Water weight.......

[Deciever]

Im trying to lose about 5-6 lbs of water weight for my upcoming contest. How much an effect do you think it would have on my lifts?? I guess this is kinda directed at people who have had to cut weight for a contest. I'll be weighing in 2 hours before the meet, so i will only be able to gain like 3-4 lbs back probably in food and water after i weighin.

So in your opinions, do you think that i'll lose much strength by cutting some water weight?

 

[FREAK19]

Well you might be strong or you might not be. its really on how your body is gonna react to it. If your that close still go ahead and try to drop the weight, cause your too close.

 

[Arioch]

Depends on how much time you have to rehydrate. It sounds like you have not done this before, which is too bad. Like anything else, you can get better at this with experience.

When a muscle loses 3% of its volume through dehydration, it begins to weaken. Figure out your lbm, and do the math. This will give you a rough estimate of the amount of water you can safely lose.

And it goes without saying that everyone is different. I can drop a lot of water in very little time, and rehydrate with little effort. My wife is just the opposite.

 

[spatts]

Deceiver,

I recently carb depleted to lose water, just to see how down I could go, and found I can lose about 10 pounds of water in a matter of a couple days. I'm normally about 175-180 and I bottomed out at 162. It was from a Friday night to a Sunday night.

I knew I had ME squat the next day (Monday night) and was going for a deadlift PR. I took 24 hours to "carb up" again. Well, my joints and muscles were still on strike. The 397 pull that I had almost gotten the week before turned out to barely be a 375 for 1. It was at least another day before I was up to par.

My point is, it can take some people longer than other to refuel. It has occured to me, as a result of this, that unless I decide to use AS, I will probably not be able to use this strategy to "make weight" the night before a meet, because I will not be able to replace the water and glycogen in time for the meet.

In other words, test it first.

 

[Deciever]

Arioch, i did what you said and it came out to 3 2/3 lbs.. I've done stuff like this before, and it didnt effect my strength that much (i hit a PR deadift that day). I

Spatterson- wow, 10+lbs in 2 days,.. thats pretty good... i wouldnt want to chance being too carb depleted before lifting though, i need my energy.

i'll just have to see how it goes...

 

[benchmonster]

I have done this, but pulling while clean is a tough one. The actual pulling is easier, but keeping your body in an anabolic state while pulling and not adding in outside anabolic hormones is damn near unheard of.

I know you are pretty lean already deceiver. Unless you are going to attempt to set a state, national or world record, I would suggest just showing up at whatever weight you are and lifting. This is due in large part to your age. I am not crazy about young people pulling weight, even a small amount.

If you can lose it over the course of a couple of weeks, that would be OK, or if you had a day or 2 to put it back on, I could go with that. But if you are just doing a meet, who cares if you are in the next heavier class, just go and try like Hell to set some PR's.

That is my two cents on the subject. I know what you are thinking and yes, I train heavier than I compete, but read the above again regarding age and recovery ability. You and I are different. Go and have a great meet and then tell us how awesome you did.

B.

 

[Deciever]

bench thanks for the advice.. i would go up to the next class.. and then i'd be forcedd to humiliate I"D RATHER BE DEADLIFTING when i beat him...... but i am going for 4 state records...and then after this contest im moving up to the next weight class, and eventually setting records in that class.

Being lean kinda sucks.. cant drop that much weight...last night while getting my bench shirt on, i was looking in the mirror and my six pack was pretty damn visible even when i wasnt really flexing them voluntarily.

I wish i had weeks to do this.. i hve until saturday morning.

 

[benchmonster]

If going for a record, you have my blessing (not that you needed it) and I would hate for you to embarrass IRBD. In that case, cut out carbs and salt. As close as you are, this should do it. Weigh yourself often, and don't overdo it. Then drink a ton of gatorade and choke down some bananas before lifting, that should do the trick.

Good luck.

B.

 

[Deciever]

if i carb deplete wont my strength levels go down a lot, kinda of like what happened to spatterson?

Thanks for the blessings.

 

[Arioch]

Your ability to retain strength while carb-deleted depends on many factors. How many times you have done it (yes, you actually can get better at it), what natural ability you have to retain a decent mineral balance, particularly sodium and potassium, when dehydrated (and no, you can not just load up on both, good way to cramp or spasm), how quickly you rehydrate, etc.

I can drop about 5-8% BW in two days depending on how many carbs I have been consuming, and rehydrate completely within 12 hours, but then I have been doing stoopid shit like this a long time.

Crashed 28 pounds in a few days once (amazing how forgetting about your diet can affect your weight) and the results were predicitable. Ugh.

If you just limit you PM carbs between now and then, you can probably just make weight through water restriction.

What do you weigh, and how old are you.