Common Misconception

The Lehigh Valley is the hotbed for the nation’s wrestling. Year after the year the area produces multiple national tournament All Americans. The state of Pennsylvania has keen sense and respect for the sport of wrestling. With this said, to the mildly uninformed, the concept of “cutting weight” seems to still be somewhat of a taboo.

Time after time I’ve come across people that think that all wrestlers are victims of eating disorders. When I tell someone that I have to make weight that day, I am usually met with some sort of response questioning when the last time I ate was.

To shed some light, it is rare to find NCAA division I wrestlers that are careless about how they manage their weight and body health. I would confess that early on in the high school and middle school level you may find some kids that don’t quite know how to manage their weight right. There are times where these kids may go a day or two without eating. This process severely affects someone’s performance on the mat. At this stage of wrestling talent can outweigh these factors and good wrestlers that are drained of energy can win matches against inferior opponents. A quick look at this highlight tape would held shed some light on the energy and focus that goes into the sport.

The fact of the matter is that if you are wrestling at such a high level like college wrestling and beyond, you will not be successful if you don’t manage your weight well. Sacrificing large amounts of food is something you just don’t see at a level like this.

It is not unusual to see a wrestler that can shed 20lbs in a week. If the idea perplexes you, I challenge you to come to a college practice and see the work that goes into the sport. Losing 5-10 lbs in a practice is typical. At the same time you can’t lose this much weight and function without replenishes the nutrients that you lost. Fluids are essential to the performance of college wrestlers.. You can usually catch the wrestling team in Rathbone dining hall around 6:30 p.m on weekdays. If you ever see them check out the amount of cups that you find on the table at the end of the meal it is truly impressive. I can recall a time last year where most of the team was getting sick and Rathbone ran out of cranberry and orange juice after a few days.

It is no secret that the body needs vitamins and nutrients to perform at a high level. When you work out 2-3 times a days it needs a large amount.. Eating the right things is essential to weight loss obviously. If you want to lose weight the formula is simple. Taking in less calories than you burn throughout the day =weight loss. College wrestlers are people that have tons of experience in managing their weight. It is not the act that they don’t eat it is that they know how to treat their body to reach optimum performance. I hope that this information can  help alter some negative outlooks on the lifestyles of college wrestlers.