how do you guys determine your weight class?

[beat...people...up?]

I just lost weight to drop from one weight class to the next-lowest and feel like I have good momentum going in my diet and feel I can continue it; it is not really a diet per se but just improved adherence to avoiding processed foods and consistently weighing/measuring.

Or should I hang out where I am? My energy for training is usually fine but I do feel fairly hungry most days. My concern is that it will catch up to me.

I'm less curious about what I specifically should do and more interested in how everyone else decides. Do you just aim at the lowest weight you can attain?

 

[j123]

I just lost weight to drop from one weight class to the next-lowest and feel like I have good momentum going in my diet and feel I can continue it; it is not really a diet per se but just improved adherence to avoiding processed foods and consistently weighing/measuring.

Or should I hang out where I am? My energy for training is usually fine but I do feel fairly hungry most days. My concern is that it will catch up to me.

I'm less curious about what I specifically should do and more interested in how everyone else decides. Do you just aim at the lowest weight you can attain?

In the long run you do.

You compete at a weight you are most strong and athletic at, then if you feel you want a competitive edge, try one lower. If it feels good, then by all means, if your performance suffers then its not the right one. Keep in mind, that when you're fight ready, even though your body is hurting, you won't feel it due to excitement, adrenaline, etc. My old coach used to force me to go down to 140-142 (depending on the sanctioning body), and while I was excited and fight ready, I thought it was okay, when in fact it wasn't. Once I started doing test cuts, I realized how crap I was performing and made sense why I ran into gas issues. I'm usually lean at 165, and dropping to 140-142 was too taxing.

So long story short, it takes time to find your "style", and optimal weight. I would start with a weight class where you're lean, and performing well, so to ball park it, when your bodyfat is down to 10-12%

 

[beat...people...up?]

Cool thanks. I'm female, so 10-12% body fat would be too low for me. I think 16% is the lowest I would want to get.

I had a coach in a different sport who always encouraged me to lose weight at all costs and it harmed my health, so I'm wary of that. My current coaches in BJJ say that I don't have to drop a weight class as I am already strong for the class I am in, but they say that if I can do so healthily and stay strong, why not? I'm continuing to lift weights outside of grappling to hold onto muscle.

So, my conern is--you say it depends on style--I'm the type to do a ton of pressure passing and wrestling and rely a lot (too much) on out-muscling my opponents even if they outweigh me by 15 or more pounds. One fear is that I will lose strength if I drop too low and thus, lose this ability. I guess I'll see. In theory, I should be even more disproportionately strong in a lower weight class.

 

[Tayski]

My old coach used to force me to go down to 140-142

Manlet confirmed.

 

[Badger67]

Manlet confirmed.

He still benches teh 275...

 

[j123]

Manlet confirmed.

kg

 

[Tayski]

kg

Maybe stones even?

 

[j123]

Cool thanks. I'm female, so 10-12% body fat would be too low for me. I think 16% is the lowest I would want to get.

I had a coach in a different sport who always encouraged me to lose weight at all costs and it harmed my health, so I'm wary of that. My current coaches in BJJ say that I don't have to drop a weight class as I am already strong for the class I am in, but they say that if I can do so healthily and stay strong, why not? I'm continuing to lift weights outside of grappling to hold onto muscle.

So, my conern is--you say it depends on style--I'm the type to do a ton of pressure passing and wrestling and rely a lot (too much) on out-muscling my opponents even if they outweigh me by 15 or more pounds. One fear is that I will lose strength if I drop too low and thus, lose this ability. I guess I'll see. In theory, I should be even more disproportionately strong in a lower weight class.

A big problem with coaches who advocate always going lower and big on getting in the smallest weight-class as possible, is they're looking at their ammys with a pros perspective.

It's good you're with a gym that looks to get your best performance rather than substituting numbers in and expecting you to do so because they heard Joanna Jedrzejczyk did it. If you can perform at your best while being competitive at a lower class, then yeah, thats great. If not, then it's not good, at least in this stage. In the future when your body adjusts and matures to the work capacity, strain, wear and tear, then it'll be the time. For now, do what you can.

I do test cuts myself, because on fight night adrenaline, excitement, all makes me think its fine. It's really shown that its not fine when you do it during test cuts. I remember the last big one I did (for my standards: 15lbs), despite re-hydrating good, I was still not 100% the next day. The day after I was, but it showed me how my mental state + adrenaline can mask my physical hindrance without me knowing.

 

[Fatman1]

I would work it out by height/reach... what are other guys of your height/reach weighing?

 

[megan]

I look at what the pros fight at for my height and then add a couple kg. So pros fight at about 52kg for my height so I aim for 55kg. Personally I'd rather be the taller person in a fight but it's not everything.

 

[Arashikage4Life]

I tested to see how much I could cut in a five-day period without feeling like shit and targeted that weight class.

 

[Sir Punchalot]

I basically just went with what I weighed when in great shape minus a few kilos. I started fighting at welterweight (67 kilos/147 lbs), and I think I was about 69 kilos before my first fight, with very littlel body fat, but as a 17 year old I quickly grew into 72 kilos and cut as much as 5 kilos before a fight, which was a bit too much given that in the amateurs weigh ins are in the morning and then you fight at night on the same day - or as early as the afternoon. I once weighed 72 kilos on Thursday night and weighed in at 66.8 on Saturday morning. And that was one of the few fights I lost. So I had to move up to light middleweight (71 kilos), and I then ate a little extra (I actually bought weight gain powders haha - I remember one of them was DAMN tasty) to put on some more weight as I didn't want to be small for my weight class.

I ended my career as a light heavyweight, where I'd be 84-85 in fighting shape and cutting to 81 kilos the week of the fight / tournament. I got a bit out of shape at times because of hand injuries that prevented me from training properly (and getting lazy and not even running, but sitting around playing music etc instead) and at one point I weighed as much as 93 kilos, which was shocking at the time, but then when I got back into training that extra weight came off as if by itself and I made weight easily for my last couple of fights, before hanging up the gloves and calling it a day while still in my mid twenties. No way in hell would I have fought at heavyweight, as I really didn't have the frame for that.

For a boxer, I don't think it's that complicated to find your ideal fighting weight. While in recent decades it has become more and more common to lift weights in order to deliberately put on extra muscle tissue, most guys probably do like I did and just fight a little bit below the weight where they feel their at their best. Some guys stretch it a bit more to gain an advantage, but then you have fighters like Julian Jackson, pound for pound one of the hardest hitters in history, who never really cut weight at all. MMA being a more complex sport, however, necessitates thinking about what you're strengths are, whether you're a grappler or a striker, whether it might be beneficial to carry more muscle tissue and so on. MMA fighters also cut more weight than most boxers, obviously.

 

[Justin Kangas]

I am in that odd range where I am 6'3 but with a good diet and regular exercise I am like 163lb. If I don't diet or do cardio I bloat up to 190. My trainer is having me aim to fight at 155lb which I can get down to. I tried it. Its tough but we will see how it goes. My first fight is in June I think. 170 would be way easier for me to hit but I would not be a heavy 170 and my diet would probably be less clean meaning worse cardio.