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A Slice of Humble Pie with P2
🥧 A podcast where we curiously explore nutrition, fitness, mindset, sports, wellness, & beyond. ☕️Host @parastoobadie
A Slice of Humble Pie with P2
Weight Cuts for Weight Class Sports
Join us for an exciting journey into weight class sports with Dr Marc Morris, PhD, CSCS,, a leading expert in nutrition and fitness. Dr. Morris sheds light on the critical role of meticulous nutrition and strategic planning in the face of strict weight requirements.
Dr. Morris shares firsthand insights into the intricate dance of maintaining peak performance while managing nutritional intake and body composition, offering invaluable advice for athletes and coaches alike.
Our conversation delves deep into the science of hydration, carbohydrate loading, and the strategic planning needed for success in weight-dependent sports. We emphasize the importance of leveraging data as a guiding compass through the complexities of weight management. With Dr. Morris's expertise and our candid anecdotes, this discussion provides a wealth of strategies to help athletes conquer their weight class and leave a mark in their sport's history.
To connect with Dr Marc, check out:
https://www.instagram.com/marcwmorris/
https://www.polyhealth.ca/
Website: https://parastoobadie.com/podcast/
Email: asliceofhumblepiewithp2@gmail.com
Instagram: @asliceofhumblepiewithp2
Welcome back to A Slice of Humble Pie with P2. Our guest today is Dr Mark Morris. Besides being really knowledgeable and experienced in nutrition and fitness, he's a rad dude who's humble, down to earth and goes out of his way to make his content accessible and digestible. He's actually one of my mentors and a lot of what I've learned about nutrition coaching, especially for weight class sports, has been because of his influence. He is a certified strength and conditioning specialist, has a PhD in human nutrition, is a guest lecturer at the College of Pharmacy and Nutrition at the University of Saskatchewan and has over a decade of coaching experience. He founded PolyHealth, a nutrition consulting service to optimize health and achieve athletic goals, where he specializes in flexible dieting and weight class sports. So Mark has competed himself and also coached several athletes at the international level as the assistant coach for Canada's powerlifting team at the Commonwealth Games in 2050. Which is the Dr Mark Method, where he mentors nutrition coaches and shares his extensive education in nutrition.
Speaker 1:Today, mark is joining the podcast to chat about weight class sports and to just share all of this wonderful experience and knowledge that he possesses, and I'm just super grateful and really, really pumped that he's on this podcast. So a massive, huge welcome. Thank you for being here. Let's get right into it. All right, let's get right into it. Welcome to the podcast, dr Mark Morris.
Speaker 2:You too, thanks for having me on.
Speaker 1:I'm so excited. So at this point, we're all aware of your impressive background and expertise. But before we get into the facts, the science and the specifics, can you share an occasion where a weight cut went horribly wrong, either for yourself or for one of your athletes?
Speaker 2:Yeah, there's one specific instance that comes to mind for me and this is really when I started like digging into this stuff and thinking, okay, I got to figure it out. It was 2015. We had powerlifting nationals in St John's. I had been coaching all week and I had been keeping on top of like where my weight was and stuff. But I think I was probably like lifting and competing on like the third or fourth day, so things were like pretty busy leading into that. I didn't have too much time to think about it, but I was like keeping on top of things and I remember going to bed the night before and having an early weigh in and thinking, oh, I'm in a good spot, I'll drop this amount of weight overnight. I kind of had a pretty good handle on what that was and I was on pace to do it. And I remember waking up um, probably like an hour, hour and a half for weigh-ins super early in the morning and waking up and like looking at the scale and it like had not moved much at all, um, and being like oh, like, this is not good. So I remember being like, oh, okay, I gotta get, gotta get to it right away. So sort of like got in the bathtub super hot water, you know started getting in, sweating a little bit, spitting that type of thing Got out, weighed myself, keep doing this process like every you know, 10, 15 minutes, keep you on top of things and still not moving very much. I remember thinking, oh man, this is serious. So I called my training partner, who wasn't at the hotel but was coming, and I was like you need to grab me these things, this stuff, that type of thing. And I was like you need to grab me these things, this stuff, that type of thing. And I remember going for my first weigh-in, like the actual first time I was going to get on the scale and I was in the 74-kilo weight class and I got on the scale and I remember being like I was still like 300, 400 grams over and being like, oh man, I still got a ways to go here. And usually in that sport you have another up to 30 minutes before the event starts to actually certify, so there was some more time. Everyone else weighs in and then the refs kind of have to hang out, unfortunately, to make sure someone gets in. I remember like, oh okay, I can try this, I can do this. They had a sauna at the venue, so I got in that I was in there. There was a couple other people in the same situation. It was kind of funny there are new fees and I was stuck in this small like cedar sauna with them and we were like you got the skittles in your mouth, you're spitting, you're doing all this stuff.
