May 20, 2007
Cutting Weight: A Rant
Today I want to write about a practice I don't like and don't endorse, but that is probably here to stay: cutting weight to get into a lower weight bracket for competition. Whether you do it, want to do it, or just want to understand it, more information is better than no information, so I'm going to share some of what I know and then point you in some directions for your own research.
Before I go on I'd like to clarify that the term 'cutting weight' is often used to describe two separate techniques practices:
Method 1 - Dieting. This is the gradual reduction in weight through dieting (usually taking anywhere from 1 week to several months). Although rapid weight loss through dieting can be harmful to health if it is too severe or if you have some pre-existing medical conditions, it isn't as dangerous as the next method...
Method 2 - Dehydration. This is the more rapid loss of weight via limiting water intake, exercising, sauna suits and saunas: here most of the weight comes off in the last 24 to 48 hours.
These two methods aren't completely independent: they are often used together, with dehydration preceding dehydration. Furthermore even if you are only dehydrating (method 2) you still have to watch and manipulate aspects of your diet to avoid retaining water. One critical difference, however, is that given long enough between the weigh-in and the competition you can gain back almost all the weight lost due to dehydration, albeit with possible impairment of athletic function.
The popularity of the show The Ultimate Fighter has familiarized many lay-people with the concept of cutting weight, since every second episode has some sort of drama revolving around an overweight fighter sitting in the sauna or having a colonic. What isn't appreciated as much is the science of re-hydration: fighters at this level dehydrate, weigh in, and then IMMEDIATELY start sipping electrolyte solutions such as pedialyte. They also often use IV solutions (yes, the bag, the tube, the needle in the arm) to re-hydrate faster and more thoroughly.
Trying to function at a high level athletically while dehydrated is basically impossible, so the bigger the weight cut the more important it becomes that re-hydration is done properly. Weight cutting via dehydration is only really feasible when there is a long recovery time between the weigh-in and the actual competition. Also, competitors can cut a lot more weight if the weigh-ins are on the day before the competition (as opposed to the morning of the competition). When the rules allow (or mandate) competitors to weigh in on the day before a competition a sizeable advantage can go to the best weight cutter: weighing 180 lbs in a 170 lb division is fairly common, and some heavier fighters can gain almost 15 lbs of lost weight back in 24 hours.
In a sense I understand why Boxing and MMA shows all have weigh-ins on the day before; these promotions have spent a lot of money hyping specific fights and individual fighters, and they need to be able to deal with those fighters coming in overweight. If Oscar De La Hoya had shown up 5 lbs over the 154 lb limit in his fight with Floyd Mayweather Jr then the promoters of the fight could have forced him to get back into the sauna suit and suffer. If, on the other hand, that weigh-in had been right before the fight then the promoters would have had a more difficult situation on their hands.
So that is part of the reason why Boxing and MMA allow 24 or more hours to re-hydrate; I think everything changes though when it comes to tournament-style formats where you don't have pre-determined opponents. If everyone just showed up and fought at their 'walking-around weight' then competition would be more about skill, technique and athleticism and less about the ability to cut weight and recover from it. I am told that Pan Am BJJ Championships now weigh you in before your match (it wasn't like this the year I was there), and at the World Championships it has been this way a lot longer. You step onto a scale at the edge of the mat immediately before your match: if you're too heavy then you go home and your opponent gets a win. This may sound harsh but it really is the only way to ensure that recreational players aren't endangering their health by cutting weight.
Finally, if you have a kidney condition or blood pressure problems don't even consider cutting weight via dehydration. The strain can (and probably will) permanently damage your kidneys. Make sure that other people in your club know this and respect this.
Now if you stuck with me this far I'll point you in some directions for further reading
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Before I go on I'd like to clarify that the term 'cutting weight' is often used to describe two separate techniques practices:
Method 1 - Dieting. This is the gradual reduction in weight through dieting (usually taking anywhere from 1 week to several months). Although rapid weight loss through dieting can be harmful to health if it is too severe or if you have some pre-existing medical conditions, it isn't as dangerous as the next method...
Method 2 - Dehydration. This is the more rapid loss of weight via limiting water intake, exercising, sauna suits and saunas: here most of the weight comes off in the last 24 to 48 hours.
These two methods aren't completely independent: they are often used together, with dehydration preceding dehydration. Furthermore even if you are only dehydrating (method 2) you still have to watch and manipulate aspects of your diet to avoid retaining water. One critical difference, however, is that given long enough between the weigh-in and the competition you can gain back almost all the weight lost due to dehydration, albeit with possible impairment of athletic function.
The popularity of the show The Ultimate Fighter has familiarized many lay-people with the concept of cutting weight, since every second episode has some sort of drama revolving around an overweight fighter sitting in the sauna or having a colonic. What isn't appreciated as much is the science of re-hydration: fighters at this level dehydrate, weigh in, and then IMMEDIATELY start sipping electrolyte solutions such as pedialyte. They also often use IV solutions (yes, the bag, the tube, the needle in the arm) to re-hydrate faster and more thoroughly.
