If you are a fan of mma sometimes you notice before the event that fighter have to face the cut of the weight. The question that can arise on your mind can be.
Why do MMA fighters need to cut weight?The fighters are aiming to enter into the possible lowest weight class category by cutting their weight in order to take advantage of the training done with the previous weight .
They dehydrate the body to weight cut for thirty-six hours and after they entered to the aimed weight category, they again rehydrate to gain the body weight again to keep the muscle size.
For more information regarding the weight cut of mma fighter keep reading, you will find all what you need to know about the weighting cut of fighters.
How do MMA fighters cut weight?
MMA fighters cut weight normally within a week for weigh-in’s. In some fights, weigh-in day is on the same day of the fight and in some fights, weigh-in day lies before the day of the fight.
What are things that must be taken into consideration when cutting weight?
1-The fat level of the body
First, the fighter should know the fat level in the body. After that the fighter should know his or her desired fat level. The fat level helps to gain more muscles and that causes for gaining of more weight.
2-Water level of the body
In our body there is a water layer. When we drink more water the body weight is going up. With the aid of water there will be so many reactions inside the body because water is the main refuel of our body. So, drinking water should be reduced during the weight cutting period.
3-Muscle mass
During the weight cutting period the fighter should stop the weight training workouts. More the body lifts weight the more the muscles get gain. When the muscles gained more the muscle mass is increasing. With muscle mass the body weight is going up. In the weight cutting period the fighters should do cardio exercises if it is possible. Reducing the muscle mass helps to achieve the desired weight cutting limit for a Mix Martial Arts fighter.
4-The intake of carbs
Carbohydrates take more time to digest in the body and they are heavy to the body. During the weight cutting period the carbohydrates included foods should be reduced. Carbohydrates help to gain more weight on the body and that affects to the aim of fat weight cutting period.
5-Reduce sweets
By eating more sweets, the sugar level can be increased. When the sugar level goes high the fighter can get unconscious. When the sugar level increases, the body shape is also getting out of range. Reducing sweets is a must during the weight cutting period.
How do MMA fighters cut weight within a week?
From day 1 to day 6:
The fighters lower their carbohydrate intake by half.
During the whole week fighters must reduce the amount of carbohydrates, but they should not go on a diet with zero carbs as there will not be a time to fill up the glycogen stores before the fight and also there must be some carbs in their body for allowing the fighters to train hard and to keep confidence about not becoming weak during the fight.
Lowering the amount of carbohydrate intake leads for a rapid weight loss. Each gram of the carbohydrate intake, the body will hold three grams of water weight to go with it. This will be reduced by reducing the carbohydrate intake and causes a rapid loss in the body weight.
During the whole week fighters should avoid from sweets and sugar. The body will lose its shape because of sugar.
Day 2:
Cut out salt, strategically and Increase the water intake.
After the reduction of carbohydrate intake by half, reduction of salt intake must be initiated. Loss of water weight causes the body to shred down. When there is a higher amount of sodium, the water will be retained in the body.
However, salt intake must not be cut out at once as it will cause the body to freak out. So, the fighters need to decrease the amount of salt intake gradually in order to cut the weight during the weight cutting period.
Fighters start to drink more water about 5 days before the fight in order to flush out salt and it leads to drop the water weight naturally.
Day 6 and day 7:
24 hours before the fights or the weigh-in’s, fighters should stop the water intake.
As these fighters keep drinking water a lot up to the last two days, the body has get used to it and keeps more urinating as usual however the body is not having more water.
So, this will help to lose more weight before the fight or the weigh-in’s day.
It is good to have the above-mentioned procedure of water intake for an instance where weigh-in’s and the fighting are on the same day.
But some fighters start cutting out water intake for 5 days before the weigh-in’s. This method is good for the instances where the weigh-in’s are on a day before the fights. Because fighters will have a time period for their recovery.
However, fighters must be aware of not being dehydrated during the fight because it will lead into a struggling situation by having loss in physical strength.
Day 6:
Get a very few amounts of carbohydrates and eat only fats. (On the day before weigh- in’s)
Fighters must only consume fats and a very few cards. High fat peanut butter is recommended for this. Fats are filled with dense calories and they are having only a little weight. It causes for having enough energy for the fighters during the fight and the body will become light.
The fighters must keep a little carbohydrate intake before the fight day, in order to ensure that their glycogen stores are not fully depleted and that helps to sleep well in the night before the fight too.
If the fighters maintain a zero carb diet before the day of the fight, there will be a possibility of feeling gassed during the fight because the glycogen levels will be zero.
Day 7:
Eat some carbs (On the day of fight)
It is really important to get some carbohydrates before you fight. This helps to keep the glycogen stores from not being empty. And fighters must not take any water because if water is taken, water will bind with the carbs and may lead for a dramatical increase in the weight.
On the last day fighters tend to sweat the last remaining water weight out. Some fighters keep running for some hours in a sweatsuit or engage in activities that causes sweating.
Sweating the last weight out leads to shed a more amount of weight in a few hours specially when running. But there is a problem regarding this last minute weight cutting system because sometimes fighters will have a huge strain on the body so that will cause dehydration during the fight as there will not be a lot of time for recovering process before the fight. Therefore, it is good to avoid this last-minute weight cutting by sweating out.
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How they recover from the cut?
Recovering process must be done after the fight to maintain the physical and mental fitness of the fighters.
They tend to drink more water and sports drinks at first and after that they start to have foods and nutrition.
If it is not possible to recover the water weight and energy fighters will have to face many struggles like being lethargic and lacking energy for training. So, it is really important to recover from the weight cuts after the matches.
Conclusion
The weight cut is not a safe process, it should be followed by an expertise, and the fighters must be followed constantly, in order to avoid some disasters.
I hope that in this article you find all what you need.