Speaker 2:I get back on the scale to try again and I'm still like 100 grams off. And at this point I have like I don't have much time left. I had like, maybe, like maybe, maybe it was a little bit more. It was like 200 grams now and I had like a half hour left, kind of thing. And I remember like, oh man, you know, this isn't enough time, this is freaking out.
Speaker 2:And at this point I don't think I would have been able to lift in another weight class. It was like pretty much do or die and I had to do it. So at that point I was like, oh man, this is serious. And I had asked my training partner, um and I had never tried this before to bring me a suppository, because I like had no other like thing, I had no other options. And I remember like doing that, and if you haven't done anything like that before. I was like it went in surprisingly easy and I was like, oh man, this is, this is new. This is an experience. I was like should I take a second one? But did that? It helped a little bit, like keep going that kind of thing.
Speaker 2:And I remember being like this is going to be close and, um, I think I tried with like five minutes left and I was still like I was like 50 grams over that kind of thing. And at the last possible minute I was like the refs were waiting for me to do this. At the last possible minute I had like one more chance. I peed one more time. I got on the scale and I remember one of the refs being like take, blow the most air you can and get on this scale. And I was like this is so strange. And I was like God, I was like like blew out as much as I could, got on the scale and it was like 74.00 without any more time left. It was was no, like no wiggle room at all, and I made it. And I remember being like at that moment like this is, this is got to change.
Speaker 1:I got to figure out.
Speaker 2:Yeah, this is the worst and I got to figure out a better way to do this, because I just felt like I had no control. It was this huge panicked approach. Nothing was calculated, it was just like kind of like, you know, adding to the craziness and that type of thing, and just completely rushed and pretty, quite honestly, anti scientific in terms of just nothing. I couldn't repeat that process Again. I couldn't be able to have a strategy in place and I remember that moment being like I got to do something about this and figure it out, and that's where I kind of started studying this and just adding context to the things you can do and can't do and what's more important, least important, what's going to impact your performance more than others, and trying to play around with those variables to approach weight classes and put yourself in a good spot to be able to make it based on you know what you're comfortable with.
Speaker 2:And everyone's a little bit different and I know a bunch of people listening to this, be it like the fighters that listen to the podcast or different lifters and that type of stuff.
Speaker 2:Everyone has a different gauge around what they should be doing and shouldn't be doing, but it's just getting a better sense of like what you're, what you're willing to do and what you need to do, and kind of going from there. So that's what I I knew at that moment I was like, oh man, uh, this is, this is and I mean for me specifically like part of the part of those sports that's. There's an aspect of that that I think I'm wired differently. I kind of enjoy it. Like there's aspects of it that it's kind of like the preparation of it right, like I don't know If I had nothing to think about like that 24 hours leading into it, I don't know if it would sit with me the same way. I kind of like that. You know, put my hood up, get focused. I got some, you know, focus on type things, but outside of that, like, yeah, there's definitely it doesn't need to be that extreme in most cases.
Speaker 1:So I'm hoping we can chat about what that would look like today. Absolutely, that was a story. I was not expecting that, but that really does set the stage for why you're so passionate about this and really did get into it, as I will ask you in a moment. There's a few things you said that I want to just kind of give more context to our listeners before we get more into the science.
