How not to tear ligaments in powerlifting and choose the right working weights. The strongest bench pressmen in the world with records - from 300 kg, tell us about this. As everyone knows, there are weight classes in powerlifting. This forces the representatives of powerlifting to monitor their weight and try to maintain it as close as possible to the border of the weight category in which they are performing. This is due to the fact that the athlete's strength indicators directly depend on the body weight.
For obvious reasons, athletes need to have a minimum amount of body fat, since their mass cannot affect strength. The most effective method of regulating body weight is a dietary nutrition program, which must be carefully designed. Today we will talk about how the working weight is regulated in powerlifting.
If there is a lot of body fat, then there is a high probability of moving to a new weight category, which will make it difficult to achieve high results. When an athlete deliberately prepares to do this, then he also needs to reduce fat mass, and increase body weight at the expense of muscle. It is this weight that can be called working.
Based on practical experience, we can say that when, on average, a powerlifter's mass increases by one kilogram within a month, then its growth is due to a passive component that cannot affect strength indicators. Simply put, it increases fat mass.
It should be noted that for athletes from lighter categories, the increase in working body weight is much more difficult than for representatives of heavy categories. They need to spend much more time for this. On average, it takes about a month to increase weight by one kilogram. Most often, powerlifters are forced not to gain weight, but to lose it in order to move to a lighter weight category. If such a possibility exists, then athletes use this tactical move, which can be considered justified. With a successful performance in the heavy category, after moving to the light category, he is almost guaranteed to become the winner.
At first glance, everything is simple here - lose weight and compete in the lighter category. However, in practice, everything is more complicated. With a decrease in body weight, the indicator of strength also falls, and this, in turn, leads to a decrease in the result.
How to properly adjust the working weight?
It is necessary to find a weight range in which athletic performance is guaranteed not to decrease. When the diet is used for a short period of time before the start of the competition, the tendencies for weight gain increase. The more the athlete loses weight, the more the body subsequently wants to gain it again.
For this reason, it is necessary to weigh well the advantages and disadvantages of the upcoming weight loss. The athlete needs to establish all possible losses when his body weight decreases. This is very important, since athletes begin to lose weight shortly before the start of the competition and there is no time left to correct mistakes.
Weight loss is associated with the elimination of excess fluid, as well as a decrease in the working (muscle) and passive (fat) masses. The ideal option is to reduce only fat, which is very difficult to achieve, because with a sharp weight loss, about 60 percent of the lost weight falls on the muscles. For this reason, it is necessary to lose weight gradually.
When about 0.2 kg of weight is lost within one week, then muscle mass is practically not lost. At such a rate, the muscles of the athlete will remain in the same condition, which guarantees a high sports result. At the same time, when you lose weight at a high speed, muscle mass will suffer, as well as a decrease in glycogen storage. Everyone knows that it is this substance that is the main source of energy for the muscles and with a decrease in its reserves, the performance of an athlete will drop sharply.
If you pay special attention to the elimination of fluid, then this can also lead to undesirable consequences. A violation of the water balance will be negatively perceived by the body, and it will try to restore it in all possible ways. For this reason, the use of diuretics does not seem to be the most reasonable step. In addition, almost all drugs in this group are prohibited, and everything can end in disqualification.
Summing up all of the above, it can be argued that weight loss can only be justified if only fat mass is consumed for this. This can be achieved in several ways:
- High intensity training;
- Creation of a calorie deficit;
- Changing the composition of the diet.
To lose weight, you must limit your fat intake and increase the amount of protein in your diet. You also need to start using fractional meals and eat five to six times during the day. Thus, there are three methods of weight loss.
Early reset
You should start about three months before the start of the competition. You need to create a calorie deficit in your diet by increasing the number of protein compounds. You should also eat less liquids, salty and sugary foods. It is very good if during this period you will often visit saunas and steam baths to increase sweating, as well as increase the number of movements for the development of the abdominal muscles.
Accelerated Reset
Start losing weight one or two weeks before the start of the tournament. You have to do everything the same as when slowly losing weight and add a few more points to the already existing ones. First, eliminate all sauces and gravies from your diet. Secondly, it is required to increase perspiration even more, warming the body for this.
Intensive discharge
This procedure should be carried out five days before the start of the competition. To all of the above, diuretics and diaphoretic drugs should be added, for example, lemon, herbal decoctions, etc.
An intense reset may not be necessary if you have achieved the desired result in the first two stages. If necessary, using intensive dumping, you can adjust your weight in the range from 500 to 800 grams.
For more details on the selection of the working weight in the exercise, see here:
