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Sticky

Active member
At a recent comp I hosted, I was shocked at how many people got cutting so wrong.

Here is an overview on what I do with my lifters, hopefully it helps some of you guys too.
Remember though, a cut is specific to each person, and if you don't know what you're doing, please seek the help of a professional.

http://www.ptcbrisbane.com/cutting-weight-for-competitive-powerlifting/

STOP!

Let me preface the following article by saying this:
Unless you have a real shot at placing in the division below, or are going to be breaking a record, you have no place cutting. None. Stop reading now. Move onto another of our articles, and focus more on technical proficiency and getting stronger.

Ok, so for the rest of you, read on.


For many reasons, cutting weight can have a HUGE strategical advantage in powerlifting, but mostly becuase it allows you to potentially be the biggest, juiciest, most jacked & tanned lifter of your class…… Therefore giving you the best chance at beating your competition.


The protocol I use to cut, and re-feed my lifters is fairly similar for men and women, only the quantities in the food and liquids really vary.

For this article, I will use a 105kg guy wanting to compete in the 90kg class as our example athlete.

20 weeks out
from a meet, we pick and commit to a weight class, in this case, the 90kg class.
We do this because by 12-15 weeks out I need the athlete to be at a weight where I can safely and effectively manage the cut. I NEVER want my lifters trying to drop weight while I am trying to make them BRUTALLY strong.


So at 20 weeks out we tighten up his diet, up his training volume, and possibly add in some conditioning work to increase his work capacity and burn a extra calories. Over the next 5-8 weeks we would aim to be sitting at ~98kg.


12 weeks
out from our meet, his body weight is where I need it, and the workload now shifts to intense, powerlifting specific programming, eating only enough to hold his weight and recover effectively from sessions.



The cut.


1 week out
from a weigh in, my lifters work load reduces significantly. With generally only having 1 or 2 bench sessions left to complete, the need for energy and recovery is reduced.

This lifter will drop all carbs, and increase fats and proteins to keep total calories about the same.
Having a lifter who is 98kg a week out from weigh in, and is aiming for the 90kg class will need to do some water loading.
Water loading flushes the minerals from your body that are responsible for water retention, and keeping you hydrated. This is good, because when we stop drinking water, you will excrete most of your fluid and become dehydrated.
A lifter at 98kg will generally be water loading on 8-10L of water each day, as well as adding a few grams of sodium. 48 hours from weigh in, all sodium and water loading stops.


48 hours
before weigh in, food and fluid restrictions are in place and monitored closely depending on where the lifter is at.


18-24 hours
before weigh in, I check the athletes weight as that information is vital in the re-feed later on. He now weighs 93.5kg. A loss of 4.5kg.
I still need to drop some extra kilos off this lifter, so hot baths start now. The baths need to be very hot, and he needs to submerge his entire body. Normally “5 in 5 out” works well and is good for a loss of a few hundred grams each time. He must towel himself off immediately when he gets out. Hot baths are a very comfortable and effective way to increase water loss. This lifter will not go to bed until he is within 1.5kg of his class weight.


The night of weigh in
we are still 1.5kg over, so he should sleep in an air conditioned room, at its coldest setting, wearing as little as possible.
This forces the the human body to create heat through thermoregulation, and as a result considerable water vapor can be lost. We have seen a result of up to 1.1kg on this lifter.


The morning of weigh in
he will check his weight, and we are still 400g over. We will cut the last few hundred grams with another couple of hot baths.

Done. My lifter has made weight, and he did it with no sauna, and he feels the best he ever has with a cut this big!

Now that he has made weight, the most important part of the process begins;The re-feed.


This part of the process is important. very important. Actually, its critical.
If you get this part wrong, you may as well not even cut. Get this part wrong and you are going to be weak, and at a much higher risk of injury.


For those that have cut weight for comps before………… How good does it feel to get off the scales and down 1L of Gatorade, 1L of water, a box of pop-tarts and some freshly baked brownies??
Feels good at the time, but guess what? You have just made A SERIOUS ERROR.


All that sweet, sweet sugar (or “carbs” as you will call it to justify your indulgence) you have just eaten is going to be working against you as you try to re-hydrate. The kidneys response to elevated blood sugar levels is to excrete excess glucose through urine. Not to mention the fact you are now bloated from all the sugar and 2L of fluid sloshing around in your gut, you’re not going to feel like eating for another 5 hours.


Our now 90kg lifter is going to re-feed with EXACTLY what I tell him, in ONLY the quantities that I tell him. The quantities vary from person to person, but the structure is ALWAYS the same.
They eat NO sugar. They DON’T cram in as much food as possible. They alternate between meal 1 and meal 2, every hour on the hour.


What is meal 1 and meal 2? For our example lifter, the meals will look like:
Meal 1:
White rice (150g)
Chicken breast (100g)
Small bag of chips
600ml water
3-5g sodium


Meal 2:
White rice (350g)
600ml water
3-5g sodium

1 - 1hr prior to weigh in, 50ml water + 1-3tbsp glycerol (this step is optional).
2 - Step off scales.
3 - Meal 1 + multi vitamins + Hydrolite
4 - Meal 2
5 - Meal 1
6 - Meal 2
7 - Meal 1 + 50g
8 - Meal 2 +50g
9 - Light training
10 - Meal 1 +100g
11 - Meal 2 +100g
12 - Meal 1 + AMR(with your fork)AP


This is the technique I commonly use with my lifters, and we have found it to work really, really well.


At the recent GPC Spring cup, I cut a client from 79.5kg to 74.5kg, then re-fed all the way up to 81kg; that’s 2kg heavier than he was for his entire prep. If he had of gained an extra 1.6kg, he would have been competing 2 weight classes below where he technically should have been…. A monstrous advantage.