Speaker 1:You were saying you were talking about your weight class, which is the 74. And so just to sort of give a bit more context, and weight class sports, we have combat sports, so like wrestling, boxing, muay Thai, jujitsu, etc. And then we mentioned some lifting, so powerlifting, olympic lifting, strongman they're all within this category. So if you're not one of those athletes listening to this podcast, you're like what? But yes, athletes are willing to do a lot of things, but they are categorized by weight classes and, as of this moment, it's still, I guess, the most appropriate way of dividing competition. We can talk about the ethics of that and mental health on another, another day. But you were saying that you couldn't be in any other weight class, so can you kind of talk about how one chooses a weight class and how you know if you were in the right or wrong weight class.
Speaker 2:To begin, with In that situation. That was more of a administrative thing in terms of I had registered for that weight class and on that specific day, like I needed to compete in it, like that it wasn't happening any other way. Um, but generally, if I was being smart about things and I had qualified and all of that stuff, like I would, just I would compete at the weight class above it and I would not, wouldn't need to do any of these things because I would be safely in that weight class kind of thing. With that being said, when we look at like athletics in general, a lot of these, like strength sports or power-based sports or even the technical fighting sports, if we take two athletes that are, you know, completely the same in other ways in terms of their technique, their coaching, their like natural aptitude, all of those things and we compare them, uh, and they're exactly the same, the athlete typically with more muscle mass is going to have the advantage just because of some of the demands of the sport. They're, you know, if their technique is the same, all that stuff, they're just flat out stronger. They typically have the advantage. So in sports like weight class sports and strength sports, like if you can be the more muscular, leaner athlete filling in the weight class, you will typically have an advantage just because you can develop more power. You can generate more power, all of those things.
Speaker 2:So usually when we're trying to pick a weight class, we're trying to maximize the amount of muscle mass you can carry in that weight class while being the most competitive. And one of the best ways to do this this is like a very subjective way is that, like you look at the top of the sport and you start to look at what do people look like in in you know their, their body comp and how they're built and that type of stuff. I go to a powerlifting nationals and I'm five foot seven and I feel like the tallest person there Because, like, because, like everyone else is like a lot of times it just gravitates towards, like you know, we think about basketball, like taller people generally are going to do better, right, Like those types of things. So we look around and if someone's like five foot five foot five and 83 kilos in that heavier weight class and they've filled everything in, or really maximizing their muscle mass and stuff, we started to think about, um, they've filled everything in, or really maximizing their muscle mass and stuff we start to think about. You know you're going to generally be more competitive, so how to determine that is more or less like what?
Speaker 2:How much muscle mass can I carry and how lean can I be realistically within a weight class to a point where it's not impacting my performance? Because if we're way too lean and not eating enough you know nutrients and calories and that type of stuff that's ultimately going to impact things on a larger scale, on a broader scale, that type of thing. But generally we're trying to maximize that relationship and because that'll allow us to be more competitive. So there's quite a few ways we can do that. Sometimes we're just looking subjectively around, like what are the body types here? What do people look like? What can I aim towards? Umgest thing being like you're not trying to like, emulate or be just like them, but it just gives us kind of like a measuring stick kind of thing as well as like what do I feel most comfortable with and what can I maximize within the given weight classes of my sport.
Speaker 1:And that just also falls in line with knowing a little bit more about the rules, that type of thing absolutely yeah, and it's slightly different in fighting when you have to get matched to an opponent and sometimes you don't necessarily have like some of control over that. But but it is like you. Obviously that's why you have, um, the matchmakers and you trust your coach to find the appropriate opponent for you. So, going into a couple things you said about performance um, so I I've learned this also the hard way.
Speaker 1:I've personally coached or I've personally competed in bodybuilding and in Muay Thai and I've coached clients in powerlifting and in other combat sports of jujitsu and boxing and I can tell you I made some really poor decisions that also impacted my performance. So you shared a little bit about, like, let's just assume we're in the right weight class I'm doing air quotes here and how would you coach a weight sport athlete to maximize their performance and competition? Like how can you tell if their performance is being compromised through the extreme means we're going to talk about in a second, and how to just to have the best performance possible Totally, what would that look?