Trying to function at a high level athletically while dehydrated is basically impossible, so the bigger the weight cut the more important it becomes that re-hydration is done properly. Weight cutting via dehydration is only really feasible when there is a long recovery time between the weigh-in and the actual competition. Also, competitors can cut a lot more weight if the weigh-ins are on the day before the competition (as opposed to the morning of the competition). When the rules allow (or mandate) competitors to weigh in on the day before a competition a sizeable advantage can go to the best weight cutter: weighing 180 lbs in a 170 lb division is fairly common, and some heavier fighters can gain almost 15 lbs of lost weight back in 24 hours.
In a sense I understand why Boxing and MMA shows all have weigh-ins on the day before; these promotions have spent a lot of money hyping specific fights and individual fighters, and they need to be able to deal with those fighters coming in overweight. If Oscar De La Hoya had shown up 5 lbs over the 154 lb limit in his fight with Floyd Mayweather Jr then the promoters of the fight could have forced him to get back into the sauna suit and suffer. If, on the other hand, that weigh-in had been right before the fight then the promoters would have had a more difficult situation on their hands.
So that is part of the reason why Boxing and MMA allow 24 or more hours to re-hydrate; I think everything changes though when it comes to tournament-style formats where you don't have pre-determined opponents. If everyone just showed up and fought at their 'walking-around weight' then competition would be more about skill, technique and athleticism and less about the ability to cut weight and recover from it. I am told that Pan Am BJJ Championships now weigh you in before your match (it wasn't like this the year I was there), and at the World Championships it has been this way a lot longer. You step onto a scale at the edge of the mat immediately before your match: if you're too heavy then you go home and your opponent gets a win. This may sound harsh but it really is the only way to ensure that recreational players aren't endangering their health by cutting weight.
Finally, if you have a kidney condition or blood pressure problems don't even consider cutting weight via dehydration. The strain can (and probably will) permanently damage your kidneys. Make sure that other people in your club know this and respect this.
Now if you stuck with me this far I'll point you in some directions for further reading
- How dehydration (and incomplete rehydration) can damage athletic performance
- Martin Rooney, the conditioning coach for Team Renzo Gracie explains how to cut weight via dehydration
- How Brandon Slay, an Olympic gold medalist, cuts weight
- JC Santana with some tips for cutting weight
- An MMA.tv forum thread where Chris Brennan (who is known to cut a lot of weight sometimes) helps another fighter cut 12 lbs in 12 days
- Chris Brennan's (rather extreme) diet for cutting weight
- Another cautionary article about the 3 college wrestlers who died cutting weight in one month due to cardiac arrest, heat stroke and kidney/heart failure respectively
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May 16, 2007
What is Caging the Hips
It is a truism in BJJ that hip movement is the most important thing. "Boca" Oliveira, a de la Riva black belt, recently told me: "the hips are 90% of jiu-jitsu, and position is the other 10%". Most instructors would agree with the spirit of his statement, because the hips allow you to escape bad positions, throw opponents, pass the guard, and apply armlocks, leglocks and chokes.
Let's consider the closed guard position. To set up the vast majority of offensive actions in the guard you have to do one, or both, of the following:
An example of the first motion (twisting the hips) can be found in this grappling photo. It is perhaps appropriate that it is the aforementioned Boca who is using this movement to armlock me.
An example the second motion (hip swiveling) can be found in the swinging armbar drill in this article. No swivel, no armbar!
The flipside of this principle is that if you shut down your opponent's hips you shut down most of his game. In the guard I call this "Caging the Hips". If you are in your opponent's closed guard you cage his hips by always staying square with your opponent and keeping his hips flat on the ground, trapped between your two knees. If he escapes his hips out past your right knee, for example, then you circle to your right until you are square with him again. If he twists his body onto his right side you circle towards your left and roll him flat.
Once you are square with your opponent you can make it harder for him to escape his hips by applying an inward pressure on his hips with the inside of your knees. If appropriate, you can also use your elbows to help limit his hip movement, but the main pressure comes from your knees. Objectively you aren't applying very much force with your legs here - your adductors aren't very strong muscles - but even a little bit of pressure can kill his movement to a significant degree. You can use this inward pressure both kneeling or standing in your opponent's guard, but it is easier to learn and apply in the kneeling position.
Give these circling movements and inward pressure a try with a training partner and see if it makes a difference.
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Let's consider the closed guard position. To set up the vast majority of offensive actions in the guard you have to do one, or both, of the following:
- twist your body so your weight is on one buttock only,
- and/or swivel your hips so that he is no longer square with you.
An example of the first motion (twisting the hips) can be found in this grappling photo. It is perhaps appropriate that it is the aforementioned Boca who is using this movement to armlock me.
