How Fighters and Bodybuilder Should Cut Weight Safely?

Cutting weight is a highly debatable subject everywhere. But when it comes to sports then cutting weight becomes much more important.

When you talk about Olympics and sports like running or jumping when they involve cutting weight only by 1-2 Kg which is very much feasible and safe.

But when you talk to bodybuilders or even weight lifters then they go to heights to achieve that weight cut. They talk of shedding 12-15 kg within time frame of 1 month. That’s dangerous. And this is the reason many bodybuilder resorts to weight loss pills and DTP for the same. None the less most of them have resulted in fatal accidents or worse even deaths too.

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So, we thought of taking expert opinions on the same. Dr. Andy Galpin who is a professor at the Center for Sports Performance At California State University, Fullerton works regularly with top-level fighters and bodybuilders. Dr. Galpin highlighted the fact that how you can lose weight steadily and in a healthy environment.

Dr. Galpin stressed on two major things – hydration level and Muscle glycogen. Glycogen is actually modern term for carb storage within your muscle cells. Muscle glycogen actually refers to the carb stored inside your muscle cells. Glycogen plays a major role in your sports performance and weight training. That is the major reason why there is always a struggle with the low carb diet.

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But what happens after weight cut is very very important too. Dr. Galpin says

“There’s a major problem with restoring performance after a weight cut. If we take advice from people who’ve adapted weight cutting from physique sports, the literal goal of the whole weight cut is different.”

Here the performance takes a complete back seat because the ultimate aim of weight cut in bodybuilding is to make the person look shredded and that’s what the weight cut in bodybuilding does.

Galpin further adds:

“The physique athlete will compete when they’re on stage when they feel their physical worst. An athlete has to do the exact opposite.”

Hydration Matters

Hydration is very important when it comes to weight loss. And more than physical benefits it also has to deal with brain functions as well.

Let’s have an expert opinion on this too :

1. As per the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM), 5-7 ml fluid of body weight is recommended. This is mostly for four hours of training or some competition.
2. While on the rest days, go for 2500 calories each day.