One difference that I have made to my making-weight process is to add large quantities of water starting on the Monday of meet week. I add at least 1 gallon of water to my normal water intake, which is already quite high. Super hydrating the body this way causes the body to produce more of the hormones responsible for pushing the fluid out. When you suddenly cut off the fluids, it takes a while before those hormones return to normal levels and in the meantime you continue to push out the fluids quickly.

While the pay-off for using this method is supposed to be the assistance it provides once all fluids are cut off, I find it to helps me lose weight all week long. I easily drop at least 3 lbs. of bodyweight by doing nothing more than adding the water. I believe this happens because my body sees no reason to retain water due to the high intake and so it just releases any stores that normally exist. Generally speaking, I’ve never had to cut off my fluids completely when I use this method. In most cases, I’ve been able to just return to my normal fluid intake on the Thursday before weigh-in. I know quite a few lifters who use this method and find it works very well for them. Drinking by the clock is the only way I can get all that water in (about 2 gallons total). I drink every 45 min.-1 hr. It’s tedious for those few days but to lose 3 lbs. without having to do anything but add water is worth it to me.

In regard to the fasting you’ve done on meet day, one tip I learned from JM Blakley is if you have issues with unstable blood sugar levels, eating 6 Hershey bars at regular intervals throughout the day will help. They weigh only 2.5 oz each and all together will add less than a pound to you while keeping blood sugar levels up and helping to control any of the starvation feelings some people get.

Okay, once you’ve weighed in, it’s time to get serious, not complacent. In my opinion, what you do at this time is actually more important than what you did to make weight. You can push your body too hard making weight and still repair the damage if your reconstitution is done well.

Directly after hopping off the scale at weigh-in, you want to start getting some fluid back in. Fluid BEFORE food otherwise if you are very dehydrated, food cannot be digested and you will get sick. You want to be putting food and fluids in, not losing them, so start slowly and build up over time. Drinking 32 oz. (1 liter) of Pedialyte is the first thing I do after getting off the scale. Former World Champ Dr. Di Pasquale recommends that you use a slightly different approach, one that I have never tried but will in the future. He recommends that you cut down to ½ a pound below your class limit and then drink 6 oz. of a mixture of whey protein (2 scoops (44g.) which contains 160 cal., 3.5g. of carbs, 32g. of protein) along with 1 scoop of table sugar mixed in 4 oz. of water. He recommends you sip this the last few hours before weigh-in and feels this gives the body a head start for rehydrating quickly and replenishing glycogen stores. After weigh-in he recommends you immediately drink at least 1 liter of a very diluted sugar and protein drink (1/4 scoop of protein powder and a ¼ scoop of sugar per quart of water). You want to make sure it’s diluted so it gets absorbed quickly. I’ll stick with my liter of Pedialyte after weigh-in.

Once I drink the liter, I then start slowly introducing food. I start with something light in composition and heavy in salt like chips or crackers. I gradually increase my food and fluid intake while also having some scheduled breaks so I don’t get sick. As I eat more I also begin to eat heavier and heavier foods. I’ve gotten the best results from eating foods high in carbs and sodium like pizza. I can’t handle pizza directly after weigh-in without getting ill, so I slowly work my way up to it.

I really have to schedule my meals and fluid intake by the clock because it isn’t long at all before I don’t feel I can drink another sip or eat another bite. You can’t listen to your body here. You are basically trying to carb load, to get your body to over compensate and fill your muscles up with more glycogen and water than you originally had. You basically have to force yourself to eat and drink long after you feel fine to do this. It’s not fun but it works. Every meal matters. As far as how much to eat and drink, I’ve heard some recommendations. Consuming more than 5,000 calories is one. As long as you don’t make yourself sick, you really can’t over due it. In regard to fluids, 4 gallons of an electrolyte type drink for 10 lbs. of weight loss due to dehydration in a 24 hr. period. I have never been in a position where I’ve ever needed to lose that much weight before weigh-in but I still consume close to 2 gallons of Pedialyte between a night before weigh-in and the meet. I drink 1 liter at a time on a regular schedule.

Drinking all that fluid will cause me to get up more than a few times during the night to get rid of it. While I am up, I will also use that time to drink a meal replacement shake or more Pedialyte. Generally speaking, I don’t get much sleep because of all this but I usually can’t sleep the night before a meet anyway. From the time I weigh-in, I basically drink, eat and rest. The morning of the meet I find my muscles very full and all my equipment fits nice and tight. I don’t particularly care for the sodium loaded feeling but the fact is I am big on meet day and lift well because of it. I have no idea how much bodyweight I gain back by meet time but I would expect it to be at least 5 lbs. and probably more.

I hope some of this helps Eric.

D.
 

Hi Eric,
I have a number of thoughts regarding your weight loss for the meet. Keep in mind this is just my opinion based on my personal trial-and-error experience with making weight and there are many ways to do it.