An example the second motion (hip swiveling) can be found in the swinging armbar drill in this article. No swivel, no armbar!
The flipside of this principle is that if you shut down your opponent's hips you shut down most of his game. In the guard I call this "Caging the Hips". If you are in your opponent's closed guard you cage his hips by always staying square with your opponent and keeping his hips flat on the ground, trapped between your two knees. If he escapes his hips out past your right knee, for example, then you circle to your right until you are square with him again. If he twists his body onto his right side you circle towards your left and roll him flat.
Once you are square with your opponent you can make it harder for him to escape his hips by applying an inward pressure on his hips with the inside of your knees. If appropriate, you can also use your elbows to help limit his hip movement, but the main pressure comes from your knees. Objectively you aren't applying very much force with your legs here - your adductors aren't very strong muscles - but even a little bit of pressure can kill his movement to a significant degree. You can use this inward pressure both kneeling or standing in your opponent's guard, but it is easier to learn and apply in the kneeling position.
Give these circling movements and inward pressure a try with a training partner and see if it makes a difference.
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May 09, 2007
Grappling with Competition Anxiety
I don't do a lot of competition these days, and I do miss it (and the wonderful focus it adds to your training). One thing I DON'T miss, however, is the stomach churning anxiety that accompanied competition. Basically on the day of a competition I became an emotional wreck: moody, grumpy, nervous, and asked myself again and again "why am I doing this". All these emotions dissolved pretty quickly once the matches started and I had to focus on grappling with a real opponent rather than with my fears and worries. After the competition, if I'd performed up to my potential, I was usually deeply satisfied and eager to do it all over again.
Interestingly there was a period of time when I felt considerably less pre-competition anxiety. This was a two year span when I was competing fairly often: I participated in submission grappling and Brazilian jiu-jitsu tournaments, but I was also competing in Firefighter Combat Challenge events (www.firefighter-challenge.com). Although the Combat Challenge was a very different event than a BJJ tournament I definitely felt that there was a carryover effect; there were still crowds, cameras and the potential to screw up royally.
Somehow with competition being a more regular feature of my life, as opposed to something I maybe did once a year, I started feeling less nervous. I can't say I ever felt normal while waiting to compete, but it started to become a bit less stomach-churning, and eventually it started feeling a bit like it was just another day at the office. I attribute my decreased anxiety purely to the desensitization which results from repeated exposure to a stimulus. Get out there and do something often enough and eventually it will start to feel normal.
Interestingly enough this desensitization doesn't last forever (or at least not in my case). When I started competing less regularly the nerves came back just as strong as always
It's not that I think everyone has to force themselves to compete - many grapplers are happy to only 'compete' on the mats of their club via regular regular sparring. Some people just don't like competitions and this is perfectly OK. If you WANT to compete, however, and if you find your performance impaired by nerves and anxiety, you might want to see if you can break through the anxiety barrier by competing more, not less. Additionally, consider competing in any other sport that appeals to you, be that 10 kilometer runs, rugby tournaments or fly fishing contests. Like me, you may just find that there is a carryover anxiety-quelling effect from these other sports to your grappling competitions.
Good luck
Stephan Kesting
P.S. for another approach to dealing with competition nerves you might want to read how this grappler learned to breath while competing.
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Interestingly there was a period of time when I felt considerably less pre-competition anxiety. This was a two year span when I was competing fairly often: I participated in submission grappling and Brazilian jiu-jitsu tournaments, but I was also competing in Firefighter Combat Challenge events (www.firefighter-challenge.com). Although the Combat Challenge was a very different event than a BJJ tournament I definitely felt that there was a carryover effect; there were still crowds, cameras and the potential to screw up royally.
Somehow with competition being a more regular feature of my life, as opposed to something I maybe did once a year, I started feeling less nervous. I can't say I ever felt normal while waiting to compete, but it started to become a bit less stomach-churning, and eventually it started feeling a bit like it was just another day at the office. I attribute my decreased anxiety purely to the desensitization which results from repeated exposure to a stimulus. Get out there and do something often enough and eventually it will start to feel normal.
Interestingly enough this desensitization doesn't last forever (or at least not in my case). When I started competing less regularly the nerves came back just as strong as always
It's not that I think everyone has to force themselves to compete - many grapplers are happy to only 'compete' on the mats of their club via regular regular sparring. Some people just don't like competitions and this is perfectly OK. If you WANT to compete, however, and if you find your performance impaired by nerves and anxiety, you might want to see if you can break through the anxiety barrier by competing more, not less. Additionally, consider competing in any other sport that appeals to you, be that 10 kilometer runs, rugby tournaments or fly fishing contests. Like me, you may just find that there is a carryover anxiety-quelling effect from these other sports to your grappling competitions.
Good luck
Stephan Kesting
P.S. for another approach to dealing with competition nerves you might want to read how this grappler learned to breath while competing.
Labels: the mental aspect
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