The main goal of any athlete aside from skill should be to have the most strength, speed and endurance of anyone he or she is competing against. Wrestlers can hurt themselves by “making weight” by dehydration. I have several articles that will confirm that even a 3% loss of muscle hydration results in a 10% loss of strength and an 8% loss of speed. The problem is if there is too much of a hydration loss; you simply can’t re-hydrate enough on tournament day to gain your strength back and will wind up being less of a Wildcat, and more of a sick kitten. I will never forget seeing a wrestler from an opposing school cramp up so bad from dehydration that all of his limbs were pulling in toward his body, it was a scary sight to say the least.
The ultimate goal is to get to your weight by eating, hydrating and exercising.
A 6 meal a day plan provides a steady source of energy for exercising muscles, helps to lose weight by elevating the metabolism and keeps the body burning fat because it knows it is going to get fuel on a regular time frame, when you starve yourself, the body will go into a self-preservation mode and store fat. 6 small meals prevents you from becoming hungry and it keeps your blood glucose levels at a steady state.
A 6 meal a day plan does not mean 6 full courses, the object is to have the normal moderate 3 meals, (breakfast, lunch and dinner) with snacks thrown in between. Hard to do at school, I understand, but a snack can be a granola bar eaten in between passing periods, and hit the water fountain. Remember to hydrate!!
Parents need to understand that having a wrestler in the house who is trying to maintain weight during season truly is a family affair; it’s a lot easier to keep the weight down if you’re not the only one in the house eating healthy. Try to eat the same as they do, keep the junk temptation out of the house and you never know, you just might wind up losing weight and feeling better yourself! Once season is over, keep the same pattern, but you can increase the calories for strength training. A good multi-vitamin is also important.
Two sources I think a lot of are Bill Phillips, who wrote “Body for life” and “Eating for life” and David Zinczenko editor-in-chief of Men’s Health magazine and author of “the Abs diet” these two are worth reading, they offer a lot of great recipes, meal plans and workouts.
Here are some links and articles you might find of interest.
