Off Season Weight for BJJ and other Combat Sports
Cut 5kg in one week!
Well not really but I know that’s what you want to hear.
Everyone wants a quick fix to help them make weight, whether it be a new diet, a pill or some kind of potion that magically drops fat while giving you super massive muscles and a berimbolo that would leave the Miayos standing there like a slack jawed idiot.
The truth of the matter is that it takes working all year long to make sure that you perform the very best in your weight class. If you really want to be the very best that you can be you need to be working on everything all year to make sure that you are the strongest, fastest and most technical fighter on the mat.
However not all BJJ players want to be super competitive all year. Some want to do the odd competition just to test their skills and look at it as a lower priority in their training.
Neither is wrong as everyone has different goals in BJJ and all are valid. However BJJ is still a weight class sport and those looking to compete (no matter how often) need to keep an eye on their weight and manage it accordingly.
In the world of Jiu Jitsu, the year is split into two seasons, Gi and NoGI. Most people have a preference of which one they like to do and therefore lean their competitive season to one or the other. This gives us an in season (competitions) and an off season (the rest of the year). What fighters need to start doing is to manage their weight in the off season just as much as the in season.
The first thing that you need to do is pick your weight class. How to pick a weight class is another article in itself but you should go for one where the people are of a similar height, build and strength level. Once you have picked your weight class and competed, the question arises what to do with your weight during the off season.
The mistake that most fighters make is not to keep an eye on their weight during the off season and let it balloon up due to a diet of junk. This is not acceptable to anyone that says they are dedicated to improving their BJJ. Everyone likes a treat or two but spending months eating pizza and doritos while playing Xbox will only improve the size of your waist.
Lets say that we have a fighter that fights at 70kg. In BJJ most competitions have same day weigh ins and most are transitioning into weighing fighters in like the IBJJF (fighters get weighed in then go straight to the bull pen to warm up to fight with no chance to re hydrate or re fuel to stop massive weight cuts). As most are now doing it this way it means that there are no long breaks between weigh ins and fighting. This means that serious weight cutting or water manipulation is out of the question for BJJ athletes.
This means that any BJJ athlete must have a maximum weight that they let themselves hit before starting their competition prep. While everyone is different, a few factors must be taking into consideration such as the fighters ability to lose weight easily (if you do it easily you can have your weight a little higher in the off season), how long you have off between competitions and the goals you have during your off season.
A good off season needs to be planned and have clear goals of what you want to achieve. Lets use an imaginary fighter as an example. He/she has had a pretty good season and won a few medals however they know that there are a few gaps in their game that they need to work on. They sit down with their coach and come up with some clear goals of what they would like to achieve over the next few months.
This may look like this,
· Gain strength (divided up into smaller goals within this).
· Improve flexibility in hips and hamstrings.
· Work on techniques to implement into their game plan to address weaknesses (guard passing, side control escapes etc).
So here we can see that our fighter has some great goals to hit during the off season, but what about their weight? How do their goals impact their weight and what should it look like in the off season?
When it comes to your off season weight it is ok for you to let it creep up a little. What I mean by a little is 3-4kg depending on how well you can lose weight or how long your training camps are for competition. If you are one of those competitors that competes regularly then you need to stay at your fighting weight throughout the year or season.
During the off season you can let your weight creep up a little by adding good quality calories and nutrients. This will allow you to have the odd treat but still had strength and help your body recover from hard training.
As we are trying to promote muscle growth without to much fat gain, keeping protein high (a minimum of 1.25g per pound of body weight) and keeping carbs slightly limited but more importantly, timed to certain parts of the day. Carbs have gotten a lot of attention over the last few years and a pretty bad rap. Everyone is suggesting different things. If you haven’t tried one of gazillion methods out there, then I advise taking in 0.75g per pound of body weight and adjusting them from there. I like fighters to have about 30 – 40% of their carbs at breakfast and the rest around their training (before, during, after). People are either taking in to many carbs or not enough. I would err on the side of caution though, it’s always more fun to add in more carbs than take them out. The rest of your plan should focus on good healthy fats that will aid in joint health, hormone production, organ and immune support, fat loss and a load of other goodies (hint, get a good quality fish oil).
Don’t fear fat.
So how are going to measure progress while in our off season? The first point of call should be your coach. Tell them what you are doing and the goals you are trying to achieve. This way they can keep you on the right track. Nutrition wise we are focusing on good, clean gains. Changing our body’s composition (better muscle to fat ratio) should always be the goal. Remember, this isn’t bodybuilding and we aren’t bulking.
We want to add muscle that will be beneficial to us in competition but we don’t want to get sloppy and stray to far from our fighting weight. It is possible to get stronger without adding weight but to be honest, most could do with a few more pounds of muscle. This is why your coach is important, while you think that you are getting ‘swole’, they will know if your performance is declining or improving. If it is improving great. If not, look at your weight and see how fast you are gaining. Any more than 1-2 pounds every 4 weeks? Scale back the calories and reassess. Weight staying the same or decreasing to fat away from your weight class? Add in 100-200 calories and reassess in 4 weeks.
Nutrition in your off season is just like your nutrition in season. You want to make small, calculated adjustments so that you keep moving towards your goal. Make one change at a time and monitor it for a few weeks so that you can see what is working for you and what isn’t. Confused by what you are seeing? Speak to your coach or chat with a professional.
Now you have read about a few things that can make a great off season so what next? As stated, discuss it with your coach and someone who knows nutrition. I would personally set up a mini trial with a few goals in mind (improved lifts, better muscle – fat ratio etc) for about 8-12 weeks and give it a go. See what works for you and see what doesn’t. Remember the idea is to improve yourself as a fighter, if it’s not working don’t do it. However if this is something that you love (you’re reading this so I know it is) why not take some time to be better? Train and eat smart and great results can only follow.
Stay Healthy,
Mike
