cutting weight sucks; cutting weight twice sucks more than twice as much

[terrencechan]

It's 8:30am, and I just got back from breakfast after making weight for the Grapplers Quest tournament tomorrow morning. I made 130.5 lbs to qualify for the bantamweight division, but not without significant difficulty, due to the fact that I basically had to cut weight twice in 12 hours

Comments

[gunga_galunga]

With the whole weight cutting thing it seems like there should be a better way. I mean, basically everyone is playing the game, right? All the 130 guys really weigh 135ish, but have to make themselves miserable for a day or two to get down to 130 like the other 135 lb guys. Everybody cuts weight so everybody has to cut weight. If nobody cut weight, nobody would have to cut weight and you'd be fighting the same people. Not sure what the answer is, but it seems kind of backwards.

[terrencechan]

Many competitions make you weigh in right before you step on the mats. This method basically precludes cutting a ton of water because it's rather difficult to fight well while totally dehydrated and underfed.

I personally prefer this style so as to avoid that day of misery. The main argument against doing this is that the high-level or really serious guys who are super-competitive will cut the weight anyway, despite the performance loss and obvious health risks. It's stupid, but people will still do it because they think they can dehydrate and starve themselves and still compete at a high level.

[ext_1460]

How is that an argument against? If someone can fight better while dehydrated and starving in a lower weight class than he can well-nourished in a higher one, let him. If it really makes him perform worse, it's self-correcting.

I guess the best option would be to have many licensed weigh-in centers around the globe, and require 12 weeks of certified weigh-ins to compete, taking the median weight or something.

[terrencechan]

Also, as I was standing in line yesterday, a dude walked by with no shirt on, a big smile on his face, and triumphantly said to his friend, "129.8!". Guy seemed nearly twice my size. So not all the guys at 130 weigh 135. Some of them probably weigh 145!

[anonymous]

I don't really get it. So everyone cheats to "make" their weight class by leaching their bodies of water a few days before a tournament? And actually, they weigh 5-20 or more pounds more than their weight class? So what is the point? It just seems beyond retarded. The weight classes and weigh-ins aren't accomplishing their objective, why hasn't the system been scrapped/revamped yet?

Kudos to putting yourself through such a ridiculous process for a sport you love though. That takes serious dedication.