So I weighed in at 215lbs this morning and realized that I was a bit heavier then I’d like to be for being 4 weeks (37 days) out from a competition.
I plan to compete in the 198lb class but need some ideas thrown out on how to drop the weight.
My actions so far are as follows.
1.) On the Cheat to Lose Diet where thursday thru saturday I’m getting 100-50g of carbs
2.) Adding in circuit/tabata style training in after each of my 4 training days
3.) I plan to use the “get shredded in 6 days” method the week before the meet.
4.) Non-training day cardio/band workouts at home. (I’ve only done this twice this week but HAVE To start doing it more)
Even if doing the “shredded” method would drop about 5lbs, that means I still need 12lbs before then.
My main concern with this is losing ANY strength; natch, so I’d like to go about this the smartest way possible and not just kill my strength.
Any suggestions (helpful ones) are greatly appreciated.
When is the weigh in?
If you have 24 hrs, I wouldn’t worry too much. I know guys that lose that in a couple of days. I’ll dig up info if you need it.
If its the morning of the meet, I’d just go as a light 220. You don’t want to be doing all kinds of low carb dieting and cardio when you should be prepping for a meet.
20 lbs is alot to lose before a meet. I agree with Buckeye that if it is a 2 hour weigh-in, eat your ass off and go as a 220. There are simple tricks you can do without doing the “whatever” method. Start cutting carbs and salt, drink a ton of water up until two days before, when you drink about 2 glasses a day, eat spicier food (acts as a metabolic enhancer).
If you are a thick 215, thses tricks and all the other diets will be brutal for you and you will lose strength. I would just go 220.
For future reference, I usually tell my lifters not to get above about 4-5% of their competition weight. Example: a 198 lifter shoulld try to stay around 204-206.
Hope this helps.
I have the option of weighing in at 5:30 the day before the competition. The meet is on sunday at 9am and I could be there saturday at 5:30 to weigh in.
So that’s a good amount of time to have.
I’d be interested in seeing the information that Buckeye can pull up.
But I agree, if it’s going to be too much strain to get down there then I’m just going to stay strong and be in the 220s.
Thanks for the responses so far.
You don’t really want to be doing BB cutting diets if you want to lift to your max. Maybe reconsider why you want to cut (I’m guessing you’re fairly new to comps). My advice FWIW is to just go as you are but try to be your strongest. You don’t really want to lift at a weak 200 when you could set PBs as a 210!
Just try losing some water and gain all (+more) for the meet.
Good luck!
[quote]LSUPOWERDC wrote:
20 lbs is alot to lose before a meet. I agree with Buckeye that if it is a 2 hour weigh-in, eat your ass off and go as a 220. There are simple tricks you can do without doing the “whatever” method. Start cutting carbs and salt, drink a ton of water up until two days before, when you drink about 2 glasses a day, eat spicier food (acts as a metabolic enhancer).
If you are a thick 215, thses tricks and all the other diets will be brutal for you and you will lose strength. I would just go 220.
For future reference, I usually tell my lifters not to get above about 4-5% of their competition weight. Example: a 198 lifter shoulld try to stay around 204-206.
Hope this helps.[/quote]
This is excellent advice. I cut from 190 to 181 for my last meet at it was a miserable experience, so I agree with going as a light 220 and then staying within 10 lbs of your class.
However, if you’re dead set on doing it, here is a good aricle on cutting weight by Matt Kroc:
http://www.elitefts.com/documents/cut_max_weight_for_comp.htm
It was the method I used and it worked, but it is brutal. I really wouldn’t recommend it for cutting more than 10 lbs or so.
Best of Luck!
Unless you are lifting for money, or trying to qualify for something or set a record, I don’t see the point in cutting.
You’re lifting against yourself. My first comp. I competed in the 220s weighing 214. I’d rather lift as much as possible than possibly do better in a lower weight class.
[quote]B rocK wrote:
I have the option of weighing in at 5:30 the day before the competition. The meet is on sunday at 9am and I could be there saturday at 5:30 to weigh in.
So that’s a good amount of time to have.
I’d be interested in seeing the information that Buckeye can pull up.
But I agree, if it’s going to be too much strain to get down there then I’m just going to stay strong and be in the 220s.
Thanks for the responses so far.[/quote]
One thing I was going to mention was the “Kroc Method” which someone already posted a link to.