This was the first time this client sought help from me for a cut, and here is what he had to say about the whole process.

This was my third cut (the first two done via google) and easily the best I felt…

…woke up and weighed in feeling good, didn’t have a mouth that felt like cotton or headaches like I did the last time……
……Woke up at 81 on my scales which was 2kg above my post cut weight. Didn’t feel like i had any strength issues at all on the day. I added 77.5kg PB to my total….


If you would like help cutting for your next meet, or a training plan/coaching package to get you as strong as possible, please don’t hesitate to get in contact with us. We accept lifters of all levels and back grounds, as long as you want to be the strongest version of yourself possible.

For more information on how we can help build you into a champion, drop into PTC Brisbane, or shoot us an email, scott@ptcbrisbane.com



Until the next one,
Stay Strong,


Scott Wasson.
Head Powerlifting Coach

PTC Brisbane.
 
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Was going to make a point but no surprise Scott is already on to it. The best weight cut is no weight cut.

If there was some massive prize money up for grabs fucking go for your life but even for a plastic trophy is it worth putting your body through it. Just smash out some Pbs and have fun.
 
Was going to make a point but no surprise Scott is already on to it. The best weight cut is no weight cut.

If there was some massive prize money up for grabs fucking go for your life but even for a plastic trophy is it worth putting your body through it. Just smash out some Pbs and have fun.

The amount of novices I see cut kilo's, feel like shit, have a terrible comp, and come 10th is astounding.
Cutting weight should be reserved for the elite...... No one else needs to be worried about it.

Focus on getting stronger, and increasing your total each time. When you're strong enough to crack the podium, then start thinking about cutting.
 
[MENTION=4221]Sticky[/MENTION];
I have the GPC Perth Cup in just over a week, and weighing around 112kg every morning at the moment. I had my mind set on making the 110kg class, just to keep up my own personal goal of getting to Master Class in that weight one day.
Do you still think it's unwise for to me try cut that 2kg.
 
@Sticky;
I have the GPC Perth Cup in just over a week, and weighing around 112kg every morning at the moment. I had my mind set on making the 110kg class, just to keep up my own personal goal of getting to Master Class in that weight one day.
Do you still think it's unwise for to me try cut that 2kg.

To be honest man, 2kg isn't a cut.
Don't have dinner, have a shag, don't have breakfast, go to the toilet and weigh in.

If it was anymore, I'd say not to worry, but 2kg is nothing and won't effect your performance.
 
To be honest man, 2kg isn't a cut.
Don't have dinner, have a shag, don't have breakfast, go to the toilet and weigh in.

If it was anymore, I'd say not to worry, but 2kg is nothing and won't effect your performance.

Thanks man. I didn't think it'd be an issue, and although I'm not making the podium, I had my heart set on staying in the 110's.
 
I weighed 67.9kg the day before weigh-in and 67.3kg for weigh-in. Just ate less carbs (especially sugar) and salt the day before and stopped consuming anything from 7pm the night before weigh-in. Tiny cut, didn't feel bad and was the difference between getting a medal vs competing against Scotty's 81kg 74.5kg lifter. I had all the strength on the day that I expect I would have had if I'd eaten as normal right up until weigh-in, and evidently 5kg left-over on deadlift. If I anticipated having to do a remotely serious water cut to make weight, I would have just gone into the 75kg class, but since I was already at the bottom of that weight class, I figured why not inch my way down a class.

I plan on being a bit heavier next time I compete, so there's a very good chance I'll be hitting Scotty up for some proper nutrition leading into it. Thanks for this write-up. It's really insightful.
 
No worries mate.

I weighed 67.9kg the day before weigh-in and 67.3kg for weigh-in. Just ate less carbs (especially sugar) and salt the day before and stopped consuming anything from 7pm the night before weigh-in. Tiny cut, didn't feel bad and was the difference between getting a medal vs competing against Scotty's 81kg 74.5kg lifter.

If you didnt cut (not that <2kg is a cut), there would have been a 13kg difference between you and the lifter I cut for the same comp lol.

I'd have done the same :D
 
I still have nightmares from cutting. Poor [MENTION=7738]Timeah[/MENTION]; had to weigh me in nude once and was probably the worst result comp I ever did.
 
I still have nightmares from cutting. Poor [MENTION=7738]Timeah[/MENTION]; had to weigh me in nude once and was probably the worst result comp I ever did.

If done right, cutting is not hard.

If done wrong, you'll have a bad time.
 
How'd you go with the 2kg drop mate?
Yeah made it without really trying. I got all the way back to 113kg by the next morning but didn't perform very well. Still pleased as its my first sanctioned GPC comp and I didn't bomb. I was tempted to pull out due to the ongoing glute issues but I just dropped my squat numbers and carried on and had a great day. Missed pulling 290kg by a whisker on lockout.
 
Here is my method
I work a job where I can't be going to the toilet all the time. So I do not water load. Instead, I do the reverse. Thanks to the renin angiotensin system there are two pathways to achieve exactly the same thing

6 days out from weigh in, increase electrolyte intake. 1g magnesium, 7g sodium and 10g potassium. I use low sodium sea salt, spinach and epsom salts to achieve this
Water is kept the same.
Food is mainly red meat for now. Carbs you should halve your normal intake, up your fats to make up the remainder calories
2 days out from weigh in drop carbs to zero
1 day out from weigh in you drop the sodium and magnesium, all the potassium now comes from the spinach you're eating. Don't increase just eat the same amount as before (250-500g)
At 5pm the day before weigh in, stop drinking water and drink 2-4L of demineralised water before 6pm
Food stops at this point too, take a few dandelion root
Weigh in at 11am next day

Normally good for 5kg
 
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