Weight cutting is a crucial aspect of combat sports, helping athletes compete in lower weight classes while maintaining their strength and performance. However, not all weight cutting methods are safe or effective. For instance, if you're trying to make weight for a competition, you'll want to use techniques that allow you to cut weight safely while maintaining your energy and performance. On the other hand, if you're cutting too aggressively or without proper planning, you risk dehydration, muscle loss, and decreased performance on fight day.
So, how do you cut weight safely and effectively? In this article, we'll discuss weight cutting techniques and how to track your progress so you can reach your competition weight with consistency and accuracy.
What Is Weight Cutting?
Weight cutting is the process of temporarily reducing your body weight to compete in a lower weight class. This is common in combat sports like MMA, wrestling, boxing, and jiu-jitsu, where athletes need to meet specific weight requirements at weigh-ins, typically 24 hours before competition.
The goal of weight cutting is to lose as much weight as possible while maintaining your strength, endurance, and performance. However, cutting weight too aggressively can lead to dehydration, muscle loss, and decreased performance. That's why it's essential to use safe, proven techniques and track your progress carefully.
How Does Weight Cutting Work?
Weight cutting works by creating a calorie deficit and manipulating your body's water retention. The process typically involves two main phases: gradual weight loss through diet and exercise, followed by water manipulation in the final days before weigh-in.
Most athletes start their weight cut 4-8 weeks before competition, gradually reducing their calorie intake and increasing their training volume. This allows them to lose body fat while preserving muscle mass. During fight week, water-bound glycogen stores can be depleted through exercise and carbohydrate restriction, facilitating a 1% to 2% loss in body mass. This can be further enhanced by maintaining a low-fiber intake of less than 10 grams per day for 4 days.
Water loading is an empirically-proven fluid manipulation strategy that requires the athlete to consume excess water based on their body mass (BM) for 3-5 days (100mL per kg BM) followed by a period of water restriction (15mL per kg BM). Additionally, sodium manipulation can contribute to weight loss, with body mass losses of 1-2% reported in subjects who switched to a low sodium diet (less than 500 mg) for 5 days.
Is There a Right or Wrong Way to Cut Weight?
Weight cutting is a necessary part of many combat sports, but it's not for everyone. Individual goals, body composition, and competition timeline matter. Also, when weight cutting works, it's usually for short-term results, like making weight for an upcoming competition.
It can help you compete in your desired weight class, but ultimately, you want to find a balanced approach that supports your overall health and enables you to perform at your best. The key is using safe, science-backed methods and tracking your progress to ensure you're cutting weight in a healthy and sustainable way.
How to Track Your Weight Cutting Progress
Tracking your weight cutting progress helps you align your diet and training with your competition goals. When you monitor your daily weight, calorie intake, and body composition, you can create a more effective plan tailored to your specific needs.
There are various ways to monitor your progress, including:
- Daily weigh-ins to track weight loss trends
- Calorie and macronutrient tracking to ensure you're meeting your targets
- Body composition measurements to monitor muscle mass preservation
- Energy levels and performance metrics to assess recovery
Accuracy can vary between methods, so it's best to use averages over time instead of expecting exact numbers. Also, remember to combine tracking your weight with monitoring your nutrition and recovery for a balanced approach to weight cutting.
First, Determine Your Target Weight
The first thing you must do is determine how much weight you need to cut. Cutting too much weight can be dangerous and hurt your performance, while cutting too little might mean you miss your target weight class. The absolute best way to decide on your target weight is to work with a:
- Registered dietitian
- Sports performance coach
- Certified nutritionist specializing in combat sports
These professionals can consider your weight, height, body composition, health history, and competition timeline to create an ideal weight cutting plan. They can also help you determine how much weight you can safely cut while maintaining your performance.
If seeing a professional is off the table, you can use a weight cutting calculator or app like CutCoach to estimate your target weight. Many calculators use the Mifflin-St Jeor equation, a widely used tool developed by MD Mifflin and ST St Jeor to determine resting metabolic rate (RMR), which is defined as the number of calories burned while the body is in complete rest. This equation accounts for your current weight, body fat percentage, competition timeline, and activity level to determine a safe weight cutting range.
