Acute Weight Manipulation (AWM) practices are very common in
weight class sports, and the practices for “making weight” vary greatly. We
define AWM as the temporary reduction in body mass (BM) to compete in a weight
class lower than one’s usual weight. This approach is to gain an actual or
perceived advantage under the assumption that athletes with more mass will
generally perform better than the athletes with less mass in strength sports.
Whether this is always the case is debatable, as it is theorized that more
muscle mass will provide more strength potential in advanced athletes, since a
greater variety of factors contribute to strength development in beginner and
intermediate athletes like neural adaptations and skill acquisition (1). read more. webcomputerworld The goal of this
article is to help coaches and athletes sort out the noise across the internet
and gym lore so that they can approach weight cutting in the healthiest and
safest ways possible. There are a lot of legitimate dangers with some of the
processes of AWM, like intentional dehydration or electrolyte manipulations.
Both of those factors if done incorrectly can lead to severe illness and even
death. In a survey on competitive powerlifters, 83% of men and 90.2% of
women(2) participated in AWM for their contest. Among those athletes were High,
Medium, and low “caliber” athletes Lightweight, Middleweight, and Heavyweight.
It is worth nothing that this survey was on powerlifters who were also trying
to achieve the best possible Wilks score. The magnitude (amount of total mass
lost) using AWM increased as the caliber of athlete went up. I.E. More advanced
athletes cut more.
Why might more advanced athletes lose more than intermediate
and beginner athletes? One possible scenario is that more advanced athletes
might have more total muscle mass and therefore larger compartments of water to
draw from. Another possibility is that the more elite athletes are digging a
little bit deeper for their AWM in order to make weight with more “on the
line”.
What makes AWM different from a traditional weight loss
regimen is that all of the weight lost for AWM is intended to be temporary and
recoverable within a short period. This essentially means that there is no fat
or muscle tissue loss. This temporary BM reduction comes from the reduction in
body water and transient gut contents. Reduction in body water is usually
accomplished via water restriction and sweating, while the gut mass reduction
is commonly done through low residue diets or laxatives. AWM practices usually
start about a week to a few days before a contest weigh-in. Many athletes
consider the AWM to be complete at weigh-in and then just consume salty
beverages and consume a lot of food as quickly as possible. For the most part
that works alright, though the athlete would benefit from a more controlled and
intentional recovery post weigh-in.The dangers involved with AWM are primarily
related to electrolyte imbalance and temperature control. Some of the greatest
risks come from utilizing pharmaceutical grade diuretics that fully bypass the
body’s regulatory processes and will continue their dehydration past safe
levels if used improperly. Potassium imbalances are a major concern with
diuretics or AWM and can be lethal. Temperature control is also a health risk
with increasing levels of dehydration. Due to the common use of saunas, hot
baths, and wearing layered clothing while exercising, the changes in
temperature control ability of the body becomes more important. Lastly, one of
the most common practices in AWM includes “water loading” which is a process of
consuming much more water than the athlete usually would for a number of days.
Water loading with too high of volume and too quickly can lead to a dangerous
condition known as Hyponatremia.
Before thinking about AWM, first consider the age of the
athlete. While anyone who’s known a wrestler in high school probably
understands that teenagers and adolescents may participate in weight
restriction to make their weight class. Despite this fact adolescents and young
adults should participate in AWM or weight restriction as little as possible or
not at all due to the concern for the dangers of AWM in younger athletes(3).
Children and young adults are not only physically less efficient in temperature
regulation, but are undergoing important physical and mental development and
should instead focus on technique, performance, and healthy relationships with
food and body image. Turning these younger athletes into healthy adults is more
important than making a specific weight class.
Considerations for Athletes
1. Health and Wellbeing: AWM should ideally be practiced
only by healthy adults who have a positive body image and relationship with
food. If you are a coach, you need to consider this portion seriously. Know
that you are going to keep your athletes healthy and not take your athletes
through a process that will leave them with lasting issues or exacerbate
existing. read more. healthnutritionhints