Speaker 2:like Really good question, I think. Taking a step back, we think about how our body weight changes in the long-term on large scales, this is mostly related to the actual body tissue that we're carrying, either lean body mass or fat mass. For us to make large changes in our body weight outside of five 10%, you think about, like the biggest loser, someone losing a hundred pounds. Five 10%, you think about like the biggest loser, someone losing a hundred pounds like that's typically tissue weight. Right, they're losing quite a bit of fat mass as well as lean body mass. So that's a process that takes weeks, months and years. When we think about things on the short term, the short term is going to be much more related to the water that we're carrying, in terms of water balance, as well as the actual food mass in our gut, right, like those are things that are going to be. Like the one to 5% that we change in how our weight fluctuates day to day is going to be much more related to that than it is body tissue. So we kind of got to make that distinction right off the bat and, as we, essentially, your long-term nutrition allows you to approach a weight class. Your short-term strategies and techniques is what allows you to like, certify and make that class right. So they're two different things. There's overlap in between the principles and stuff, but they're distinct in the sense that we're kind of playing around with different things as we approach them.
Speaker 2:So the biggest thing being, if we can try to take care of the long-term stuff so we can approach a weight class and be relatively close and by that I mean within percentages we'd be within one to 3% above the weight class we can employ strategies that will impact performance on the short term much less than it would be if we have to do things that are much more drastic. So you could lose 5% of your body weight just through dehydration and water. But generally the further you do that through you know water weight, the more it's going to impact your performance and that's been shown in various sports, typically a lot of like endurance based stuff the more dehydrated you get, the more it's going to impact your ability to access oxygen and that type of thing and impact performance. But generally we want to be as close as we can, while still maximizing some of those advantages of being the bigger athlete, and then do short term stuff that isn't going to impact our performances as much, which generally is not.
Speaker 2:There's like water loading and water restriction, but generally, if we can just monitor sodium and drop a little bit of water that way, just by not eating as much salt processed foods heading into it as well as do what they are starting to call like a gut dump kind of thing a low residue, low fiber diet heading into a competition, we can take in quite a bit of calories and energy while weighing less, because there's not a bunch of undigested food in us. Right, if you think about a two kilo salad of like cucumbers and tomato, right, like that's physically, as you eat it, you're going to be essentially holding that bowl of you know of vegetable in you as you get on the scale. So we do the opposite of that. It's almost like the opposite of conventional dieting, leading into things so we can consume higher calories through things that are easily digestible, that type of stuff, without being as heavy. So trying to do it that way instead of just being like. Here's the laundry list of things I could do and doing them all.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's the all part, Absolutely. I have more specific questions. I'm going to come back to it. I want to touch on the extreme portion you were just talking about first. So you just talked about it with the sauna and the bath and I mean, obviously I've done it too.
Speaker 1:We've both done some stupid shit and we know that the dehydration makes a massive impact. And you said 1% to 3% of your weight, but to my understanding too, even the slightest amount of dehydration really, really impacts your cognitive function and if you're doing anything that's like lifting or or fighting, where your reaction time is going to be really impacted, right, your overall performance. So the one thing that is, we make weight and we celebrate it, but then it's like the rehydration to perform and then to recover that part is sort of overlooked. Rehydration to perform and then to recover that part is sort of overlooked. Yeah, and so how does that look, especially for amateur, local athletes, in a window of the sports, like a two-hour window, for example, like we don't have 24 hours to rehydrate. So how do you navigate?
Speaker 2:yeah, sorry, yeah no, no, no, I I guess I love numbers is the biggest thing. So even in a dehydrated state, your, your body's ability to absorb it and process fluid, you basically can put, like you basically can push through a liter per hour at a time. So if you're thinking about, hey, I've, or you know, I've cut, you know, two kilos of weight, like we're, that's going to take two hours plus to be able to actually put that back on just through rehydrating. So like we need that amount of time at least, and anything more than that, just on a practical level, we're still going to be moderately dehydrated heading into an athletic event which in most cases, like if you're not in a weight class sport, like that would be, we'd be like why would you, why would you do that? Like, why would you, why would you like that's not something you should do, right, that kind of thing. So I think the biggest thing is we think about it that way Um, and the importance of, right after weighing in, starting with rehydrating and getting fluids in you is the most important part, and then introducing solids, probably like 15 minutes after that, just to give your body, you know, a chance to absorb some fluid, digest that type of thing and then start to introduce solids where foods you can tolerate that are generally higher in carbohydrate, not much of anything else.
