Assistance in a weight cut? (Getting below 10%)

[Jayke]

Hey guys,

Honestly, I didn't know where to put this really, but considering the fact that this is more of a permanent change I'm wanting to make, I figure it fits better here.

Presently, I'm working on a cut for an amateur MMA fight. I'm going from the 166-168 range down to 159. I've been down there before, but I was nowhere near as muscular as I am this time around. The problem I'm running into this time is that I'm knocking around the estimated 10% mark on bodyfat. I say estimated because I can't quite get myself to buy some calipers, and have been using the tape measure method, which I know gets rather insane around these numbers. If it's not too much, I do have a bodyspace with a current picture that I would appreciate a better estimate of this number on if anyone's got a sec to do that. Avi is current pic.

Anyway, the main problem I'm dealing with is making the last few pounds of cut in the remaining 18 days or so to 159. My Coach states that I need to make it to 164-165 and we can sauna the remaining weight off, but I'd rather avoid that. I'm running into a rather solid bit of resistance from my body in going any further because it seems to not want to go any lower. It's literally held here for the past four weeks.

So, my major question is this: Is there a good supplement or fat burner that I can use to help accelerate the cut, but be able to keep it around to help in maintenance after the fight so I don't have to eff around with cutting again?

Thanks,
Jayke

(P.S., sorry about being wordy on this.)

[barkadark]

To lose weight, eat less, no miracle pill/supplement, Fat burners are gimics, some say EC stack but I have and never will look into those.

[Jayke]

I guess that it is a horribly phrased, and naiively shaped question. Lemme try a rephrase on this one:

In addition to what I am already doing, is there anything else I could be doing that could help me out? Specifically, i'm looking to include supplements to help maintain the lower weight after the fight so I don't have to worry as much about cutting again?

[jc99as]

Originally Posted by Jayke

Hey guys,

Honestly, I didn't know where to put this really, but considering the fact that this is more of a permanent change I'm wanting to make, I figure it fits better here.

Presently, I'm working on a cut for an amateur MMA fight. I'm going from the 166-168 range down to 159. I've been down there before, but I was nowhere near as muscular as I am this time around. The problem I'm running into this time is that I'm knocking around the estimated 10% mark on bodyfat. I say estimated because I can't quite get myself to buy some calipers, and have been using the tape measure method, which I know gets rather insane around these numbers. If it's not too much, I do have a bodyspace with a current picture that I would appreciate a better estimate of this number on if anyone's got a sec to do that. Avi is current pic.

Anyway, the main problem I'm dealing with is making the last few pounds of cut in the remaining 18 days or so to 159. My Coach states that I need to make it to 164-165 and we can sauna the remaining weight off, but I'd rather avoid that. I'm running into a rather solid bit of resistance from my body in going any further because it seems to not want to go any lower. It's literally held here for the past four weeks.

So, my major question is this: Is there a good supplement or fat burner that I can use to help accelerate the cut, but be able to keep it around to help in maintenance after the fight so I don't have to eff around with cutting again?

Thanks,
Jayke

(P.S., sorry about being wordy on this.)

I'd say your probably around 15-18% body fat based on your picture. As for cutting, If your taking in a small enough amount of calories and hitting the weights and doing some cardio. If you want to add in a fat burner, you can, it won't help much but might give you a little bit of an edge. You can also lower the amount of calories your taking in assuming your not below 1500 cals already. Without knowing exactly what it is you've been doing that made you stall for over a month, its hard to give you better advice.

[glen666]

If thats you in your avator I doubt your 10% more around 15% ish, anyways all you can do is keep working there is no miracle pill other than certain steriods but I wont go there. ECA stacks work well for some but my advise would be as natrual as you can.

[SUPERM4N]

As the posters above have suggested, there is no magic pill. Lower your calorie intake, increase your cardio or do a mix of both. In future, watch your calorie intake more carefully, and don't go too much over your maintenance if you want to maintain some proximity to your fight weight.

[th3pwn3r]

Originally Posted by Jayke

Hey guys,

Honestly, I didn't know where to put this really, but considering the fact that this is more of a permanent change I'm wanting to make, I figure it fits better here.

Presently, I'm working on a cut for an amateur MMA fight. I'm going from the 166-168 range down to 159. I've been down there before, but I was nowhere near as muscular as I am this time around. The problem I'm running into this time is that I'm knocking around the estimated 10% mark on bodyfat. I say estimated because I can't quite get myself to buy some calipers, and have been using the tape measure method, which I know gets rather insane around these numbers. If it's not too much, I do have a bodyspace with a current picture that I would appreciate a better estimate of this number on if anyone's got a sec to do that. Avi is current pic.

Anyway, the main problem I'm dealing with is making the last few pounds of cut in the remaining 18 days or so to 159. My Coach states that I need to make it to 164-165 and we can sauna the remaining weight off, but I'd rather avoid that. I'm running into a rather solid bit of resistance from my body in going any further because it seems to not want to go any lower. It's literally held here for the past four weeks.

So, my major question is this: Is there a good supplement or fat burner that I can use to help accelerate the cut, but be able to keep it around to help in maintenance after the fight so I don't have to eff around with cutting again?

Thanks,
Jayke

(P.S., sorry about being wordy on this.)

