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Dr. Ben Asks...
Is “Weight Cutting” Safe?
As a parent of any secondary school wrestler knows, “cutting weight” is a common practice during wrestling season as a means to rapidly lose weight and qualify for a lower weight class. But is it a safe way to lose weight?
The answer is a resounding “NO!” First of all, cutting weight is designed to give a wrestler an advantage over a smaller opponent. However, there is no sound research that demonstrates improved performance results, and even if there was, the benefits hardly outweigh the risks inherent in this practice.
Children, through the secondary school years, require certain nutrients to continue normal growth and development. Cutting weight generally involves a drastic reduction in caloric intake, not eating at all, purging, the use of laxatives, and exercising in a rubber or plastic suit. In addition, wrestlers resort to dehydration techniques, such as saunas, severe fluid restriction and spitting to drop weight quickly. These practices certainly are not healthy and may even result in death.
The movie, “Reversal,” depicted the real life story of a young wrestler whose father pushed him too hard to make him championship material and in the end, the young man develops some debilitating eating habits and weight reduction practices that affect the boy both physically and psychologically in his quest to please his father.
Instead of this dangerous habit of “cutting weight, more and more athletic trainers and coaches are looking at off-season plans that promote health eating and a controlled meal plan year-round to maintain peak wrestling weight and stamina. Safer any way you look at it!
