By Alexis Alvarez, Nov.12, 2024
One hundred twenty-six pounds, the weight that haunted me throughout my four years of high school, and to this day, three years later, it’s still in the back of my mind.
During my freshman year of high school, I joined the wrestling team on a whim. It was a way to keep busy after school and meet new people.
Little did I know a major practice in wrestling was weight cutting, a process of rapid weight loss before a competition. Weight cutting is a part of the sports culture; it’s a widespread practice in wrestling and it has substantial risks, side effects and prevalence, all of which merit careful consideration.
Never did I think one of the best decisions I made in my life, joining the team and meeting my best friends, would also bring the most negative impact on my life.
I distinctly remember the day I first realized my weight loss process wasn’t healthy.
I had a home wrestling match that night, and I was 0.5 lbs over my weight after already cutting 8 lbs. throughout the week. This was done by having extreme practices with a heater and wearing multiple layers of clothing in hopes of dropping all the water weight. At this point, my body wouldn’t allow itself to drop any lower.
I made all these efforts to make weight, which is being the exact weight for my weight class. I had to weigh-in at exactly 126 lbs. I didn’t want to increase the chances of not making weight because it would make all the restrictive eating and hard work I’ve done a waste. So, I settled on eating a single grape.
It felt like every day was a day of me cutting weight; there was almost no escape. I drop weight for one tournament and eat an excessive amount of food after weigh-in, but I have to lose the same weight right after to maintain the weight for next week’s match.
There have been other times I went to extreme lengths to make weight by running in layered clothing around the school before weigh-ins, constantly being in heated practice rooms and team vans on the way to tournaments to sweat more and cutting my hair in the school bathroom. But unfortunately, these “extremes” are a wrestler’s norm.
Even the best of the best can’t seem to escape the harmful ways of weight cutting when in moments of desperation.
Vinesh Phogat was disqualified from the Paris 2024 Olympics for being 3.88 oz. overweight the morning of her gold medal bout after spending multiple hours training, using the sauna and cutting her hair in efforts to make weight.
When she competed in the 2016 Rio Olympics she went for three days with no sugar, salt and food. Three days of just surviving off water.
Many wrestlers utilize these unhealthy and harmful techniques of weight cutting because it works for the time being. As it worked for me in maintaining my goal weight, and regardless of how much harm it did, it was the only way I knew . I stuck to it.
I stuck to the layered clothing. I stuck to the restrictive eating and binging right after weigh-ins. I stuck to this process for two years, and eventually, the effects have stuck to me.
It has affected the way I view food. For a while, I didn’t see food as a source of energy, but the main reason that made me dislike myself, none of which these views I had before wrestling and participating in weight cutting.
The practice of weight cutting can lead to eating disorders and other negative physiological effects as it did for me and Cal Poly Pomona MMA club coach Nathan Williams.
According to Williams, his kidney and liver will most likely not be the same, they no longer create the nutrients he needs because of the constant extreme measures he would take to cut his weight.
The dehydration strategy of weight cutting is unhealthy and dangerous, and the culture needs to change.
There should be nutritionists and other health professionals readily available for athletes in sports that focus on weight category in all levels to help and educate young adolescents in healthy ways of lweight loss. Coaches should also have certifications in nutrition courses so they are able to teach their athletes healthier weight loss options through diet and exercise.
Most of the time, wrestlers are put into a weight class that’s the closest one available to their natural weight because there’s only 14 weight classes available in high school wrestling. This could be a 10-pound, less or more, difference. This is where the problem first starts.
For Williams, he was wrestling at 106 lbs., a 20-pound difference from his natural body weight, 126 pounds.
“There was one time I cut 13 lbs. in four hours so I could make weight for a big tournament, and it was something that I hate that I did looking back at it now,” said Williams.
Cutting extreme amounts of weight hinders performance and increases the likelihood of injuries.
“You start to see issues with these kids as they’re growing up and they start to develop cognitive dysfunction, and you start to see an increase in concussions because the brain’s dehydrated,” Williams said.
According to a National Library of Medicine article, “Significant levels of dehydration could alter the brain morphology and potentially increase the risk of brain injury arising from head trauma-induced strikes.” Chronic weight cutting can lead to lasting psychological issues like anxiety, depression, and eating disorders.
Throughout high school, Williams dealt with depression, anxiety and body dysmorphia because of constantly cutting weight, and it still plays a factor in his life.
“I look in the mirror some days and I know that I’m in shape in my mind but also in my mind,” said Williams. I look in the mirror and I’m like, ‘Why do I look this way?’ or, ’What can I be doing differently?’ That’s just a lasting effect that I think I’ll always have.”
Williams, now in mixed martial arts, another weight category sport, took the initiative for his well-being and gathered a team for himself, including a nutritionist, strength and conditioning coaches and a therapist.
“You’ve got one body, you’ve got one brain, it’s important to take care of it,” Williams said.
Now having a healthier approach in weight cutting Williams is able to lose weight while keeping his muscle mass in order for him to stay strong and perform well. He encourages athletes who utilize unhealthy ways of weight cutting to make the switch and ask for help.
“It’s everywhere, trust me, you’re not alone,” Williams said. “We all go through it.”
Like Williams, I still have my own struggles with guilt and my relationship with food. I have phases where I have to avoid any sort of fitness because it brings back the habit of restrictive eating. Although I allowed my body to recover, to participate in healthy ways of fitness, it doesn’t erase the lasting imprint that weight cutting has on me.
With all the many health and wellness issues weight cutting can bring to an athlete, it’s important to bring nutritional knowledge into the core of wrestling.
Feature image courtesy of Adobe Express