All of the tricks and tips that I have are for short term water manipulation. Since you don’t have the “normal” 24 hours to rehydrate and recover, I wouldn’t go to extremes to drop that much weight. If it was a smaller cut, or you were competing for something ($$ elite or qualifying total) it might be a different story.
I have to find the link describing the method later because I need to get out to the gym to squat. Basically you drink a shit load of water, leading up to the meet then cut it as it approaches. I’ll put up details when I have time to mess around on the computer.
I have a question that’s somewhat the flip side of that coin. I compete at 56 kg (123lbs) and have consistently weighed in over 1 kg under.
The guy that’s helping me train for nationals suggested that after this meet, I start training 1-2 kg over comp weight and cut the week before. He said I would see higher numbers going this route. Anyone have any advice on this?
Sorry to hijack B rock 
[quote]ouroboro_s wrote:
I have a question that’s somewhat the flip side of that coin. I compete at 56 kg (123lbs) and have consistently weighed in over 1 kg under.
The guy that’s helping me train for nationals suggested that after this meet, I start training 1-2 kg over comp weight and cut the week before. He said I would see higher numbers going this route. Anyone have any advice on this?
Sorry to hijack B rock :)[/quote]
2kg extra in muscle mass is going to help your Wilks and give you an upper hand over anyone lifting in the same class as you. Lets say you at 55kg are lifting against a 57kg woman who cut water to make weight (assuming she rehydrates properly and has a similar bf% to you) she will usually have an advantage as she has more muscle on here frame.
As powerlifters and more importantly weight class athletes, we should aim to be the leanest in out weight class, more muscle IDEALLY equals more strength.
[quote]Power GnP wrote:
ouroboro_s wrote:
I have a question that’s somewhat the flip side of that coin. I compete at 56 kg (123lbs) and have consistently weighed in over 1 kg under.
The guy that’s helping me train for nationals suggested that after this meet, I start training 1-2 kg over comp weight and cut the week before. He said I would see higher numbers going this route. Anyone have any advice on this?
Sorry to hijack B rock
2kg extra in muscle mass is going to help your Wilks and give you an upper hand over anyone lifting in the same class as you. Lets say you at 55kg are lifting against a 57kg woman who cut water to make weight (assuming she rehydrates properly and has a similar bf% to you) she will usually have an advantage as she has more muscle on here frame.
As powerlifters and more importantly weight class athletes, we should aim to be the leanest in out weight class, more muscle IDEALLY equals more strength.[/quote]
I’m still working on doing this properly. The last two meets I weighed in at 54.7. It’s kind of like the Price is right… get as close as you can without going over. I also want to avoid spitting in a cup and associated stress of weighing in over. I imagine it takes time and experience to fine tune.
Thanks for the tips so far everyone (and don’t worry about the hijack outboro!)
I’m just going to continue my slow cut and not worry about the weight that I am in.
I will be strong at the meet and just want to beat my numbers. I know a friend in both the 220 and 198 class that is going to be pulling 660-720; so I’m shit out of luck since I’m going for 560.
[quote]B rocK wrote:
I have the option of weighing in at 5:30 the day before the competition. The meet is on sunday at 9am and I could be there saturday at 5:30 to weigh in.
So that’s a good amount of time to have.
I’d be interested in seeing the information that Buckeye can pull up.
But I agree, if it’s going to be too much strain to get down there then I’m just going to stay strong and be in the 220s.
Thanks for the responses so far.[/quote]
Do not cut. You should never be on a bodybuilding cutting diet during a meet training cycle. You should be focusing on getting as strong as possible and peaking on the meet date. Getting closer to your target weight is something you can focus on another time.
But if I were you I’d focus on filling out the 220 class in the futute.
A 530 pm weigh-in is too late to regain 17 lbs. With a 9 am meet start time, you’d have to be up at 6 or 7, so you’d have to be in bed by at least 11 the night before.
That gives you 4.5-5.5 hours to regain 17 lbs. That’s impossible to do without a fast-dripping IV. To make 198 with that short of a weigh-in and not fuck with your strength you’d have to be walking around at 205-208.
[quote]ouroboro_s wrote:
I have a question that’s somewhat the flip side of that coin. I compete at 56 kg (123lbs) and have consistently weighed in over 1 kg under.
The guy that’s helping me train for nationals suggested that after this meet, I start training 1-2 kg over comp weight and cut the week before. He said I would see higher numbers going this route. Anyone have any advice on this?
