Tuesday, April 19, 2011
For Wrestlers, ‘Weight Cutting’ Has Psychological Effects
From Wolters Kluwer Health: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins
Anyone who remembers their high school years shouldn’t be surprised that wrestlers undergo dramatic weight-shedding in the days and weeks leading up to important matches. I recall some of my closest friends starving themselves before state championships. The pressure to drop a weight-class and gain a competitive edge was strong enough to compel these athletes to forego solid food, and even sometimes all liquids, with alarming determination. And this was only high school. One can only imagine the pressure at the collegiate level.
The The Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, published by Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, a part of Wolters Kluwer Health, reveals ramifications to the athlete’s psychological functioning.
The study finds that rapid mass reduction—or “weight cutting”—leads to increased confusion, although not to reduced strength.
The researchers studied the physical and psychological effects of weight cutting in a group of 16 collegiate wrestlers. Ten days before a competitive meet, the wrestlers were weighed, completed a brief mood rating scale, and underwent strength tests.
Wrestlers who lost the most body mass—four percent or more—had significantly higher levels of confusion on the day of the match. Other psychological factors were unchanged. Confusion was not increased for wrestlers who reduced their mass by less than four percent.
Further research, and plenty of professional analysis will need to be done to determine the full extent of this psychological confusion and any long term effects. But, as long as top wrestlers can lose weight and win, my guess is they’ll keep doing it.
Read the full article here.
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