Do body builders cut weight?

[GearSolidMetal]

Random question that popped into my brain when thinking about MMA.

I know bodybuilding is horrible on the competitors health and they are EXTREMELY vascular with all their veins popping out.

So, exactly how to they get so vascular in the days/weeks prior to the competition? Do they spend hours in the sauna like MMA fighters do?

 

[Jesus H. Sherdog]

Yes they do cut weight. Being “stage ready” is a state most are in only very briefly. And yeah as soon as the competition is over they rehydrate end feast like fighters do after their weigh ins.

 

[GearSolidMetal]

Yes they do cut weight. Being “stage ready” is a state most are in only very briefly. And yeah as soon as the competition is over they rehydrate end feast like fighters do after their weigh ins.

Do they cut weight in the same way MMA fighters do, spending hours in the sauna? Losing 10 to 20 pounds?

Or is there a specific way they do it?

 

[SPD123]

Do they cut weight in the same way MMA fighters do, spending hours in the sauna? Losing 10 to 20 pounds?

Or is there a specific way they do it?

Diuretics, T3, clenbuterol, DNP, GH, steroids, SARMS, SERMS, IGF1, EPO and probably a load of other drugs I don't know about.

Next to pro bicycle road racing (Tour De France, etc) it is probably the most drug abused "sport".

I'm not aware of any of the top guys \ gals using the sauna. Don't need to when you can just up the dose.

 

[MilkManUK]

I *think* they also incorporate a fair amount of LISS cardio aswell

 

[GearSolidMetal]

I *think* they also incorporate a fair amount of LISS cardio aswell

I think you're right about diuretics, but I don't think they do much cardio.

I'm open to being corrected on that, but I've never heard of a bodybuilder running marathons or spending hours on the stairmaster days before a competition.

 

[monkeyrhythm]

I think you're right about diuretics, but I don't think they do much cardio.

I'm open to being corrected on that, but I've never heard of a bodybuilder running marathons or spending hours on the stairmaster days before a competition.

Many of them do cardio whilst on a cut. Fasted walking on an inclined treadmill is a favourite.

 

[GearSolidMetal]

Many of them do cardio whilst on a cut. Fasted walking on an inclined treadmill is a favourite.

I hear sprinting is also a great way to lose fat and maintain muscle.

Sprint for 30 seconds and rest for 90 seconds, and repeat.

 

[MilkManUK]

Many of them do cardio whilst on a cut. Fasted walking on an inclined treadmill is a favourite.

Yeah I was thinking more along the lines of this - not marathons etc but low intensity steady state (LISS). Have seen it on a few bodybuilding documentaries for what that's worth.

 

[rikwebb]

Many of them do cardio whilst on a cut. Fasted walking on an inclined treadmill is a favourite.

Yeah I was thinking more along the lines of this - not marathons etc but low intensity steady state (LISS). Have seen it on a few bodybuilding documentaries for what that's worth.

Yeah quite of few of the documentaries i've seen have most of them doing incline treadmill walks

 

[Fahcough]

Had one at work with the worse breath. He said toothpaste had too much sodium or something so couldn't use it days before getting on stage. Balance between nasty and crazy is met.

 

[Sweet Science Of Fighting]

Calorie deficit for a long time. Vascularity comes from being super lean, gear, and getting pre comp nutrition right with enough carbs to fill muscles without bloat.

 

[monkeyrhythm]

I hear sprinting is also a great way to lose fat and maintain muscle.

Sprint for 30 seconds and rest for 90 seconds, and repeat.

Whilst that's true, most people aren't going to have the energy to effectively perform sprint intervals at sub 7% bodyfat, irrespective of their 'supplementation'.

 

[Jesus H. Sherdog]

Do they cut weight in the same way MMA fighters do, spending hours in the sauna? Losing 10 to 20 pounds?

Or is there a specific way they do it?

Sorry just saw this. They do it way more gradually than MMA fighters. Fighters just have to get on the scale and then they can rehydrate, bodybuilders need to be in that state for a much longer period of time. Also, someone else mentioned the copious amounts of drugs used, which is true. In drug tested bodybuilding (which obviously looks quite different from the Olympia guys) the weight cut is even more gradual. This can take two to four months finalizing in a “peak week.” And yes, cardio is usually utilized during this period.

 

[aus101]

They perform normal bodyfat "cuts" via caloric restriction and low intensity steady state cardio and water cuts prior to the show (water loading week of and then eliminating day before) as well. They also carb deplete the last few days and carb load before hopping on stage.

 

[Fla graplr]

Along with what has already been mentioned, cialis or viagra is popular to add vascualrity and pump.

I've heard of guys sitting around with hairdryers pre show blasting their skin to bring out vascularity.

I forget the name specifically, but there is a drug they can shoot precontest that brings more vascualirty than anything but it runs the risk of I believe hyperventilating and passing out.

