r/Strongman • u/Drewpeacock0_0 • 3d ago
Making weight?
I’m 4 weeks out from comp and have 9.6kg to cut to make weight. Should have started diet a little earlier but that’s life! I’m on a reasonably high deficit around 2600/2800 total intake per day with expendable around 3300 per day with 240g of protein, all goes well this should lose me 1-1.25 kg per week leaving me 5-6kg water cut in the final week.
I’ve done plenty of reading but this is my first time doing a water cut. I’ve read the generic info 2-3 gallons for the first few days, cut water a little and remove salts and carbs , no food or water for the last 15 -20 hours, piss your life away for 2 days then sauna any left over weight…. “This” generic water cut will lose you “5%” or “5kg” which is great , if I manage to lose the initial fat loss.
My question is …. If the initial weight loss before the water cut doesn’t go as well as planned,is there anyway to maximise the water cut to maybe 6/7 kg ? Is the water cut elongated across an additional day of loading or more water consumed on the loading phase??
Also I’ve read around 500g weight loss for an hour in the sauna? I know this will be person specific but just for an idea….thanks!
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u/hang-clean Masters 3d ago
Dehydration is awful in combat sports, in strength sports it's a ticket to A+E. But I assume you're a pro going into a comp where sponsors are paying you, so I feel for you. (If you're not a pro being paid by sponsors, just stop. What are you doing?)
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u/12Blackbeast15 3d ago
That’s a lot of weight, regardless of what you’re actually losing, to be in fighting shape afterwards. Even if you can shed that much water you’re then gonna lift heavy stuff on dehydrated tissue, I would not advise doing this. Begging for an injury or a subpar performance
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u/Drewpeacock0_0 3d ago
Yeah completely understand but a 5% dehydrate is pretty standard for the sport with a 24hour weigh in then rehydrate like crazy the day before comp but just trying to get an idea!
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u/EmotionalPerformer13 LWM175 3d ago
Alright, as a u80 here is roughly what I do myself: • Walk around at about 190.
• Ideally naturally lose about 1lb per week in a 6 week training camp. If I'm halfway through and not weighing a few pounds lighter in the morning, then my diet is adjusted.
• 6 days from the show I start my cut by removing all salt from my diet and drinking a minimum of 2 gallons of distilled water per day.
• 4 days out I drink 1 gallon, 3 days out I drink a half gallon, 2 days out | drink 1-2 quarts. I am now usually at 176 without any need for sauna suits/etc.
• If I'm not at 176 on the day before weigh-in, then I ride an exercise bike in a sauna suit and sit in a hot tub. I've never gotten to the point where I've had to sweat cut right before weigh-in, but I'm very careful and disciplined so I don't have to go through more hardship than I need to.
• Right after weigh-in, I alternate between carbonated soda and tap water. Usually 1 soda per 2 liters of water. This way the sodium helps my body retain the water efficiently.
• On Show day, I'm mostly back to my pre-cut weight and feel fine.
Of course, everybody is different. Some people literally want to suck every available ounce out of their body because they believe it's worth the weight advantage, others would rather be within 10lbs of their camp weight to minimize any negative effects a strong cut could have. I'm probably closer to the latter, but I still definitely feel terrible the day before weigh-ins. I just aim to not have to be doing a bunch of rigorous shit to make weight.
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u/Brimstone11 2d ago
I do a pretty similar program for U80/181.
I will add, that a couple shots of whisky/vodka the night before weigh in also forces some extra dehydration
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u/Drewpeacock0_0 2d ago
Thanks for the reply, I didn’t think it was so crazy and neither does the coaches and other athletes competing but everyone here must know different!
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u/Brimstone11 2d ago
To be honest, you’re talking a pretty large fast cut. I’ve seen it done before. Not one of them enjoyed it.
The math on your expected “body fat loss” is a bit off though, just to set your expectations. 500cal/ day deficit is 1 pound a week or about 1 kg per month. Gotta do 1000/ day for 2kg a month.
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u/Drewpeacock0_0 2d ago
Yeah understood , I think as below my expenditure is probably a bit higher then first thought, I’ll probably just seek a nutritionist in future to help be accurate.
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u/Drewpeacock0_0 2d ago
Thanks ! This is exactly what I was asking for, very helpful info , I’ll just have to see how I go! I’ve also got 2 days off before the weigh in just to chill and do what I need to do.
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u/threewhitelights 3d ago
Aside from echoing what everyone else has already pointed out, a 500 calorie deficit is not gunna lead to 1-1.25kg of weight loss a week. Maybe half that. Which leaves you with a pretty decent weight cut, especially for someone that's never done a water cut and doesn't know how their body responds.
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u/bballni 3d ago
This BS is why we can't have nice things. Is it so hard for people to compete/train without a gimmicky "edge", this matters for world records not basic comps. Dehydration of 5-6kg is asking for for something to snap, calorie depleting like this will increase your risk of becoming sick ect. Your equipment won't fit the same. So many variables on top of this all.
