Weight Cutting in Combat Sports

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Weight cutting is an integral part of combat sports such as boxing, wrestling, MMA, taekwondo, judo, etc. This is a consequence of the rules of these sports, which divide athletes into weight classes to ensure fairer matchups between individuals of similar size.

Regardless of differences between sports, the idea and practice of weight reduction are the same: athletes aim to reach a weight lower than their usual one, in order to enter a lower weight class and gain a competitive advantage over lighter opponents. However, such an advantage is not always clear, and with extreme methods, athletes may end up doing more harm than good.

At the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympic Games, winners in combat sports earned 53 out of 306 total gold medals awarded. Clearly, the number of athletes engaged in this potentially harmful practice for both performance and health is high, and many would benefit from quality guidance and advice.

Achieving minimum weight

To gain a competitive edge over lighter opponents, combat sports athletes engage in chronic and acute body weight manipulation. Chronic manipulation refers to a period of several weeks or even months before competition, during which body fat is reduced. Acute manipulation covers the period from a week to a day before the competition, or more precisely, before the official weigh-in. While both approaches can impact performance, the potential negative effects of the latter are significantly greater.

The time gap between weigh-in and the actual competition ranges from 3 to 36 hours, depending on the sport and the specific event. These differences lead to varying weight manipulation strategies.

Rapid weight loss is primarily achieved through dehydration and glycogen depletion. Dehydration is induced using various techniques: fluid restriction, diuretics, laxatives, sweat suits (sauna suits), hot baths, etc. Glycogen levels are reduced by fasting or a low-carbohydrate diet combined with increased training volume (1). According to one study, 100% of MMA athletes either fast completely or follow a low-carb diet three to five days before the weigh-in (2).

The more aggressive the strategy, the higher the risk of health impairment, performance reduction, and injury.

Advantages, disadvantages, and risks

Research results regarding the effect of this practice on competitive success are inconclusive (3–6). Studies that allowed athletes sufficient time to rehydrate and replenish glycogen between weigh-in and competition did not show negative effects in specific performance tests (7). On average, winners tend to regain more weight than losers (8). This could be due to inadequate nutritional strategies between weigh-in and the fight, or it may support the idea that weight minimization offers a competitive edge.

From the athlete’s perspective, having more body mass provides more than just a physical advantage over a lighter opponent. Many athletes derive a sense of identity from the weight-cutting process (9), gaining psychological benefits along the way.

However, the health risks are serious.

In 1997, three American wrestlers died during weight cutting due to food and fluid restriction, use of sweat suits, and intense exercise in hot and humid conditions (10).

In 2013, Brazilian MMA fighter Leandro Souza died in a sauna while trying to lose 15 kg (20% of his body weight) in just 7 days (11).

Such dehydration practices, including the use of diuretics, have led many elite athletes to hospitalization and even to withdrawing from competition due to kidney problems (12).

Severe dehydration reduces plasma blood volume, resulting in decreased stroke volume and increased heart rate, disrupted renal blood flow, and electrolyte imbalance. These changes make athletes more susceptible to heat stroke and muscle cramps (13).

Intense restriction of food and fluids leads to a reduced basal metabolic rate, lowered testosterone levels, hypercholesterolemia, hypernatremia, and acute kidney injury (14).

Side effects such as fatigue, weakness, dizziness, nausea, headaches, cramps, anxiety, disorientation, and nosebleeds are not uncommon even with moderate dehydration of just 5% of body weight (15).

Psychological factors play a key role in combat sports (16). Extreme weight cutting can negatively affect an athlete’s mental state (17), leading to confusion and mood disturbances (18).

The more extreme the weight-cutting practices, the more dangerous they are, both to health and to in-ring performance. A particularly vulnerable group includes children and adolescents, who are not exempt from these practices, which can have long-term negative effects on their growth and development.

Although there is no solid evidence that weight-cutting improves performance, it is unrealistic to expect fighters to abandon the practice; the pressure is simply too great. However, what every fighter and coach must understand is that performance is primarily influenced by the quality and safety of both the weight reduction process and the subsequent weight regain.

Safe weight cutting

What are the alternatives?

Ideally, athletes would compete at their natural body weight, ensuring maximum physical and psychological readiness and optimal performance. However, it is unrealistic to expect athletes to give up rapid weight loss, especially when doing so might put them at a disadvantage against heavier opponents. Given this, in order to optimize performance while protecting health, a balance must be struck between competitive advantage and athlete safety.

To begin with, maintaining a reasonable body weight and body fat percentage throughout the season is crucial to avoid the need for extreme weight-cutting measures.

An acceptable weight loss in the final seven days before competition refers to a reduction of up to 5–8% of normal body weight (19). For an 80 kg athlete, this could mean losing 4–6 kg.

Safe weight-cutting involves minimizing glycogen stores, consuming a low-fiber diet, moderate dehydration through fluid and salt restriction, and using laxatives (19).

Safe weight-cutting does not include the use of sauna suits for excessive sweating, the use of diuretics, or self-induced vomiting.

It should be noted that weight fluctuations and individual responses to them vary greatly, so these numbers should not be taken as absolute.