First off is that if you only need to drop 5 lbs., you are much better trying to not diet it off, as it’s not necessary. 5 lbs., when you consider the amount of water in your body, is not a lot of weight to drop and can usually be done easy enough the week of the meet. The less amount of actual body mass you lose, the better. A 5 lb. drop should not require losing any body mass. Having a night before weigh-in makes it all the more easier, as you have plenty of time to replace fluids and get yourself back to normal. If I wake up the Monday morning of meet week 5 lbs. out or less, I’m in a good position.

Now, making weight can be stressful IF you allow it to be. Granted, it doesn’t feel good to dehydrate or to go without food on weigh-in day and suffer the resulting drop in blood sugar. The thing is, that is only a temporary feeling. I’ve seen many people convince themselves that they will not lift well because of how they felt for a short period of time before weigh-in. They stress themselves out about it and suffer the consequences. You have to realize that stress is all about how a person deals with a situation. Stress only becomes an issue if you don’t deal with it in a correct manner for you. You need to make your mind as strong as your body. Nothing can throw you off your game if you don’t let it.

In the old days I used to do some pretty extreme things to make weight, not knowing better. I can remember locking myself in a car on a 98 degree day wearing thermals the afternoon before a morning weigh-in. I didn’t eat or drink anything from that afternoon on and since I was out of state and didn’t have a scale with me, I have no idea how much I sweated off but it was considerable, trust me. I then went about 12 hrs. with no food/water, weighed in and had 1.5 hrs. to repair the damage. I hit PR’s that day. Another time I got picked to compete on the US team at the World’s in Canada. Unfortunately, they needed me to compete in the weight class below mine. I slowly took my weight down over a couple of months and the morning of the weigh-in I was right at my class limit. I was nervous about what their scale would say, so I wrapped myself in a plastic bag, put on thermals and a sweatshirt, and went for a 3 mile walk on a sunny day in June. When I got home and took off the plastic, I would bet at least half a gallon of water splashed on the floor and I’m not exaggerating. I then took a very long hot shower, hopped in the car and drove over 10 hrs. to Canada. I did not eat or drink anything since the previous day. At weigh-in there was no women to weigh me in, so I had to stand in line for 2 hrs. until they found someone. I ended up 4 lbs. under my limit by the way. The next morning I lifted, just missed a PR, and won my class and missed best lifter by .002 of a point. Now keep in mind, all of the above was pure stupidity and totally unnecessary. The reason I bring it up is that it was stressful as hell on my body but the reason it didn’t affect me is because I didn’t let it. Mentally, I refused to let it. I refused to consider performing anything less than my best and I refused to allow my body an excuse to perform less than optimum. I know people who stress themselves out over dropping 1 or 2 lbs. or missing one meal the afternoon of a weigh-in or 100's of other "things" that come up and their performance suffers because of it. You need to think positive and keep your mind strong during this time. Your body will do whatever your mind tells it to do.

I don’t know how much water you drank after weigh-in but keep in mind, drinking too much water is possible and it’ll seriously dilute your electrolytes and throw your body off balance. Again, been there, done that. I’ve gone as far as drinking close to 2 gallons after weigh-in of plain water and had this happen to me. Throw off your electrolyte balance and your body’s electrical system doesn’t function correctly. Your muscles can’t fire like normal. It made for an interesting meet, that is for sure. You feel fine but your muscles just won’t function, they were like jello. I personally prefer to rehydrate with Pedialyte after weigh-in, the dehydration drink for children (how appropriate :^). It contains just the right electrolyte balance and doesn’t contain as much sugar as Gatorade does. Too much sugar and you will actually slow down your rehydration process. Many people have great success with Gatorade though and if you do, fine. I just wouldn’t drink a great deal of plain water, stick with Gatorade, Pedialyte or another electrolyte balanced drink.

You said you didn’t eat much all day and then had 2 protein bars, some Gatorade, water and then the Italian dinner. It doesn’t sound to me like you made up for all the calories you skipped that day. One big meal also bogs down your system. Better to have eaten a number of smaller meals but definitely more than what you ate. Depending how far you have to dehydrate, always get some fluids back in you for a bit before adding food. If you are very dehydrated your body will not be able to digest anything you eat until you get rehydrated a bit. You don’t want to make yourself sick at a time when you need to start packing food in (been there, done that!). Also, a meal replacement is great as your first “meal” after weigh-in as it gets digested quickly. Those type drinks are also great because they are an easy way to get a decent number of calories in when you really don’t feel like eating anymore. If I don’t eat all day, I usually have a very difficult time getting a large number of calories in. I just have no appetite and feel full very quickly. Meal replacements help me get around this problem and they get into your blood stream very quickly, so you can feel “normal” as soon as possible.

As far as your breakfast, the reason I asked if that was what you normally ate was because it was so high in fat, which slows digestion. A breakfast like that would sit like a rock in my stomach and would not supply me with much energy for a meet. It also would not continue to pack glucose into my muscles to help combat everything I put myself through the previous day making weight. I pack my normal breakfast and bring it with me as I don’t want to get ill eating a high fat breakfast that I’m not used to. If that type of breakfast works for you on meet day, no problem. In my case, I like to have shredded wheat for the complex carbs, skim milk and a protein shake. I’ll usually also throw some fruit into the mix for good measure.