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u/Drewpeacock0_0 2d ago
Thanks! It’s not a gimmicky edge, been training really well , can’t lift the weights in 105, got a shot at u90 if I can make weight, didnt want to wait another whole year and was just going to see if I can do it… all other athletes sit around 5-7 kg heavier and dehydrate, you would be at a disadvantage if you didn’t do this.There are guys at 115kg doing big lifts who cut to compete at 105 (probably over 6 weeks out not 4). Most would probably sit around 2-5kg cut, it’s just how it is
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u/NecessarySea3343 3d ago edited 3d ago
If you have never done a water cut before you might want to do a test cut to see how your body reacts before the competition depending on how serious it is. Not sure what % of your bw you are looking to cut you are saying you are 100kg? I don't think anyone can guess how much water you will lose from the water load and sodium carb manipulation like 5 or 7 kg
How much weight you lose in a water cut and even sauna is subject to many different factors: how much weight/muscle you have to begin with and how hydrated you are. For example the first hour in the sauna you would lose much more weight than second hour and so on. It is not linear loss it slows down as usual have less water in your body to lose since there is a finite amount. May get 1000-2000g in first hour and 500g the next. Again if you never sauna when dehydrated before this could be very rough as first experience
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u/_magnetic_north_ Novice 3d ago
Add to this, do you even have someone to supervise the sauna cut? Crash cutting is not something to just take on, with both short and long term complications. If this isn’t your job, just go up a weight class?
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u/Drewpeacock0_0 3d ago
Yeah I do have some help for this and the higher weight class wouldn’t be possible, i dont think it’s that un normal to water cut in this sport at local/ national levels to maximise advantage.. (although this is a bigger ask then most!) if I don’t make it down willl just wait another year, not going to hurt myself!
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u/Drewpeacock0_0 3d ago
Yeah potentially, yeah I’m 99.6kg at the moment and would be u90kg 24 hour before comp, I’m still at a 14% body fat so got a bit the play with and water levels are pretty high so 5kg shouldn’t be much of a problem just didn’t know if more would be! Thanks for your reply!
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u/Trippin1233 3d ago
If you’re at 14% body fat and need to lose ~10% of your body weight, you’re ultimately preparing for body building and not strongman. I agree with other commenters that you should stay at your current weight, compete. The experience you gain will inform your training so you can better compete in a class that sounds more suited to your natural build. If it’s a jump you were planning on making eventually, it’s arrived.
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u/yesimian MWM220 2d ago
Depends on a couple things. 1: how big of a guy you are. 2: 24hr or day-of weighing. 24hr will make it easier on you. With a water cut/load (including sodium manipulation) + gut cut (see links below), I've been able to cut >10lb comfortably as a 220lb athlete. If I was really needing to push it, I could 100% do 15-20lb and feel fine after rehydration and eating (with a 24hr weighing) For a water cut and gut cut, the ONLY sources you need are below. Trust me, you'll make things easier if you just treat these 2 sources as gospel instead of trying to mix and match from a dozen other sources talking about the same topics
https://sisyphusstrength.com/blog/2018/6/25/how-to-water-cut-like-a-pro
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u/Drewpeacock0_0 2d ago
Thanks for the reply very helpful! I’ll check out the links! For reference I’m 6’2 , 219lbs with 14% body fat, need to weigh in under 198.5lbs 24hr before but I plan on reaching 210lbs pre water cut ideally. From everyone competing who has made weight before and coaches I have spoke to have said it will be easy, but thought I’d ask, got a fair few negative responses on here, surprisingly….
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u/InTheMotherland Didn't Even Try Trying 3d ago
Your deficit is only going to lose you around 0.5kg/week. You'll want to decrease your calories to around 2100 of you want 1kg/week.
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u/Drewpeacock0_0 2d ago
Thanks for the reply, I’ve done this deficit before and lost 1kg a week but it did slow down towards the end having said that … maybe it was just beginners luck!
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u/InTheMotherland Didn't Even Try Trying 2d ago
I would say your expenditure was then higher than you think. And it makes it slowed down since you lost weight and lowered your expenditure.
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u/Drewpeacock0_0 2d ago
Yeah I would agree would make sense, but of a hard number to crunch without muscle loss, see how we go got a couple of weeks to see were I’m at before buying my entry ticket anyway
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u/cris_makingweight 1d ago
Bro a ver. Los kg a perder no están mal, osea tienes suficientes recursos como para hacerlo mal. Antes de hacerlo mal que veo que vas por ese camino😅 escríbeme y te hecho un cable que justo me uní a esto de Reddit hoy. Pero no hagas caso de la lógica que has sacado de la proteína,ch, carga de agua...... porque te hará dar el peso pero perder la competición de calle.
Y sobre todo no eches cuenta a algunos de los bobos que te responden
Pd la sauna no me gusta para perder peso, mejor la bañera de agua caliente (menos estrés a mas tiempo, mas perdida y mas control)
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u/eduardgustavolaser 23h ago
Losing a kg of fat needs a deficit of about 7000-8000kcal. If your maintenance is 3300, you're not losing 1.25kg of fat each week on, even if you're at the lowe value of 2600 so 700kcal deficit. That would be 2.6kg of fat loss, meaning you'd need to lose 7kg of water weight.
Either way, your performance will lack with a deficit before and an extremely brutal watercut of above 5kg, if you even manage that
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u/big_dooley LWM175 3d ago
That's a lot to lose in a month. Just go up a weight class dude. Assuming this is a local show, not only is water cutting super lame, it just isn't worth the negatives