Weight Cutting

[1Iota]

Teaching kids to eat healthy to improve performance is awesome but the emphasis should be that they are doing it year round.  Most kids should gain weight and muscle mass when eating healthy, meaning a lot of calories for all the work they are doing but calories that provide a lot of fuel for the body.  Coaches should want the kids to get bigger and stronger.

The problem is that middle school is when the sport loses a lot of kids for a ton of reasons but one obvious one is that they don't need to eat healthy in other sports or by not doing anything.

Personally I teach healthy habits to improve performance in every sport I coach which includes proper nutrition, proper sleep, hydration, and learning to practice and train with maximizing time.  Does no good to not sleep and have a protein shake to feel goo about yourself and then eat at McDonalds and drink sodas or energy drinks.

My main problem is that all this gets associated wrestling as it is the only youth sport that may discuss it and often it is only at certain times of the year like around regionals.

Maybe we should have the same talk about eating healthy but not mention weight.  If they happen to lose weight then fine but hopefully most gain weight.  No youth wrestler should really be lighter at the end of the year than the beginning unless they came in quite overweight

My daughter competes in both Basketball and track...almost year around.  Her coaches at the high school level as well as AAU level teach these same nutritional practices...its not just wrestling....but wrestling has weight classes thus wrestlers will always be working to make one weight or another.  The problem I see is as a community we don't want to admit that this is a part of our sport.  We want to kick it under the carpet and pretend it doesn't happen on our team. It does!!!!  It doesn't matter if we cut weight classes add weight classes or stay the same...it will happen! A better idea would be to face it head on and teach good weight management....not ignore it and let wrestlers make weight any way they want.  Some coaches (and I am sure there are some that do) need to step up and not allow this drastic cutting that goes on during the season.  I have to laugh when after state wrestlers go wrestle at nationals and are wrestling two weight or even three weight classes up from their state weight...and then someone says how that wrestler is wrestling up weight classes....no he is not he weighed in at the same weight everyone else did at that weight class...he was cutting for state and chose not to cut for nationals.  Your not going to eliminate cutting but we sure can do a better job of educating proper weight management.

I agree that as a community we don't want to acknowledge the reality of the issue.  You bring up the weight difference at the HS school level from state to nationals, check out the difference from youth folkstyle state to freestyle state.  You will see that there are kids cutting almost 10% & in some cases more, of their body weight in the lowest weight classes.   

[slewguy]

A follow up to the above topic.

Should high school kids manage lose weight during the off-season(not high school)?? or should they wrestler at their normal weight for the freestyle/greco series?
I think their bodies need time to grow and recuperate from a high school season.

[imnofish]

This is a loaded question. By using the word "Cut", it makes it a negative. Should a wrestler"Manage their Weight"? Yes. That is called "Discipline".

+1  I agree.  Our current system is designed to help with that.  If people want to manage their weight, then there is the structure and oversight to support it.  If they choose not to manage their weight, then they can choose that path, but the current system limits the potential for extreme "cutting."  Some folks will still try to game the system, but at least the opportunity for a healthy path is available.  No matter what we have in place, some people will make poor choices, though, which is unfortunate.  Personally, I observed that Wisconsin's weight management system provided a good incentive for my son to maintain a healthy weight throughout the off-season, via proper nutrition, hydration, and exercise habits.  His junior and senior years, he took his first fat test at (slightly less than) the weight he would be wrestling, with the option to move down later in the year; he had been "walking around" at that weight for several months, already.

[woody53]

Teaching kids to eat healthy to improve performance is awesome but the emphasis should be that they are doing it year round.  Most kids should gain weight and muscle mass when eating healthy, meaning a lot of calories for all the work they are doing but calories that provide a lot of fuel for the body.  Coaches should want the kids to get bigger and stronger.

The problem is that middle school is when the sport loses a lot of kids for a ton of reasons but one obvious one is that they don't need to eat healthy in other sports or by not doing anything.

Personally I teach healthy habits to improve performance in every sport I coach which includes proper nutrition, proper sleep, hydration, and learning to practice and train with maximizing time.  Does no good to not sleep and have a protein shake to feel goo about yourself and then eat at McDonalds and drink sodas or energy drinks.

My main problem is that all this gets associated wrestling as it is the only youth sport that may discuss it and often it is only at certain times of the year like around regionals.

Maybe we should have the same talk about eating healthy but not mention weight.  If they happen to lose weight then fine but hopefully most gain weight.  No youth wrestler should really be lighter at the end of the year than the beginning unless they came in quite overweight

My daughter competes in both Basketball and track...almost year around.  Her coaches at the high school level as well as AAU level teach these same nutritional practices...its not just wrestling....but wrestling has weight classes thus wrestlers will always be working to make one weight or another.  The problem I see is as a community we don't want to admit that this is a part of our sport.  We want to kick it under the carpet and pretend it doesn't happen on our team. It does!!!!  It doesn't matter if we cut weight classes add weight classes or stay the same...it will happen! A better idea would be to face it head on and teach good weight management....not ignore it and let wrestlers make weight any way they want.  Some coaches (and I am sure there are some that do) need to step up and not allow this drastic cutting that goes on during the season.  I have to laugh when after state wrestlers go wrestle at nationals and are wrestling two weight or even three weight classes up from their state weight...and then someone says how that wrestler is wrestling up weight classes....no he is not he weighed in at the same weight everyone else did at that weight class...he was cutting for state and chose not to cut for nationals.  Your not going to eliminate cutting but we sure can do a better job of educating proper weight management.