Early 20s I was interested in BBing but soon realized you have to be a socially starved crazy person with a huge drug problem to even be taken seriously.

 

[SalvadorAllende]

Sorry just saw this. They do it way more gradually than MMA fighters. Fighters just have to get on the scale and then they can rehydrate, bodybuilders need to be in that state for a much longer period of time. Also, someone else mentioned the copious amounts of drugs used, which is true. In drug tested bodybuilding (which obviously looks quite different from the Olympia guys) the weight cut is even more gradual. This can take two to four months finalizing in a “peak week.” And yes, cardio is usually utilized during this period.

Exactly this.

Last few weeks before a show is basically a state of living death for bodybuilders who actually come shredded to the shows.

MMA fighters are usually around 10/15% bodyfat (some more, some less) which is ideal for performance. Some bodybuilders come at 4% and feel like complete shit at that stage.

The cardio helps to lose weight by enabling to eat more calories (which you burn anyways) and not totally neglect yourself of all the minerals, vitamins and micro-nutrients that your body needs. People who wants to get shredded only by dieting have a harder time that those who do cardio.

I hear sprinting is also a great way to lose fat and maintain muscle.

Sprint for 30 seconds and rest for 90 seconds, and repeat.

Biking is my choice to lose/maintain weight. I can do 1 hour of biking and burn 400-500 calories easily (just did it) and don't need to recover.
We bought an elliptical at home and we watch Netflix while doing it. GF watched a Schumacher documentary while on it (not at once but still).

Not a big fan of high intensity cardio for maintaining muscle. I feel it burns your muscles and does not let you lift as hard.
When I combine kickboxing and lifting my performance lifting weight suffers quite a bit.

 

[teepsandbarleywine]

Biking is my choice to lose/maintain weight. I can do 1 hour of biking and burn 400-500 calories easily (just did it) and don't need to recover.
We bought an elliptical at home and we watch Netflix while doing it. GF watched a Schumacher documentary while on it (not at once but still).

Not a big fan of high intensity cardio for maintaining muscle. I feel it burns your muscles and does not let you lift as hard.
When I combine kickboxing and lifting my performance lifting weight suffers quite a bit.

Agree with this ^ completely.

For a bodybuilder, sprints for cardio would be ridiculous as you get closer to a show. A lot more strain of effort, more recovery - it would take away from the quality of the actual bodybuilding training later on in the day as well. Low-intensity, steady-state fasted cardio is something I always see bodybuilders use as they get stage ready.

There's also an interesting thing that I remember seeing a few years ago now about competing adaptations. Essentially, your muscle fibers will adapt best to one stimulus at a time, so a type of cardio that's more reliant on Type-1 (slow twitch) muscle fibers will be more compatible with a bodybuilder's goal, which is hypertrophy (mainly occuring in type 2 muscle fibers).

It's a long time since I did much reading on this at all though, so I'd need to go back and find where I got this from. I have a feeling it may have been an Eric Helms presentation.

 

[KnightTemplar]

Exactly this.

Last few weeks before a show is basically a state of living death for bodybuilders who actually come shredded to the shows.

MMA fighters are usually around 10/15% bodyfat (some more, some less) which is ideal for performance. Some bodybuilders come at 4% and feel like complete shit at that stage.

The cardio helps to lose weight by enabling to eat more calories (which you burn anyways) and not totally neglect yourself of all the minerals, vitamins and micro-nutrients that your body needs. People who wants to get shredded only by dieting have a harder time that those who do cardio.


Biking is my choice to lose/maintain weight. I can do 1 hour of biking and burn 400-500 calories easily (just did it) and don't need to recover.
We bought an elliptical at home and we watch Netflix while doing it. GF watched a Schumacher documentary while on it (not at once but still).

Not a big fan of high intensity cardio for maintaining muscle. I feel it burns your muscles and does not let you lift as hard.
When I combine kickboxing and lifting my performance lifting weight suffers quite a bit.

This. I knew a guy who had competed at a national level. But he only did two comps per year. He said he loved the training, but the diet absolutely killed him. The way Bodybuilders look on competition day is actually an illusion: they look incredibly ripped, but they are so weak from lack of food and fluids it takes them all their time to do their posing routine.

The guy I mentioned told me that as soon as the competition was over he'd start eating and drinking again. He often put more than 10 pounds back on in 24 hours, much of it water.

 

[SalvadorAllende]

This. I knew a guy who had competed at a national level. But he only did two comps per year. He said he loved the training, but the diet absolutely killed him. The way Bodybuilders look on competition day is actually an illusion: they look incredibly ripped, but they are so weak from lack of food and fluids it takes them all their time to do their posing routine.

The guy I mentioned told me that as soon as the competition was over he'd start eating and drinking again. He often put more than 10 pounds back on in 24 hours, much of it water.

@Brampton_Boy is a bodybuilder sherbro. Maybe he can tell us about his experience.