Weight Loss in Athletics, Making Weight, Semistarvation

Making Weight

Making weight" by wrestlers, boxers, weight lifters and jockeys is accomplished by profuse sweating and by abstaining from food and liquids for a few hours before weighing in. Weight loss up to 10 pounds (representing 5 per cent of the body weight) was accomplished without any measurable deleterious effects in six wrestlers. 2 Weight loss was induced by a procedure considered orthodox by wrestling coaches. Food and water were withheld. The wrestlers, wearing heavy sweat suits, worked on the mats and alternated this with sitting in a heated cabinet. This abnormal loss of weight is regained in part after weighing in by eating and drinking. More than 5 pounds may be regained in a few hours.

Weight Loss in Athletics

Losses of weight exceeding 10 pounds in one and one-half hours have been reported during football games at the beginning of training. During especially exciting games a substitute who has been "sweating out" the entire game on the bench has been observed to lose 5 pounds. This weight is entirely and rapidly regained after eating and drinking.

Semistarvation

A diet which is inadequate to support the needs of the body will soon result in a deterioration in fitness for exercise. When the daily caloric intake is reduced, the day to day output of voluntary work is reduced proportionately. A substandard diet causes a reduction in the performance of the physiological systems, especially the oxygen delivery and metabolic waste removal mechanisms.