We listen to people all the time oh so and so walks around at this weight..... except a ref sees those same kids check their weight on say Friday evening after a day of wrestling to see how far they are over for Saturday. Then you sit near fans from those schools and they tell you what those kids walk around weighing.
Ex club coaches telling other coaches so and so has had his kids vomiting ect to make weight.
How about the truth...
Here it is our kid was at the youth state tournament watching his brother we ate out multiple times and then at the crap food served at the Alliant center.
Our son likes to indulge and be like "normal" kids. Weighed 142 on sunday after eating out all weekend. We do not deny him during the off season. He can gain 15 to 17 lbs after the HS state tournament ends while practicing only 2-3 days per week. Then had to "make weight" by Thurs. morning while on spring break... best option for him was 138 unless he was going to starve and not drink fluids
So the other thing is there is a difference between walk around weight and a competitive weight. We were at the national tournament our son wrestled up from his state weight. Since were on the truth he did not miss a meal over the season and making 126 was fairly easy for him. Yes he wrestled up from his competitive weight yep they all weighed in on thursday morning at 138 or less but come Thursday evening and Friday they were most definitely not the same. Same thing goes for Fargo especially for the placing rounds.... If our kid is not at his competitive weight for Fargo we will better spend our money on camps.
What works for our son is not what works for yours. Parents and coaches need to find what works for there wrestlers.
Will our son cut/manage his weight  at the direction of his CLUB coaches-YES
Come Fargo time will he cut 15 lbs-Possibly
So we can rosy sunshine weight management/cutting weight or we can tell the truth and that is our kids truth. While at his competition weight he is quicker lighter on his feet ect. Did he feel heavy footed/ slower while wrestling up-yep.
So that's our truth

Do not even know how to respond to this?

[imnofish]

I get what Doc and Aaron are saying about the importance of teaching and enforcing healthy eating and weight management practices.  Yes, wrestling seems to be the only sport with which these issues are associated, in the public's minds, but it is important for all kids - athletes or not.  Our daughter only competed in track and she also focused on healthy eating and exercise habits.  From experience, she learned the best weight range for her performance and sought to maintain that target.  For football, our nephew found (and trained toward) a specific weight that allowed him to sustain the power and leverage needed in the defensive line, while maximizing his foot speed to rush the QB. 

As for the P.R. problem for wrestling, because of the weight cutting issues, I really don't see how we can fix it as long as those in the sport (and/or their families) choose to take shortcuts and then continually talk about it.  However, doesn't that parallel issues that sports many other sports reportedly have with steroids, doping, etc.? 

[hammen]

Weight cutting should be saved for adults. There is no reason to cut weight as a child. The only thing kids should be doing are eating healthy and as often as their bodies demand. They should never deprive their bodies of nutrition. Biggest regret I ever had as a young wrestler was spending time and effort managing my weight than getting better and stronger. Once you're an adult, you're developed and at a much different maturation level. You already have the love for the sport to be able to put in the work to manage weight and get better together. If my children decide to wrestle, the only weight management allowed will be eating healthy and allowing their bodies to grow.

[imnofish]

Weight cutting should be saved for adults. There is no reason to cut weight as a child. The only thing kids should be doing are eating healthy and as often as their bodies demand. They should never deprive their bodies of nutrition. Biggest regret I ever had as a young wrestler was spending time and effort managing my weight than getting better and stronger. Once you're an adult, you're developed and at a much different maturation level. You already have the love for the sport to be able to put in the work to manage weight and get better together. If my children decide to wrestle, the only weight management allowed will be eating healthy and allowing their bodies to grow.

I like how you think.  Getting stronger should be part of managing ones weight in a healthy manner.  Maintaining a higher muscle mass helps you burn more calories at rest.  Eat right and train right to find the proper balance...  and exercise enough patience to let kids mature at their own rates, physically and emotionally.  Bet you'll make a great sports dad, regardless of the sports your kids embrace.

[littleguy301]

Lg must you kick me when I'm down? Cut out ice cream?  OUCH

Not sure if you need to be cutting to get to any weight. Perfection is one word that comes to my mind when I think of your wrestling shape.

[littleguy301]

Proper training and proper eating should be the focal point of devolping a good athlete. Sadely in my area wrestling is about the only sport that anyone talks proper eating habits.

by the way, I talk about this in January and regionals is in March.

Yes through proper practice so kids do lose weight during the season if only 8 weeks. Some kids gain weight, some stay the same. Every kid is different. Some hit a growth spurt (had one last year 10 pounds in 6 weeks) had others lose 5 pounds in a period of 6 weeks. Strange it is but when your talking 11-15 years olds anything can happen.

Eating right should be talked about in all sports through out middle school and high school.

[ramjet]

The entire weight issue associated with wrestling comes from the mind set that if you weigh less but have the same strength as two weight classes above you are at an advantage.

There are guidelines for healthy weight based on body mass index but even those are so erroneous and broad they lack the accuracy to determine an individual's healthy weight index. Allot of variables like bone size and density. This frankly is a science in itself but any decent respecting parent that has any interaction with a medical Proffessional will be told they are overweight. But it is sound as general rule when height age and fat percentage is considered?

Here is the thing as a Nation we are very overweight and it is epidemic amongst school age children the crap they consume and the unhealthy inactive lifestyle they participate in is just horrifying at times. Wrestlers are among the healthiest and weight balanced school age kids there are. I for one am sick and tired of all the criticism it is not as bad as so many uninformed people make it to be. We use sound science for body fat testing and that science may be abused by some so shame on the parents or coaches that allow it. Education just like Aaron said discussion and frank direct conversation about skill vs strength should be part of any training program. Good diet and trust me it is very important and I know most coaches promote healthy weight managment and healthy choices for thier wrestlers. But that coach cannot go home with every kid to make sure they eat right and no regulation other than what is in place can improve on what we already have.

[imnofish]

Ramjet, I think you summed that up quite well.