Speaker 2:I've seen, you know, I've seen kids eating charcuterie boards in the back room, thinking like what are you doing? They're like protein. I got to people told me protein. I was like generally, maybe right now. No, it's like more, like more, like much more of the carb-based foods that you typically eat, because we're thinking short-term and short-term nutrients and replenishing glycogen levels and that type of thing and getting ready to perform. So focusing, focusing on that stuff and going from there would be like the place to start in terms of what actually happens afterwards. So it's like fluids first, then foods you can tolerate, with an emphasis on carbohydrate and pushing it. I mean, the biggest thing is like not pushing it so far that you feel like you know completely, like a bloated mess and now you have to perform in an athletic event would be the biggest thing. So the easiest way to do that is.
Speaker 1:So that's true for the short term, and, like for that, for the foods that you're used to I'm a big fan of honey, it's great, it doesn't goes right through you, it's delicious. But for the long term, if you are reliant on, let's say, just the water manipulation and the extremes like what happens to like you were talking about muscle. So what happens to your muscle mass, to your organs, the brain, your relationship with food, your body, if you're constantly, let's say, dehydrating? On a bigger number, let's say 5% plus, yeah.
Speaker 1:And then you're trying to rehydrate that Like, and you're doing that for competition Like what are the? Longterm consequences.
Speaker 2:I mean like it's all, it's all, it's all, it's all a gradient right. The further you push things, just the more it's not like it, it automatically is going to happen, just becomes more likely that you're going to get injured, because we're made up of 60 to 70 percent of water and you have less. And now you're doing athletic event like you're just more likely to tear something or injure something and have less recovery and that type of stuff. So you're more more likely to that. And then, yeah, there's like, definitely, the further you push things, you're more like you're in a position where you can become like you know, like just completely out of it, cognitive effects, like that type of stuff.
Speaker 2:So the biggest thing is, you know everything that we do has a risk, but it's trying to minimize those risks and think about what you're willing to do and what you're what, what, what the trade-off is going to mean for your athletic performance and that type of stuff. And to me, um, I'm someone that's always like, I'm just, I think people are going to do these things and I think they're going to do them no matter what. And I'm almost like, okay, well, what, what type of risk are you willing to accept? What are you trying to minimize, like what's worth it to you and at least you know what's on the table when you're making these decisions and going from there. But yeah, the further you push it, the more likely that bad things will happen, and there's been countless. You know case studies and examples where someone pushes the sauna suit too far and you know like there's actually you can die from that kind of stuff right even make get a
Speaker 2:chance to actually compete. So, um, that's not to scare anyone, because I don't think, like most people aren't going to take it that far and that kind of thing, but I think you got to know what are some of the implications and what you're willing to do and go from there and, on a performance basis, the biggest thing is I think you're even if you don't perform as as well because you are still slightly dehydrated or whatever you did, or you're a little zapped because what you did heading into the event, you got to just assess is that worth it for the performance-based, um, you know, increase I could get from this right, uh, we see that in like weight lifting, power lifting, all the time. Right, if is is being the bigger athlete worth um me not being able to be my strongest, and sometimes it is, and sometimes it might not be.
Speaker 1:Fair enough.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and that's it right. That's why we have all of these conversations to be as educated as possible to make these choices. Someone listening will be like why are you lifting heavy weight and putting it down and why do you want to voluntarily get hit? And you're like you know, it's my the thing I love the most. So some of the things you shared about the specifics, um, I know are in in a book you wrote and which I've read.
Speaker 1:It's a way of the way in, and this one is comprehensive, evidence-based and it's all about cutting weight and how to be ready for a two hour sporting event, um, and we've already talked about some of the different things. So, like you mentioned the long term versus short term approach, having those habits in place, and you already mentioned a little bit about water manipulation, sodium and carbohydrates. So I guess my specific question here is, from experience and having witnessed people sometimes do again using the word extreme, like they pick one of them and they go really hardcore at it, like, do I need to cut salt and all electrolytes for a week? Do I have to have eight liters of water? Do I have to not eat carbs for three weeks? Like what would be the? Maybe a quick summary more manageable approach that would be appropriate for performance for any weight sport athlete.
