I am a female who competes middle weight in BJJ ( I weigh 145). I am considering dropping down to light weight, which would mean shaving 10 pounds. Has anyone done this? If so, what kind of time frame did you use for the weight loss? Did you lose strength? If so, how long did it take you to build up your strength again? I am 5'6" and have a medium frame, so the 10 pounds is do-able, I'm just worried about the strength and stamina thing.

Dagney

I am a female who competes middle weight in BJJ ( I weigh 145). I am considering dropping down to light weight, which would mean shaving 10 pounds. Has anyone done this? If so, what kind of time frame did you use for the weight loss? Did you lose strength? If so, how long did it take you to build up your strength again? I am 5'6" and have a medium frame, so the 10 pounds is do-able, I'm just worried about the strength and stamina thing.

Dagney

Well I used to do this a bit for kickboxing way back in the day. It is essentially harder in say BJJ or any tournament oriented sport where you have to shed the weight and keep it off the day of. (compete and weigh in the same day) In boxing or kickboxing, MMA, etc. If your weigh in is the day before then you can put alot of the weight back on quickly. So in your case you are probably going to want to do this gradually so that you can keep that 10 lbs off and if you do it slowly you will not notice probably not too much of a loss of strength. http://www.martialtalk.com/forum/images/icons/icon6.gif

Well I used to do this a bit for kickboxing way back in the day. It is essentially harder in say BJJ or any tournament oriented sport where you have to shed the weight and keep it off the day of. (compete and weigh in the same day) In boxing or kickboxing, MMA, etc. If your weigh in is the day before then you can put alot of the weight back on quickly. So in your case you are probably going to want to do this gradually so that you can keep that 10 lbs off and if you do it slowly you will not notice probably not too much of a loss of strength. http://www.martialtalk.com/forum/images/icons/icon6.gif

Brian is right loose it slowly and this will help you keep the strength, Best of luck.

I have shed weight for both kickboxing and mma; I normally fight light heavyweight or heavyweight division but when I was much younger and did not work so much on muscularity I dropped to middleweight and lost about 6 kgs (12.4 pounds). Primarily from running, swimming, increased cardio work and not a change in diet type but a reduction in volume/quantity.

I did not like the lighter weight in general and felt weaker. My first fight I was surprised how drained I felt. If this is not for a specific upcoming competition/title and is instead for the long term then you need to (as said above) focus on gradual reductions over time or you may well find yourself lacking not only strength but endurance/stamina essential for wrestling. I deliberately put on the weight again quickly so can't comment on how long it will take to regain stamina/strength if you do a crash weight loss. But some professional boxers successfully drop divisions so it's certainly do-able if managed properly.

Thank you for the advice! I started the Gracie diet about two months prior to my last tournament and I dropped 5 pounds within a week and half! And I wasn't even trying to be ultra-mega strict with the diet. I am pretty liberal with the amount of fat (olive oil, nuts, etc) that I eat, so I know that cutting my fat intake will sharpen things even more.

I have toyed with the idea of dropping weight just to give the old mental competitive edge another twist, but I don't want to become a lethargic weak bore. I think I will take your suggestion and make this a year long project.

Dagney

Thank you for the advice! I started the Gracie diet about two months prior to my last tournament and I dropped 5 pounds within a week and half! And I wasn't even trying to be ultra-mega strict with the diet. I am pretty liberal with the amount of fat (olive oil, nuts, etc) that I eat, so I know that cutting my fat intake will sharpen things even more.

I have toyed with the idea of dropping weight just to give the old mental competitive edge another twist, but I don't want to become a lethargic weak bore. I think I will take your suggestion and make this a year long project.

Dagney


You do want to be wary of fast weight loss. Dieting as you are doing can lead to a loss of fat but also an equal amount of muscle because you aren´t getting enough protein to sustain your current muscle. Your body will break down the protein in your muscles to make up for the lack of energy supplied by your diet.

Finding your preferred weight to compete at can only come from trying it out. When I drop under 198 pounds I feel a drop in strength. Over 225 and i feel slow, a drop in agility.

- Eat to fuel your training. This requires research on your part but give yourself the right amount of protein/carbs to keep your energy levels up and assure strong recovery.

- Drop the weight slowly and controlled.

- Bring in some strength conditioning drills into your training. Things like double leg takedown maneuvers where you correctly power lift your training partners, and extra bjj conditioning drills your teacher advises to keep your muscle.

Good luck and let us know how you go. If you want some diet advice, throw me a pm.

- bj