I’m around 200 these days when I’m fully hydrated, but I can cut to 185 for a weigh-in with little ill effect. I feel like it’s a real advantage, because there aren’t a lot of guys that walk into a 185 lb amateur fight at 6’2" 195+ (except former college wrestlers, those guys can usually cut like crazy). I was afraid my strength would suffer, but I’ve tried it a couple of times now and I’m ready to go 8 hours after I weigh in. As a bonus, if I take an IKF-rules fight I can just skip breakfast and weigh in at 195 lb cruiserweight.[/quote]

When I was actively competing, I started out at heavyweight, however, given my height (5’10), most true heavyweights were much taller and a bit larger. I didn’t want to have to deal with their weight, so I changed my diet and training regimen and began fighting at 205. I would cut from around 220 fairly easily. The only issue I had was that the weigh-ins were just two to three hours before the fights began.

That is a recipe for trouble, if you ask me. I couldn’t stand that concept. This was in Colorado. As I look to compete again, I’m again going for 205. I can hang with the big boys, but it just takes more effort. I’m lazy. Just my thoughts.
The pic is my first fight at 205.[/quote]

Did you win?[/quote]

Yes I did.

sardines12 · November 10, 2010, 8:08pm

[quote]kmcnyc wrote:
the knee jerk institutionalized wrestling part of my brain
says to man up.