Speaker 2:The reason I wrote that book was because all of the resources and things that were available, just there was no context in terms of how to apply them. It was essentially like here's the laundry list of things that you could do to make weight. Not here's what you should do, depending on where you are in relation to a weight, not here's what you should do, depending on where you are in relation to a weight class, would be the biggest thing. So if we're, if we're one percent above our weight class and we just need to do subtle things, it would start by probably like changing meal timing and eating a little bit earlier, like dinner, that type of thing, because you know the less you take and the more you just exist and sweat without things coming in, the lighter you'll be right. So it doesn't need to be anything that you change things dramatically. You just change the timing of stuff or you start to minimize vegetable and high volume food intake 24 hours out, like those are the simple things you can do just to make the weight class without a big impact on your performance. So if you're like 1% above, like, that's what I would do as you get further out and you have to do a more aggressive weight class cut, we start to add in other things in terms of minimizing sodium 24 to 36 hours before an event. That'll help you drop a little bit of water, just be a little bit less like, a little bit less fluffy in terms of water retention, and that type of thing, without you know drastically changing much. What most people would do, though, is a lot of times like here are all the variables, I'm going to do all of them and come in. You know, two kilos under, and their performance is impacted when reality didn't need to be so.
Speaker 2:With that being said, the other things in terms of like forced sweating, drastically reducing your carbohydrate intake to minimize your glycogen stores, just because you're going to drop water that way, like you don't need to do those things unless you're quite far out, as well as have more time to replenish, be it like have a 24 hour way, and that type of thing, and I think those longer way in windows in terms of like MMA and you think about like UFC and stuff have just been like they've been glamorized in terms of like MMA and you think about like UFC and stuff have just been like they've been glamorized in terms of like people think, oh, like this person dropped down you know two weight classes to fight at this and they were able to do it.
Speaker 2:Maybe I can do it. And it's like those situations can be really different as well as, like in most cases, they're medically supervised right. So it's like a different thing entirely. But the biggest thing being knowing here are some of the variables that impact things a lot less. Here are some of the ones that might be necessary with bigger weight cuts, but I know there's going to be more of a risk of impacting my performance as well as overall health by doing them and kind of putting that context into place.
Speaker 1:Absolutely. Thank you. That's a great summary and one thing that stood out. Well, a lot stood stood out, but one thing that really stood out was your timeline. You were mentioning, like, the day of 24 hours to 36 hours. It's not this. Three weeks in advance, I'm cutting carbs or I'm started water loading yeah, because you still have to live in that body and uh yeah, train, I would say you totally do.
Speaker 2:And I think the biggest thing is again, all of this is a balancing act. You are what you're putting yourself through as you're doing. That is going to be like a forced, like stressful state, right? It's not ideal. So the more you can minimize how long that is, the better your performance will be. The less exhausted you'll be, the more energy you'll have that type of thing. So we want to minimize that. We don't have to do it any longer than we need to.
Speaker 2:And the biggest thing is, if you there's sometimes using some of those variables for extended periods of time can also backfire, especially when you start to think about something like sodium or water loading and that type of thing.
Speaker 2:If you're way too low on sodium, um, for a long period of time, you're just going to start to have some of the side effects of that in terms of like just being low energy, lethargic, that type of stuff as well, as your body's just going to stop, you know, excreting extra fluid because it's sensing that you have less. So we kind of want to minimize that stuff as well and just kind of get a better sense of how those variables work. In real time can be smart because, yeah, we don't just stop eating carbs two weeks out because we think we need to right Like that would be overkill when in reality, if you don't eat any carbs for two to three days and, do you know, a little bit of exercise, you pretty much start to, you know, work through most of your glycogen stores. It doesn't need to be any more than that If you need to do anything that drastic.
Speaker 1:Absolutely. So I have one one question. Um, you mentioned stress. So, speaking of stress as a woman, uh, so one thing with female athletes is, when we're talking about weight cuts and female athletes, that's a whole other conversation. And so you know, speaking for all the females out there, we're strong and we're tough and you want to compete, but what are some of the considerations for making weight for someone that is on their menstrual cycle? Because, for example, in the luteal phase, you're usually the opposite. I know you need slightly more calories, you have a little bit more appetite and, if anything, you have more water retention, which is quite stressful, and the more stress you get, the more water you retain, and then you're trying to make weight. So how do you navigate the pressures of going through a weight cut on a menstrual cycle?
