Cut Weight for Powerlifting
Many lifters get to the point where they need to cut weight for powerlifting competitions.
Cutting weight can help you become more competitive as a lifter and give you a greater chance of winning your competition.
This guide will help you learn about cutting weight for powerlifting without compromising your strength on the platform.
Keep in mind that this article does not substitute for medical advice. Beginners and intermediate lifters should not cut weight for competition. Cutting weight comes with serious risks. This guide gives you the *safest possible* ways to weight cut. Still, these practices carries risks. Cutting weight is dangerous. Some athletes have died from cutting weight.
When to Cut Weight for Powerlifting
Cutting weight for powerlifting carries some risks to your health, and you should not even consider it unless you are a seasoned competitor.
Additionally, you probably should not attempt it unless you are competing in a national level meet, you are within range of setting a national record, or you are within range of qualifying to a national or international level meet.
Otherwise, it is probably best to just compete at the weight where you naturally weigh in.
How Much Weight Can you Cut Safely?
You can cut about 2 percent of your body weight for weigh ins and then compete two hours later without losing strength.
Of course, you can also lose more weight than that without losing strength if you do it in a more gradual fashion.
To preserve as much strength as possible, I would not recommend losing more than about 5 percent of your body weight in the last 12 weeks before a meet.
Monitor your Weight in the Off-Season
First of all, monitoring your weight in the off season can go a long way towards making weight cutting for a meet a lot more manageable.
I would recommend staying within about 5 to 10 pounds of your weight class in the off season. That way, you only have to cut a few pounds to compete.
You can monitor your nutrition pretty loosely in the off season and still manage to keep your weight reasonable.
Let’s say you already monitored your weight in the offseason and now you are getting close to competition season. Now you have several options to help you cut weight for your competition.
- Long Term Dieting
- Add Low Intensity Cardio
- Short Term Weight Cuts
- Eliminate Artificial Sweeteners
- Keto Diet
- Cut Water
- Stop Eating Early
Let’s discuss each of these options in more detail.
Long Term Dieting
Long term dieting is one of your first options to help you cut weight for powerlifting.
You can start your powerlifting diet about 12 to 16 weeks out from your competition to help maintain your strength.
Simply cut your portions back a bit or drop about 100-200 calories per day from your diet so you can lose a bit of weight.
Add Low Intensity Cardio
If you need to lose weight before your meet, you may consider adding some low intensity cardio to your routine.
20-30 minutes of walking per day can help you make weight a bit easier, and might even help your recovery into the meet. Nothing helps a set of sore legs like a 20-30 minute walk.
Short Term Weight Cuts
Let’s say you have already dieted for the past 12 weeks or so and you are within striking range of your weight class but you are closing in on the last couple weeks before the meet. At this time, there are a number of steps you can take to help make your weight class and lose those last couple pounds before weigh ins.
Eliminate Artificial Sweeteners
Artificial sweeteners do not cause weight gain, but they may cause some small amount of water retention.
If you are a week or so out from your competition but still need to drop a wee bit of weight to make your class, you might try eliminating artificial sweeteners from your diet.
This can help you drop a pound or two.
Keto Diet
In the last week or two weeks before the meet, you may also want to consider using a ketogenic diet. This type of diet is not more effective in the long term. However, in the short term, it can help you lose some excess water weight.
Throughout the training cycle, you rely on carbohydrates to fuel higher volume sessions. However, in the last week or so before the meet, your training is pretty minimal and you can reduce carbs to lose some water weight.
Let’s say you normally eat about 2500 calories, 75 grams fat, 300 grams of carbs, 150 grams of protein per day. In the last few days before the meet, you could switch to 2500 calories, 140 grams of fat, 150 grams of carbs and 150 grams of protein to help eliminate some water weight.
Cut Water
Water loading/cutting is not the safest or healthiest approach to losing weight, but many powerlifters and weight class athletes do it successfully to lose weight before the meet.
However, water loading can help you flush out extra water before the meet so you can lose an extra pound or two. However, be aware that extreme water loading/cutting may come with some health risks like electrolyte imbalances and even possible death.
For the week before the meet, you can double your water intake. Then, the day or so before the meet, drink your normal amount of water and stop drinking about 10-12 hours before you weigh in.
This approach will help you lose another pound or so.
I do not recommend using a more extreme water cut because of the associated health risks.
Stop Eating Early
The night before the meet, make sure you stop eating and drinking about 10-12 hours before weigh ins.
You may also consider taking your weight the night before to see how close you are to your weigh in.
If you still need to lose a pound or two, you may consider taking a hot shower or bath.
However, also consider that getting on the scale the night before the competition may stress you out and keep you from sleeping. If that is the case, I would not recommend getting on the scale the night before the competition.
Chew Gum and Spit
The morning of the meet, you may need to step on the scale to see if you are under your class limits.
If you still are not under your class limit, you may need to chew some gum and start spitting in a cup. Is this disgusting? Yes. Will it help you make your weight class quickly within the next hour? Yup.
Cutting Weight for Powerlifting
Cutting weight for powerlifting can take some combination of reducing your calorie intake, adding cardio, trying a lower carb diet the week before the meet, water cutting and spitting in a cup.
You must decide for yourself which of these practices make the most sense for you, or whether you do not want to cut weight at all.
What do you think? Do you cut weight for powerlifting? Which of the methods on this list have you tried? Let me know in the comment section below.
