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Dangers of Cutting weight for Judo, BJJ and MMA Athletes

Danger of cutting weight in a sauna

With the rise of mixed martial arts you may find that many amateur athletes don't bother about dieting for competition as they would rather 'cut weight' like the fighters in popular MMA TV shows. If you ever watch top-level cage fighting cards you more often than not hear the commentators mention that a particular athlete walks around at this weight and then cuts twenty pounds to make weight and then smashes a drip in his arm to re-hydrate and eat heaps of food. Although this sounds tough and crazy the fact of the matter is that cutting weight doesn't always mean sauna-ing a heap of weight.
 
Cutting weight means having a strict professionally done diet as well as top-level strength and conditioning coaches monitoring everything that the athlete consumes. I know that some athletes have zero percent body fat therefore the sauna is the only option but what tends to happen is these athletes (that clearly could lose 2-3 kg of fat) are telling people they need to cut weight in the sauna and it's going to be so hard. These are people who are more than likely going to get hurt while sitting in the sauna as they don't know how dangerous sauna-ing really is.
 
Stereotypically saunas are used for relaxation and recovery sessions either for everyday life or in between training sessions. Usually in these recovery sessions you will do stints in a sauna and then hop into a cold pool for a few minutes and then repeat the process.
 
These days many Judokas, wrestlers, rowers, boxers and mixed martial arts athletes use a sauna to help them sweat a few kilograms of water resulting in weighing less and being able to fight in a lower weight division. Although this practice is considered 'normal' among athletes you need to be aware of the dangers that saunas pose to people wanting to 'cut weight.'
 
In 1997 a young wrestler in Iowa, USA was 'cutting weight' to fight in the 150 pound weight division. He collapsed in a sauna suffering from kidney and heart failure. In August 2010, a Russian man died of 2nd degree burns while competing in the World Sauna Championships.
Put simply saunas can be dangerous and should be AVOIDED AT ALL COSTS.
Within minutes of sitting in a sauna your:
• Body temperature increases
• Blood pressure increases,
• Skin pores open,
• You begin sweating,
• Muscles relax,
• Heart rate increases.
 
When you sit in the sauna for hours on end you are in danger of a variety of things including:
• Extreme dehydration,
• Loss of electrolytes,
• Heart attack,
• Suffering heat exhaustion,
• Feeling faint, dizzy, light headed
• Feeling like you want to vomit
 
The safest and most effective way to make weight to is diet and train properly. I highly encourage you to never use the sauna but instead seek dieting advice from a registered professional and if you need to move up to a heavier weight division then do so.
 
In saying that though there are times when I have had to go for a run and sweat
out a few kilograms. This is highly not recommended and every time I have run to sweat a few kilograms it has been because I had not prepared well enough through other means such as diet. I highly recommend that you do not sauna to make weight as it is nothing more than ridiculous and can lead to serious harm or even death.
 
 
The Easy Weight cutting guide contains a lot of useful in formation on how to cut weight properly and effectively for Judo and Wrestling. To see what you need to eat and drink after weigh in. I encourage you to check it out by visiting the Easy Weight cutting website.

Busy start to 2012

Over the last week I travelled down to Melbourne for a weeks training camp. While I was down in Melbourne I was looked after by Australian 66kg fighter Ivo dos santos from ivojudo.com. Ivo is currently ranked 14 in the world and will wreck some havoc at this years Olympic games that's for sure.
We trained 2-3 times a day with technique drilling, gym work, Brazilian jujitsu and a stack of randori. At the moment I am on the plane and am stiff and sore from the past week but my weight is down and I am in good shape for the month ahead.

Every year for the past three Years I have been travelling down to Melbourne to stay and train with Ivo and a lot of judoka from Melbourne take the time to come to the extra session Ivo puts on. A big thanks to Ashley dafter, Patrick, Ben Donegan, Pat Rottura, Sunny, Sam, Dennis, Abdullah and Omar.

The main reason I went to Melbourne was in preparation for a big month of competitions. Starting next weekend I will have 4 comps in a row.
I will be competing in my home state of act in the ACT International Open before flying off to Germany to compete in the Dusseldorf grand slam, then off to Czexh republic to compete in the Prague world cup before flying home and competing in the Queensland International open in Brisbane.
It will be a busy first half of the year due to the fact that I didn't do too well in the Oceania world cup and the Asian comps at the end of 2011. Therefore I have to travel over to Europe and nab some points for the world ranking list.
At the moment I am just outside of qualifying but if I defend my Oceania title and win a few fights over in Europe I should secure my spot in the London Games.

Once again I would like to thank you for your continual encouragement and support as I strive to get to my second Olympic Games.

Yours in Judo
Matt D'Aquino

Tournei de Paris 2012 - Sobirov wins again

Sobirov wins the 60kg division again....what a machine! For all the details visit the ippon.org website.
www.ippon.org