Speaker 2:I think that I mean, based on my work with female athletes, which I mean hormonal monthly fluctuations impacts things differently and I think every athlete is going to be different as well in terms of the implications.
Speaker 2:Right, some like it just it's minimal, it doesn't affect them very much.
Speaker 2:For others it's like like water retention cramps, like crazy amounts of additional, like stress and symptoms, and I think it's just getting a better sense of what happens within your own cycle and how you feel and tracking that.
Speaker 2:And I think also, if it is one of those things that's more extreme and you can line up competitions with your cycle if you have that ability to then that could be ideal in terms of that type of stuff. But in the event that you can't get away from it which is the reality of most amateur athletics, right, like your event is on this day and you can't get away from it, knowing where you'll be in your cycle going in, because there might be a bit of additional water retention and maybe you have to come in a little bit leaner or choose a different weight class or a different implication, is just going to be smart and just proper planning right Around those type of things. So the biggest thing is there's going to be some situations where we can't avoid that and we just have to plan for it, and maybe that means picking a heavier weight class or coming in lighter to minimize some of that stuff and then go from there. It's just being smart and properly planning.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and on the planning piece too, I guess I just want to say it out loud, so it's on here. We're talking about the right now. Most of our conversation has been from the perspective of what an athlete can do and a coach supporting an athlete, but then I guess we're opening up another can of worms which we can talk about later is, uh, structurally, I think you mentioned when you were making your 74 gram class, uh, kilogram class, that you were talking about grams. Right, because you had no, there was no leeway whatsoever, because you had to weigh in at exactly 74. But, depending on the sport and the organization, sometimes there is like buffers, yeah, and so maybe that could be an approach where it's like, hey, you're three pounds within whatever, and that's been decided in advance by the organization, which I think would open up a probably a lot more opportunity and a little little less stress.
Speaker 2:Yeah, totally, well, absolutely, I would have loved to have a buffer.
Speaker 2:I had no buffer, right, there was no, none at all. So, um, being able to have those conversations and just I think the biggest thing is as an athlete if we take away food, nutrition, all that stuff, it's just like knowing the rules of like what you're up against, right, is that one of the smartest things you can do? And that's where, kind of different strategy and just being properly, um, just planning things, going into things, is what is smart, right, I think the biggest thing being the athletes that I know and all the stuff that do, really well, they've worked through absolutely every scenario, right, good, bad, um in in between in terms of what things would look like, and they know the demands of their sport really well and they know what they're at, they know what their competitors are going to do and that kind of stuff. They've no stone unturned and that's why they're successful, because they've literally just planned out every scenario. So it's just getting closer to the rules and knowing what the demands of your sport are awesome.
Speaker 1:So right before we say goodbye to you for this episode, I just want to summarize one thing that I really took away from this was that planning factor. So not just throwing things left, right and center you don't have to do an overkill of every single strategy but really maybe planning so just to sort of hear you well was to do that in advance. You know you're not going to suddenly start to do random things the day before a fight, Like how have you been eating, how are you hydrating, how are you training? Maybe working through all those scenarios in advance. So you have left us with a lot of wonderful nuggets. Is there one more, one more piece of advice that you want to share with our listeners, if they take away one thing from this entire chat?
Speaker 2:Yeah, I think the biggest thing is the closer you can get to the stuff that matters the most and measure it and track it and have someone help you with those objective components, just the better off you'll be, because you're going to have more control over stuff.
Speaker 2:And I know through my experience I've known really good athletes who have done a good job of trained really hard, have taken care of things, that start to do this stuff and it just completes the entire picture for them and they have so much more control. So for me that looks like tracking your nutrition, both in the long term and the short term, and getting closer to what that would look like, Because then you know, like you know what needs to happen, you know what you need to do and kind of go from there. So to me a lot of times people see those fluctuations and changes and they feel like, ah, I can't understand these numbers. But in my experience it's like the numbers don't lie and the closer you can get to them, the more comfortable you can get with what they look like, the better off you'll be.
Speaker 1:Awesome, that is fantastic. Thank you so much for all of your wisdom and for your time, and join us next time everyone. Thank you.
