Mixed Marital Arts is a relatively new sport, but many athletes have adopted the weight cutting practices from older sports like boxing, wrestling and even power lifting. Most of which are tried, tested and supported by scientific research, but none has been as popular as water manipulation. Here, THE PROTEIN WORKS™ Head Sports Scientist, Ross Edgley, rounds up the very latest science and technology that’s being used by mixed martial artists to gain a physiological advantage over the competition by manipulating their ‘water weight’.
According to research published in the Clinical Journal of Sport Medicine, one of the most widely used methods for cutting weight is through water manipulation—very common in wrestling. This is because between 50 percent-75 percent of the human body is water so by using diuretics, saunas, sweat-suits and restricting water intake you can dramatically impact your overall weight. But it’s important to note that cutting too much weight through water depletion can dangerously affect your organs and even result in death. Plus some sports scientists argue the resulting decline in performance isn’t worth the perceived size and strength advantage gained.
This is because research published in the sports journal entitled, “Sport nutrition: an introduction to energy production and performance”set out to quantify the degree to which dehydration affected performance and claimed becoming dehydrated by as much as 5 percent can lead to a reduced physical capacity of up to 30 percent. An idea supported by research published in the journal of Nutrition and Health entitled, “The Significance of Water in Sport and Weight Control” which stated, “It has generally been considered that decreases in performance become apparent when dehydration exceeds 2 percent of body weight; that performance decrements become substantial when fluid losses exceed 5 percent of body weight; and that when fluid losses approach 6–10 percent of body weight, heat stroke and heat exhaustion become life-threatening.”
Obviously dehydration can affect different people in different ways but the below bullet points serve to show the biological changes that occur within the body when too much fluid is lost.
- 1% Dehydrated: Reduced VO2 Max (lung capacity) and signs of thirst present
- 2% Dehydrated: Symptoms of thirst continue accompanied by loss of appetite and endurance
- 3% Dehydrated: Dry mouth and performance impaired
- 4% Dehydrated: Perception to exertion increase accompanied by persistent discomfort
- 5% Dehydrated: Difficulty concentrating, increase heart rate and trouble breathing
- 6% Dehydrated: Symptoms increase, headache & decreased proprioception (ability to sense own movement)
- 8-9% Dehydrated: Dizziness, real difficulty breathing, confusion and increased weakness
- 10% Dehydrated: Involuntary muscle spasms, loss of balance and tongue swelling
- 11% Dehydrated: Heat exhaustion, delirium, stroke, difficulty swallowing and death may occur
So what technology is there to assess whether an athlete is dehydrated or not, or whether they are able to rehydrate in time for the fight? Well, according to research published in the International Journal of Sports Nutrition there are three urinary indices that can be tested: Urine colour, urine osmolality and urine specific gravity. Now urine osmolality is used to measure the number of dissolved particles per unit of water in the urine. And urine specific gravity measures the concentration of all chemical particles in the urine. Both of which require specialist equipment to monitor. Fortunately, researchers of the same study concluded that when data was compared between the three indices, results from urine color were found to be strongly correlated to urine osmolality and urine specific gravity. Concluding “urine color may be used in certain settings or field studies, where close estimates of urine osmolality and urine specific gravity are needed.”
Put simply, for elite fighters where every single minute detail could mean the difference between winning and losing, the centrifuge-based technology mentioned by the International Journal of Sports Nutrition could prove invaluable. But if athletes don’t have access to such technology, simply checking the colour of their urine could prove effective.
Such as following a simple colour chart as prescribed by the Thermal and Mountain Medicine Division at the U.S. Army Research Institute of Environmental Medicine.
Ultimately you can see how cutting weight through water manipulation can be problematic. Even for those fighters who have the very latest technology on their side. But if done correctly it can prove an effective tool in gaining an athletic advantage over the competition.
Fitness Expert, Ross Edgley, is Co-Founder of THE PROTEIN WORKS, sports nutrition provider supplying everything from popular weight loss supplements like CLA and Green Tea Tablets.
For more information on THE PROTEIN WORKS™ products visit their website here http://www.theproteinworks.com.
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