IronWarrior: That is amazing news brother! Great job and thank you for the kind words! I am really glad that you like the style of the workouts. I know how hard you push yourself and I think this type of program will fit what you are looking for.
As far as how I cut weightā¦It is a pretty long process for me. Let me begin by saying that I do not count my calories or even macros. Never have in the past and wonāt until I find it completely necessary. A long time ago i bought an ebook from John Berardi called (something like) nutrition for grapplers. I followed his eating plan exactly and I dropped the weight quickly but to be honest, my performance suffered. I donāt think there is anything wrong with his plan at all, I really like most everything the guy puts out, but I think I went from eating semi-poorly to his exact meal plan. This was a substantial cut in my caloric intake and rather than just shedding body fat, my body composition stayed relatively the same, my body as a whole just shrunk. I think f I were to do it again in a smarter fashion, it would have worked perfectly for me, so I would recommend the book, but since that cut, I have done a lot of trial and error to see what works best for meā¦and this is what I came up with.
I do my best to stay much leaner now than i did back on earlier weight cuts, so now if I am not getting ready for a competition or fight, I usually walk around at a body fat in the low teens. I do this by keeping my carbohydrate numbers very low on a normal basis with an estimated 3-4 cheat meals a week where i eat pretty much anything I want. Over the years I have learned that my body runs much more efficiently on dietary fat than it does carbs. I think t is really important for each individual to learn what works best for them, but I think it is a pretty safe assumption to say that protein + clean carbs works well for some and protein + healthy fats works better for others. Some of it is carb/insulin sensitivity, some is genetic make up, some of it is dependent on what type of training you are doingā¦but, unless you are on some banned substances or are still in your late teens/early 20āsā¦Then High protein + high fats + high carb will usually equal body fat.
Anyway, Most of my weight cuts usually involve dropping around 12-15lbs.
Step 1: About 5 weeks out from weigh ins, I will cut out ALL cheat meals, calorie counting drinks and starchy carbs. i will eat a diet consisting of high proteins, high healthy fats and a lot of vegetables. i donāt count calories, so i eat as much food as i desire. I will also eat said dead animals with any type of sauces I want (within reasonable amounts)ā¦If people are not in single digit body fat, then ketchup is not their problem and probably not what they should be worried about. For the first 2 weeks, my body comp and my weight does not really change. This stresses me out every single time, but I just stick to the plan and it eventually starts working.
Step 2: At about week 3, I will start watching my sauce intake and if my weight is still not dropping, I will cut my portion size by just a tiny bit. However, i still keep my protein intake to at least 1-1.5g per pound of lean body mass. This usually brings me between 8-10lbs to my goal weight. I will continue to hover around that point until about 1 week out. If my strength seems to be dropping at all, I will just up my fat intake and that usually brings me right back up. During this week, i will also begin adding a little more salt to my food than i normally would.
Step 3: I will Switch from bottled and tap water to distilled water. This is what makes all of the difference for me. Bottled and tap water contains salt. Salt makes your body retain water. This is bad news of those last few pounds. I make my coffee, protein shakes, EVERYTHING with nothing but distilled water.
Step 4: I drink 2-2.5 Gallons of Distilled water on Day 5 and 4. This immediately drops a few more pounds off of me. This also makes me sweat more than i normally would and has me peeing like every 10 Minutes. It is pretty miserable. But all of the extra fluid intake makes my body super efficient at releasing water, which is the whole point of this water gorge.
Step 5: 2 Gallons of Distilled water on the 3rd day out.
Step 6: 1.5 Gallon of distilled water 2 days out. Nothing but very lean proteins and raw vegetables from here on out. No sauces, just straight horrible bodybuilder diet.
Step 7: Here is where it gets tricky. From this point forward I am usually within 5 pounds of my goal weight. The night prior to weigh-ins I will soak in an epsom salt/alcohol bath to draw more water out of meā¦Depending on how much more I have to lose, will decide how many hours out from weigh-ins i will stop eating and cut my water intake completely. But somewhere between 12-36 hours out, I will cut all oral intake, both solid and liquid. If I still need to drop more pounds, I will jump in a sauna in a sweat suit or walk on an inclined treadmill bundled up like I am in Antartica.
I always try to come in a pound or two light just in case the scale that i am weighing in on differs from my own.
Once I make weight, i have GALLONS of liquid, lots of food and simple sugars on hand to start the rehydrating process. Within an hour or two i will have gained back 10-15lbs. Not body fat, mainly just water and food weight. When i weigh in, I am almost always around 8% body fat.
I know that may not be the exact answer that you are looking for, but honestly, I donāt have any experience with caloric restriction, so I can only tell you how I get my weight to where I want it to be. Doing a water gorge/cut can throw off your electrolytes so i am not sure, with your manner of contest, if this is the smartest thing for you. You may want to try it before hand with a hard tailing day to see how you feelā¦ I can tell you that i experience ZERO drop in strength or short burst endurance. Your races demand much more endurance energy than what I usually have to put out and are obviously longer than what I would normally face in a Strongman Contest or fight.
This type of weight cut has aided me ever since I first began fighting and has carried me well into my strongman stuff. If you are trying to do the calorie thing, all I can tell you is to begin the cut further out from the completion than you think you should and cutting your caloric intake usually works better if approached in a slow, methodical manner rather than cutting them quickly. I am sure there are plenty of articles on here addressing what you are trying to do, that could give you much better information than I can, but this is my process that I always do.
I hope it helps you out at least a little bit. Go make your own luck brother and great job with your training!