Optimal weight replenishment

The benefits of weight-cutting can only be realized if the compensation during the period between weigh-in and the fight is executed properly. There are three main objectives during this phase: rehydration, glycogen replenishment, and avoiding gastrointestinal issues during the fight.

Optimal weight replenishment does not involve unrestricted overeating, but rather controlled intake of mainly carbohydrate-based foods low in fat and fiber. It is also important not to restrict salt intake to ensure proper fluid retention. Fluid intake can be much more liberal, except in the 2–3 hours before the fight, to allow the body enough time to excrete the excess.

The call for rule changes

It is not unheard of for a fighter to enter a match three weight classes above their official weigh-in weight. One documented case involved an individual gaining 13 kg in the 32 hours between weigh-in and fight, or about 20% of his body weight (20). Such cases undermine the rationale of weight categories and call into question the spirit of the sport (21).

But the problem extends beyond sportsmanship. Despite repeated warnings from the medical community about health risks, the practice of rapid weight loss remains widespread among athletes. Children and adolescents are especially vulnerable, and the use of such methods can compromise normal growth and development.

Several proposals have been made to protect athletes’ health and ensure more realistic and fair competition. Most of these proposals are based on shortening or eliminating the time gap between weigh-in and competition, and include mandatory hydration tests, setting a competition weight from which the athlete cannot significantly deviate, and so on (22).

Until such proposals are adopted and implemented, it is essential that the processes of weight-cutting and weight-replenishment are carried out under the supervision of qualified professionals, such as nutritionists, in order to protect the health and performance of athletes.

References

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  2. Mountjoy M, Sundgot-Borgen J, Burke L, et al. The IOC consensus statement: Beyond the Female Athlete Triad-Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport (RED-S). Br J Sports Med. 2014;48(7):491-497. doi:10.1136/bjsports-2014-093502
  3. Kazemi M, Rahman A, De Ciantis M. Weight cycling in adolescent Taekwondo athletes. J Can Chiropr Assoc. 2011;55(4):318-324. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22131569. Accessed February 9, 2019.
  4. Wroble RR, Moxley DP. Weight loss patterns and success rates in high school wrestlers. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 1998;30(4):625-628. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9565946. Accessed February 9, 2019.
  5. Wroble RR, Moxley DP. Acute weight gain and its relationship to success in high school wrestlers. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 1998;30(6):949-951. doi:10.1097/00005768-199806000-00026
  6. Horswill CA, Scott JR, Dick RW, Hayes J. Influence of rapid weight gain after the weigh-in on success in collegiate wrestlers. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 1994;26(10):1290-1294. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/7799774. Accessed February 9, 2019.
  7. Artioli GG, Iglesias RT, Franchini E, et al. Rapid weight loss followed by recovery time does not affect judo-related performance. J Sports Sci. 2010;28(1):21-32. doi:10.1080/02640410903428574
  8. Coswig VS, Miarka B, Pires DA, da Silva LM, Bartel C, Del Vecchio FB. Weight Regain, But Not Weight Loss, Is Related to Competitive Success in Real-life Mixed Martial Arts Competition. Int J Sport Nutr Exerc Metab. September 2018:1-26. doi:10.1080/10408398.2015.1117412
  9. Pettersson S, Ekström MP, Berg CM. Practices of weight regulation among elite athletes in combat sports: A matter of mental advantage? J Athl Train. 2013;48(1):99-108. doi:10.4085/1062-6050-48.1.04
  10. Hyperthermia and Dehydration-Related Deaths-Continued.; 1998. https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/PDF/wk/mm4706.pdf. Accessed February 9, 2019.
  11. Leandro Souza reportedly took diuretic pills before Shooto weigh-ins – MMA Fighting. https://www.mmafighting.com/2013/9/28/4780878/leandro-souza-took-diuretic-pills-before-shooto-weigh-ins. Accessed February 13, 2019.
  12. Combat Sports Law. Documenting The Tolls of Rapid Extreme Weight Cuts in MMA – Combat Sports Law. https://combatsportslaw.com/2014/09/03/yes-athletes-have-been-hurt-from-weight-cutting-in-mma/. Published 2014. Accessed December 27, 2018.
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  14. Kasper AM, Crighton B, Langan-Evans C, et al. Case Study: Extreme Weight Making Causes Relative Energy Deficiency, Dehydration and Acute Kidney Injury in a Male Mixed Martial Arts Athlete. Int J Sport Nutr Exerc Metab. July 2018:1-20. doi:10.1123/ijsnem.2018-0029
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  17. Filaire E, Maso F, Degoutte F, Jouanel P, Lac G. Food restriction, performance, psychological state and lipid values in judo athletes. Int J Sports Med. 2001;22(6):454-459. doi:10.1055/s-2001-16244
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  19. Reale R, Slater G, Burke LM. Individualised dietary strategies for Olympic combat sports: Acute weight loss, recovery and competition nutrition. Eur J Sport Sci. 2017;17(6):727-740. doi:10.1080/17461391.2017.1297489
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  22. Artioli GG, Franchini E, Nicastro H, Sterkowicz S, Solis MY, Lancha Junior AH. The need of a weight management control program in judo: A proposal based on the successful case of wrestling. J Int Soc Sports Nutr. 2010;7(1):15. doi:10.1186/1550-2783-7-15