Sorry to hijack B rock :)[/quote]
With only 1-2 kg to cut, you could wait until 2-4 hours before weigh-ins to cut it and still make weight easily. This is a much better route than cutting for an entire week for a measly 4 lbs.
I’m in the process of cutting for my meet In a week. I need to drop like 8 pounds but it’s hard to eat clean and peak at the same time.
not to hijack the thread, but I’m looking at this situation myself. If I had a PL competetion tomorrow, Id weigh in at about 220, and get a total of about 1300-1350. Almost any time I see/hear advice on this topic, the answer is to just stack on as much strength as you can get, let your weight be secondary to that entirely. Not to say go be a fatass, but never sacrifice strength for dropping a few pounds.
However, I was a wrestler in high school, and I really feel like I can benefit dropping to 198. I know the water weight manipulation game very well (and understand it’s risks), and I’ve also got plenty of fat to lose. I think it’s a game of fine tuning what works for your individual body. For me, I’m thinkin that might be 198.
For instance, my Wilks total in the scenario above is a 359-373, if I dropped to 198 BW, I can lose 50-100 pounds off my total and still get that score.
Please note, I’ve never done a PL event, I’m new to the sport. Woulda went to one in April but I got sick as a dog the week prior.
I sit around 195 and drop to 181, it’s definitely doable mkral. Lean down a bit, drop the carbs the week of the meet, drop sodium the day before weigh ins and start sweating the night before.
Well, depending on your body composition this is easily doable 4 weeks out and that’s when we typically start.
You need to pay close attention to your morning and evening weight. You want to continue to see a decrease in your morning weight as it is an indicator of how you will weigh the morning of. If you can get down to 203-205 within 4 days you should be able to cut the rest just through no salt, almost no carbs and then spitting off the last 2 pounds or so the evening before, morning of the meet. Your water intake will need to be pretty minimal 2 days out.
If you need to, you can sleep in sweats the night before. None of this is fun, however. Taking a high dose of B6 the night before will make you wake up and piss like a race horse and lemons are a natural diuretic so if you can stand to eat them like an orange, are helpful the day before, as well.
However, as stated before, if you are not trying to hit a qualifier I would just train and maintain weight. There is really no merit in coming in a ‘light’ 220 as opposed to a full 220. It’s just adding more to think about/stress about/deal with before your meet.
Just understand, in all likelihood this will affect limit strength if you are under a 2 hour requirement and you need to really coast into your openers to save energy and make wise attempt selections to maximize your total.
Most of the time, we will have lifters gain anywhere from 4-7#'s by the time they pull. That comes down to sodium loading and even though you probably won’t feel like it, forcing yourself to eat in small increments all meet long.
Again, I don’t think it is a crazy cut but unless you are trying to qualify or win a State title or something like that, I would just train and maintain.
[quote]B rocK wrote:
I have the option of weighing in at 5:30 the day before the competition. The meet is on sunday at 9am and I could be there saturday at 5:30 to weigh in.
[/quote]
I just saw this and it does increase your options but if you are lifting USAPL/IPF I would state we never let lifters weigh early because they need to lift under the same conditions they would at the National level or for that matter at local meets where early weigh in is not provided.
There will be a difference in limit strength between the two options and you are better off getting used to it now as opposed to going into your next meet with false expectations.
[quote]ouroboro_s wrote:
I have a question that’s somewhat the flip side of that coin. I compete at 56 kg (123lbs) and have consistently weighed in over 1 kg under.
The guy that’s helping me train for nationals suggested that after this meet, I start training 1-2 kg over comp weight and cut the week before. He said I would see higher numbers going this route. Anyone have any advice on this?
Sorry to hijack B rock :)[/quote]
This is interesting to me and subject to much debate.
When you contrast US lifters with European lifters, we tend to think more is more (weigh more lift more) whereas they tend to stay at a lighter BW and still do very well.
Having said that what your coach is suggesting isn’t a great analogy because it’s not like he is trying to push you up a class in the interest of lifting more and it may help. Certainly, coming in under is not ideal it’s not like you are weighing 115.
2 kilos is nothing to cut but it is approaching 5% of your total BW.
If you can raise your training weight it’s certainly something to consider but you need to keep in mind your gear will probably fit different on meet day so you will likely want to make minor alterations to your suits (which we typically do anyway) hips and chest panel in particular, 2 weeks out to tighten them up to accomodate this.