Start Tracking Your Nutrition
Once you have your target weight and timeline, you can start tracking your nutrition. To create a calorie deficit, eat fewer calories than your maintenance number; the size of your deficit will depend on how quickly you need to lose weight. A low-calorie diet typically involves consumption of 1,000–1,500 calories per day, with deficits of 500–750 calories per day commonly used for weight loss and recommended by many obesity societies and guidelines. You can keep track in a pen-and-paper journal or use a nutrition tracking app like CutCoach.
Understanding your Total Daily Energy Expenditure (TDEE) is crucial—it's an estimation of how many calories you burn per day when exercise is taken into account. It's calculated by first figuring out your Basal Metabolic Rate (using equations like Mifflin-St Jeor), and then multiplying that value by an activity multiplier based on your training intensity.
When it comes to macronutrient distribution, the acceptable ranges are 45–65% of your daily calories from carbs, 20–35% from fats, and 10–35% from protein. During weight cutting, these ratios may be adjusted to optimize fat loss while preserving muscle mass.
Tracking your meals has never been easier. With CutCoach, you can simply take a photo of your food, and our AI technology analyzes it to provide accurate nutritional information. This eliminates the tedious manual entry of calories and macros, making it simple to stay on track with your plan. The AI recognition technology learns and improves over time, providing increasingly accurate nutritional data with each use.
Don't forget to track everything you eat and drink throughout the day. Your beverages contribute to your daily calorie intake unless you consume nothing but plain water and zero-calorie drinks. Count the calories from the creamer in your coffee, sports drinks, alcohol, and any other beverages you consume.
Safety Considerations for Weight Cutting
Weight cutting can be dangerous if done incorrectly. Always consult with a healthcare professional before beginning any weight cutting program, especially if you're cutting significant amounts of weight. The app includes built-in safety features that monitor your progress and alert you if your weight loss is too rapid or potentially dangerous.
CutCoach is designed with your safety in mind. The app calculates safe weight cutting intensity levels and provides guidance to help you avoid dangerous practices. These safeguards help ensure that you're cutting weight in a healthy and sustainable way.
Key safety guidelines to follow include:
- Never cut more than 10% of your bodyweight in a single weight cut
- Stay hydrated and monitor your electrolyte levels
- Listen to your body and stop if you experience dizziness, fatigue, or other concerning symptoms
- Allow adequate recovery time between weight cuts
- Work with a qualified professional for guidance on safe practices
After Weigh-In: Refueling Protocols
After weigh-ins, proper refueling is crucial for peak performance. CutCoach provides scientifically-backed refueling strategies and meal plans to help you recover quickly and perform at your best during competition. These protocols are based on research from sports nutrition experts and are designed to maximize your recovery and performance.
Oral rehydration solutions (1 to 1.5 liters per hour) combined with a sodium range of 50–90 mmol/dL should take precedence immediately post-weigh-in. Post-weigh-in carbohydrate intake at 8–12 g/kg may be appropriate for combat athletes that undertook significant glycogen depletion strategies during fight week. About 4–7 g/kg may be suitable for modest carbohydrate restriction. Timing is critical—you want to start refueling as soon as possible after weigh-in to maximize your recovery window.
Essential refueling strategies include:
- Immediate rehydration with electrolyte-rich fluids
- Consuming easily digestible carbohydrates to restore glycogen
- Including lean protein sources to support muscle recovery
- Gradually increasing food intake to avoid gastrointestinal distress
- Monitoring your energy levels and adjusting your refueling plan accordingly
Track Your Weight Cutting with CutCoach
CutCoach transforms weight cutting with our cutting-edge AI technology. Just enter your competition details, and we'll do the rest. Our app combines scientifically-backed calculations with advanced AI models to:
- Create personalized weight cut plans based on your body composition
- Generate full meal plans based on your nutritional goals
- Track your daily weight and monitor progress in real-time
- Provide professional refueling protocols for post-weigh-in recovery
With built-in safety features and multiple tracking options, we've made weight cutting effortless. Options include:
- Daily weight tracking with trend analysis
- Nutritional consistency tracking
- Safety alerts for dangerous weight loss rates
- AI food recognition for accurate nutritional tracking
Gone are the days of guessing your calorie needs or cutting weight unsafely. Whether preparing for a fight weeks away or fine-tuning your weight in the final days, CutCoach gives you accurate, personalized guidance tailored to your specific needs.
CutCoach makes achieving your weight cutting goals simpler and safer than ever. Start your personalized weight cut plan with CutCoach today.