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Part 2 the next post will share how Nate used intermittent fasting and strategically planned
eating to gain 20 pounds in 28 days, emulating a fighter who wants (or needs) to move up a weight class in
competition.
Enter Nate
Imagine this: Its Saturday night and youre a top-ranked MMA fighter who just stepped into the cage to fight for the
170-pound Welterweight Championship.
Question: How much do you weigh?
The answer may seem obvious: 170 pounds, right? But if you followed the steps of extreme weight manipulation,
the real answer is that you weigh somewhere between 185 and 190 pounds. Thats 15-20 pounds more than the
cutoff weight of 170.
24 hours before you stepped into the cage, however, you did in fact weigh 170 pounds. You had to. Friday night was
the official weigh-in where you and your opponent both stripped down to your skivvies, stepped on the scale in front
of the judge, and prayed that the number on the scale hit 170 or lower.
But once you stepped off that scale it was a race to gain weight.
I find this kind of physiological puppetry very interesting. Most of us regular guys have a hard time gaining or losing
just 5 pounds at a time.
But the top combat athletes can lose up to 30 pounds in just 5 days leading up to the fight. Then they can gain
nearly all of it back in the 24 hours between weighing in and going toe-to-toe.
They do this to gain a massive competitive advantage. In other words, the bigger guy who retains more of his
strength, agility, and endurance will likely win. The guy who weighs in at 170 and then fights at 170 often has
a world of hurt coming his way.
Thats why Anderson Silva arguably the worlds best MMA fighter normally fights in the 185-pound class even
though he actually weighs 215 pounds. A few days before he fights, Anderson cuts 30 pounds to make weight
then gains most of his weight back in 24 hours in time for his fight.
Georges St Pierre arguably the worlds 2nd best fighter normally walks around at 195 pounds. He ends up
cutting 25 pounds to make his 170 pound weight class, and then gains 20 of it back before his fight.
Sneaky, huh?
Just how do these guys do it? And what does this rapid weight loss and weight gain do to their performance?
Now extreme weight manipulation can go horribly, horribly wrong. Even a lot of UFC guys dont know how to do it
the smart way. Instead, they put their bodies in real harm by doing stupid things like taking a lot of diuretics, not
drinking any water, skipping meals, wearing trash bags while exercising (sometimes in the sauna) and generally
being idiotic.
They lose weight, of course. But they also lose energy and power and develop one bad temper. None of which helps
during fight time.
With the help of Dr. Berardi and Rooney, I decided to take a smarter route, instead of putting my health in serious
jeopardy.
I started at 190.2 pounds and had 5 days to lose 20 pounds.
Heres a breakdown of the nutritional strategies we used the same one Georges St Pierre and other
elite MMA fighters use before a big fight. (Remember: we know this because Dr. Berardi is Georges nutrition coach).
STRATEGICALLY DECREASE WATER CONSUMPTION
Dropping weight fast is all about manipulating your water and sodium levels.
For a fighter who wants to cut weight quickly and safely, heres how much water he would consume in the 5 days
leading up to his weigh-in:
Sunday 2 gallons
Monday 1 gallon
Tuesday 1 gallon
Wednesday .5 gallons
We sweat a lot in hot environments. However, we sweat the most in hot, humid environments. Since hot water
offers both heat and 100% humidity, fighters lose water quickly by taking hot baths and fully submerging
everything but their nose for 10 minutes at a time.
SIT IN THE SAUNA
This is the finishing touch to flush the last few pounds of water and is only used on the last few days leading up to
the weigh-in.
So that all looks fine on paper. But what does it actually feel like to go through it?
One word: Hell.
I started my cut on Sunday at 190 pounds. Heres a quick rundown of what it looked like.
SUNDAY 190 POUNDS
I carry a gallon water jug with me wherever I go, which makes me feel ridiculous. But I have to make sure I get my
two gallons of water in. Overall, though, I feel fine. It actually doesnt seem that difficult. Im not sure what the big
deal is.
MONDAY 187 POUNDS
Im starting to miss the taste of salt. All of my food is bland. Now Im drinking one gallon of water instead of two.
Still not that bad.
So we decided to check.
And it turns out, losing 20 pounds in 5 days is not conducive to being strong, powerful, or agile. (Surprise!) I
couldnt jump as high, lift as much weight, or run as fast or as long as I had just a week before during our baseline
testing.
POWER TEST: VERTICAL JUMP
Baseline: 31.7 inches
After Dehydration: 27.6 inches
STRENGTH ENDURANCE TEST: 225-POUND BENCH PRESS
Baseline: 15 reps
After Dehydration: 5 reps
ENDURANCE TEST: MAX TIME ON TREADMILL
Baseline: 3 minutes and 14 seconds of sprinting at 8mph with 6% incline
After Dehydration: 1 minute and 28 seconds of sprinting at 8mph with 3% incline
Its no wonder these guys try to gain all their weight back immediately after weighing in. Theyd be screwed if they
didnt.
Speaking of which
11 liters (25 pounds) of fluid between Friday weigh-in and Saturday weigh-in to get it all back.
24 hours in which to do it. 8 of which hell be sleeping and 3 of which will be leading up to Saturday weighin.
Back to normal-ish.
First things first: Personally, I ended up gaining 16.9 pounds back in 24 hours. Not bad.
But the real question: How much strength and power do you really gain when you super-hydrate?
Answer: A lot.
While I didnt perform as well as my baseline (when I did all the performance tests before I started the experiment),
I got really close. Which means that even though I put my body through a week of torture, it was almost 100%.
And I totally annihilated my performance numbers from just 24 hours before when I was sickly and dehydrated.
I ran faster and longer, jumped higher, and lifted more weight for more reps.
POWER TEST: VERTICAL JUMP
Baseline: 31.7 inches
After Dehydration: 27.6 inches
Re-hydrated: 29 inches
STRENGTH ENDURANCE TEST: 225-POUND BENCH PRESS
Baseline: 15 reps
After Dehydration: 5 reps
Rehydrated: 12 reps
ENDURANCE TEXT: MAX TIME ON TREADMILL
Baseline: 3 minutes and 14 seconds of sprinting at 8mph with 6% incline
After Dehydration: 1 minute and 28 seconds of sprinting at 8mph with 3% incline
Rehydrated: 3 minutes and 25 seconds of sprinting at 8mph with 6% incline