Eric, I have some more specific comments as to how I would drop the 5 lbs. and will post them as soon as I get another minute. Sorry to go into so much detail on the other stuff but it’s the details that tend to matter the most. Little things can make or break you and I didn’t want to not mention something that I thought might make a difference for you.

D.

: Okay, so you said you did extream things in the
: old days.....what do you do now instead???
: Thanks for the info.

Hey, where’s that patience? Good work takes time you know. I guess I just need to learn how to type during my commute as that is about my only free time. :^)

About 3 meets ago I changed my methods a bit and I’ll get to that at a later time when I can. Here’s the method I used for many years and it works well. Through my experience, there is less strength loss if you drop weight quickly rather than taking your weight down over a number of weeks by restricting calories. Again, I believe this is because one method reduces your body mass, one does not. Granted dropping weight over a 24 or 48 hr. period is more stressful on the body but if your mind can handle it, I’ve found the results to be better.

Okay, if you have to weigh in the day of the meet, you are better off keeping your bodyweight closer to your limit. Everyone is different but I’d say to stick in the 2%-4% range over your weight class. I think these numbers are pretty safe. Some can handle higher percentages and through trial and error you can find that out. If you can weigh-in the night before, you can usually go 4%-6% over without any problems and I’m sure a heck of a lot more if you like pushing the envelope.

At 5 days out from your weigh-in start monitoring your weight often. You should be in your percentage range at this point. Because most lifters tend to rest the week of the meet, your metabolism may tend to slow a bit so try to keep to your normal schedule eating-wise. I stop eating after 5:30pm at this point. 4 days out cut out all simple carbs (note I said SIMPLE carbs, not complex). For me, that means fruit and I tend to eat a lot of fruit. If you find that your bodyweight starts dropping too quickly from doing this, add in some protein to your diet. Protein requires water for digestion and this helps push water out of your body. Carbs tend to contain water and so they add water to your body. Try not to reduce your calories too much at this point as there’s plenty of time. 3 days out keep things the same if your bodyweight is within striking distance. Remember to keep your head in the game and think positive, no need to panic. 48 hrs. out from the weigh-in keep eating the same but cut your normal fluid intake in half. Have the same number of drinks per day but cut the amount in half. 24 hrs. from weigh-in if you are getting close to your limit, keep eating the same and cut your fluid intake in half again. You should be at or very close to your limit in most cases. I usually find I am dropping lower than I need to at this point. If you find you are still 4%-5% over, you’ll have to bite the bullet and not eat or drink anything until weigh-in. If at 3-6 hrs. before weigh-in you find you are still a bit over your limit, a sauna or plastic suit will do the trick though I personally haven’t found the need for either. If you do have to resort to wringing that last bit of bodyweight out of you, use the least strenous method you can. Don’t throw on a plastic suit and go running or walking. Put it on and take a hot shower or bath or sit in the sun. I have found the fastest way to get the water out of you the better. I did not find the epsom salt bath effective for me plus I find soaking in a hot tub for hours stressful. I usually find I am right at my limit or a bit below the morning of weigh-in and I then eat and drink very lightly until I hop on the scale. If I have the day off from work, I’ll monitor my weight closely and measure my food and drink so that I can get in as much as possible and not go over. If I’m .5 lbs. under, I’ll eat or drink a .5 lb. of food or water. Again, keep thinking positive thoughts during all of this, don’t let yourself get rattled. I don’t care how badly you feel on this day, it’s temporary. Once you put your fluids and food back in, your body will overcompensate and you will be bigger than before. Bigger and stronger.

I know someone suggested that you might need to consider looking into a more “extreme” manner of making weight. I’m not sure what they meant by “extreme” but if they meant diuretics, I just want to point something out. The problem with diuretics, other than they are illegal to use in some tested feds, is that they don’t stop working just because you have weighed-in. The drugs stay in your body and continue to work. Unless you are very experienced in their use and have the timing down, you will end up shooting yourself in the foot because when you are trying to get fluids back in after weigh-in, they will continue to push them out. They also can cause you some serious side effects if abused.

Laxatives may fall under “extreme” for some people but I do think they are useful and they are part of my making weight routine. Digested food is just adding weight that serves no useful purpose. If I find I am a bit heavier than I’m comfortable with close to weigh-in, I will use them the night before weigh-in. I use the natural, non-drug laxative that contains senna. Finding the correct dose that works for you will take some trial and error. Twice the adult dosage works well for me though keep in mind, if you are not eating much you will not lose much, but every bit helps. Again, as with anything, don’t abuse them.

I have to run into a meeting at the moment but I’ll post again soon with some thoughts about what you need to do after weigh-in (a VERY important time), as well as some changes I’ve made to the above routine that I now use. What is listed above has worked very well for me though.

D.