Dropping down a wrestling weightclass and need advice

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Orange Belt
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Hey guys, new to this subforum and could use some advice. I'm wrestling in high school and weigh around 147 and cut to 145. Our JV team already has a 145er and he deservedly takes priority over me in getting a match. I have enough fat around the belly to know I can lose a bit of weight and make a cut to 138. So basically I need dieting advice for a growing teenager that can't afford to be drained from a big caloric deficit. Feel free to correct any and all misconceptions i have or mistakes I made.
 
eat unlimited raw veggies, a couple of pieces of fruit, lean protein twice a week. if you find yourself getting sluggish, have some oatmeal plain (maybe a bit of olive oil and sugar if you want to treat yourself). try not to rely on cutting more than a pound or two of water, you have to make weight every week and dramatic dehydrations will drain you.
 
So my main food should just be veggies and some chicken and eggs every once and a while?
 
If your goal is a 9lb jump to a weight class and you have enough fat in your gut to spare you can likely just cut out any garbage and do some extra conditioning like sprints if it doesn't interfere with your schedule/training. You could likely make it and maintain it within a months time easily. Hover at 140 and drop two lbs or tourneys/meets within the week of comp.
 
A few questions.

How much water manipulation, if any, do you the week of a meet right now? Do you even have to "cut" or is it just a matter of dieting for a week or so to make it?

If so, how difficult is the cut?

I completely forget how weigh-ins work for you guys. Same day, or day before?
 
If I could go back and give myself one piece of advice it would be to never drop weight classes like I did and instead of rice cakes all day eat lots of vegetables, meats, and complex carbs and lift like a beast.

That being said if you are skinny fat then you probably have some room to drop fat, and I get if there is competition you might need to go to another class. Don't manipulate water and drop 5 lbs every week just to yo-yo back up. Figure out your caloric need and drop it safely. Don't try to wrestle on a restricted carb diet either, you will hate life. Make sure you hit your protein, get a bit of healthy fats and fill in the rest with carbs. This is a good calculator: http://iifym.com/iifym-calculator/

Also see Pathogenics how to design a diet thread.
 
To add, I just noticed you are talking JV, I would not put too much emphasis on jumping around weight classes if you aren't talking varsity and a team need. Hone your skills while getting stronger, and if if 145 is the best natural weight for you, beat the other guy in your wrestle off and take that spot.
 
Did they clear you for 138? In NY they tell you what your minimum weight class can be for that year, and you can't go below 7% BF.

You need to eat enough to keep up your pace at practice and not die over the weeks. You should be a little hungry at the end of the night, but not because you ate shitty food. When you get allowances for holidays and back to back events, take the opportunity to eat good carbs, not McFattyCakes. If you have an event like a birthday coming up, go hit a quick 20 minute run that day to offset the extra snacks. The season is over in like 2 or 3 months, 8 weeks of a good diet isn't going to kill you, but you're gonna be glad you stuck with it. Just pay attention to eating enough protein to stay strong and getting some fats in to stay healthy.

We went crazy on cradles, what is your team's main attack?
 
That IIFYM calculator is so off from what i'm actually eating to maintain it isn't even funny.

I was not aware NY ha a rule about that, i like it actually. In my HS days there was a guy who dropped from 72kg to make 60kg in my weight class (i highly doubt he was anywhere close to it), tournament wouldn't even put him on the scale and their coach said he'd take all 50 of his squad home if they were subject to a weigh in. We've never gone back to that tourney.
 
That IIFYM calculator is so off from what i'm actually eating to maintain it isn't even funny.

I was not aware NY ha a rule about that, i like it actually. In my HS days there was a guy who dropped from 72kg to make 60kg in my weight class (i highly doubt he was anywhere close to it), tournament wouldn't even put him on the scale and their coach said he'd take all 50 of his squad home if they were subject to a weigh in. We've never gone back to that tourney.

It works great for me. It was only about 100 cals off from the calculations I got from the Cals & Macros app which is another good one.

I dropped from off season 160lbs to wrestle at 119lbs one year in a month to help the team. That was stupid.
 
Hey guys, new to this subforum and could use some advice. I'm wrestling in high school and weigh around 147 and cut to 145. Our JV team already has a 145er and he deservedly takes priority over me in getting a match. I have enough fat around the belly to know I can lose a bit of weight and make a cut to 138. So basically I need dieting advice for a growing teenager that can't afford to be drained from a big caloric deficit. Feel free to correct any and all misconceptions i have or mistakes I made.

You'll need a caloric deficit to lose fat, there's no way around it. Being that you're in season, my advice would be to not compromise your performance and put off the drop until next year. Better yet, train hard in the off season and reassess where you are a month out from next year. Then you can decide where to go from there. You may be fully capable of losing that weight in season, but your performance will go down the tubes.
 
It's off by around 400 for me. If i ate what it suggested i'd starve.

Biggest cut i did in HS was a 9lb water cut. Going from 134-125 by the next day and having a red dot weigh in day of tourney meant no hydration. Dumbest idea ever to cut in HS and why i'm against HS athletes doing it. Just eat clean and train hard. Most people over do the water cut or load; our high schools have rules up here usually where if caught cutting in a sauna or in a garbage bag you're off the team.
 
As a former D1 college wrestler, albeit a shitty one, I offer you this advice:

By far your biggest misconception is that you should be trying to lose weight, cut weight, or have any preoccupation with your weight or weight class whatsoever. From the sound of it, you are not the #1, or even #2 person in your weight class. And you are in HS. From an athletic standpoint, you should only be worried about getting bigger, stronger, and most importantly, better at wrestling.

Eat, lift, wrestle, rest.

If you are a little pudgy around the middle right now, don't worry about it. It will never be easier to fix than it is right now. I assure you that if you are pudgy as a teenager that is on a wrestling team, it is because your diet is atrocious. Stop eating all the junk you are eating, quit the soda and all the processed crap. Start eating whole foods. A LOT of them. Eat as much protein, vegetables, and fruit as you like, whenever you want. You probably need to eat a lot more of them than you think or currently are. Try to keep most of your 'other carb' intake for the meals around your workouts. And try to keep it to things like brown rice, quinoa, oats, barley, beans, bulgar, wheatberries, etc.

This will give you what you need to grow, and the energy you need to train properly. That is how you will improve.
 
^I'm sure he gets a ton of pressure from his coach and teammates to do exactly the opposite. I know I did.
 
^I'm sure he gets a ton of pressure from his coach and teammates to do exactly the opposite. I know I did.

Perhaps. But in my experience, the #3 guy on the depth chart is not under pressure to do anything but just get better and move up the chart. A person in the TS situation is going to add value by having a positive attitude and work ethic, and just making himself better. He should just train and eat his ass off, and come back next year a 168 lb monster. And hit some summer wrestling camps to improve technique and skill.

The reality of the situation is that he will improve a lot more as a wrestler by eating a lot of clean healthy food and by getting bigger and stronger than he will by trying to suck a little weight off. That will also be more effective at ridding him of his little spare tire.
 
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