First off I'd like to say you're easily 15%+ when it comes to body fat. Second, if you're serious about MMA and want to make it you have a lot of work to do. Take a look at the fighters in the WEC(135-155 pound classes) and UFC(155 pound class), what you'll notice is lots of VERY lean guys packing quite a bit of muscle and they weigh in at 135-155 AFTER a cutting water weight. This means they usually walk around at a very lean 165-170 just a week or days before the fight and dehydrate themselves to make weight. An extreme example is Thiago Alves who claimed to weigh 200 pounds a bit before a fight and cut to 170. Anyways, the point is that you always want to be able to walk into your ring with as much muscle mass and strength to have a level playing field(if you're lucky an advantage) so that being said if you're in MMA you should always be cutting before a fight but not exactly needing to cut fat but water weight(sauna method would be a decent idea at this point).


One last thing, if you missed it Saturday night watch(good luck finding it online though) Donald Cerrone Vs Ben Henderson. It was the best fight I've ever seen in my entire life and I've been watching MMA since UFC 1 along with K1, Pride and a few others.

[Jayke]

Originally Posted by th3pwn3r

First off I'd like to say you're easily 15%+ when it comes to body fat. Second, if you're serious about MMA and want to make it you have a lot of work to do. Take a look at the fighters in the WEC(135-155 pound classes) and UFC(155 pound class), what you'll notice is lots of VERY lean guys packing quite a bit of muscle and they weigh in at 135-155 AFTER a cutting water weight. This means they usually walk around at a very lean 165-170 just a week or days before the fight and dehydrate themselves to make weight. An extreme example is Thiago Alves who claimed to weigh 200 pounds a bit before a fight and cut to 170. Anyways, the point is that you always want to be able to walk into your ring with as much muscle mass and strength to have a level playing field(if you're lucky an advantage) so that being said if you're in MMA you should always be cutting before a fight but not exactly needing to cut fat but water weight(sauna method would be a decent idea at this point).


One last thing, if you missed it Saturday night watch(good luck finding it online though) Donald Cerrone Vs Ben Henderson. It was the best fight I've ever seen in my entire life and I've been watching MMA since UFC 1 along with K1, Pride and a few others.

Honestly, that's been the theme of this whole process of getting ready for me is, "After this, you've still got a lot of work to do." Pretty much got the same feeling for a lot of this as I'm way behind on where I should be. I get pretty frustrated cause I'm significantly weaker physically than a lot of the people in my gym at my weight class, but way stronger when I get against the 145'ers, so I'll probably end up down there for the next one.

Honestly, I'm curious how everyone keeps coming up with 15%+ ish. Comparatively speaking to pictures I have when I was confirmed at 15% before, I'm way skinnier, way toner than those pictures. What's up with that?

Also, is there a way to improve my pictures? I know that has been a perennial issue for me is that my pictures aren't usually the best and they probably could improve a lot.


Thanks for the feedback so far guys. I'll go see if I can drudge up that fight anywhere too.

[RaginAzN]

so about 8 pounds in 2 weeks ey...honestly though that's gonna be hard to be cutting and trying to get muscular at the same time...or do you mean just get leaner at 159? I know its gonna be tough if you don't have the muscle mass to compete with other people at your weight class because more than likely they'll probably be cutting weight aswell and packing it back on after weigh in so I'm not sure if you really want to stay at 159 throughout the whole thing while others will probably be around 170....

and oh I participated in a bjj grappling tournament a 3 years ago I was 155 and wanted to go to the 147 division and weigh in was in 2 days. I managed to cut all 8 pound with some extreme method to make it for the weigh in but rehydrated and ate like crazy afterward. I'm just saying god was there some monsters in my weight class they all seemed bigger than me. If I didn't cut any weight I probably would of been at a 15lb disadvantage What I'm saying is I think I rather have that extra 8lb that I was cutting but regained then just to be leaner without it and lose any weight advantage I could have....

[th3pwn3r]

Originally Posted by RaginAzN

so about 8 pounds in 2 weeks ey...honestly though that's gonna be hard to be cutting and trying to get muscular at the same time...or do you mean just get leaner at 159? I know its gonna be tough if you don't have the muscle mass to compete with other people at your weight class because more than likely they'll probably be cutting weight aswell and packing it back on after weigh in so I'm not sure if you really want to stay at 159 throughout the whole thing while others will probably be around 170....

and oh I participated in a bjj grappling tournament a 3 years ago I was 155 and wanted to go to the 147 division and weigh in was in 2 days. I managed to cut all 8 pound with some extreme method to make it for the weigh in but rehydrated and ate like crazy afterward. I'm just saying god was there some monsters in my weight class they all seemed bigger than me. If I didn't cut any weight I probably would of been at a 15lb disadvantage What I'm saying is I think I rather have that extra 8lb that I was cutting but regained then just to be leaner without it and lose any weight advantage I could have....

I used to cut from 170 down to 155 in a 4-5 day period. I once cut 10 pounds in a single day, from 170 to 160.

[RaginAzN]

Originally Posted by th3pwn3r

I used to cut from 170 down to 155 in a 4-5 day period. I once cut 10 pounds in a single day, from 170 to 160.

^^ dam 10lb in a day ey that's crazy, 8lb in those 2 days for me was ridiculous but again doable....

[th3pwn3r]

Originally Posted by Jayke

Honestly, I'm curious how everyone keeps coming up with 15%+ ish. Comparatively speaking to pictures I have when I was confirmed at 15% before, I'm way skinnier, way toner than those pictures. What's up with that?

Also, is there a way to improve my pictures? I know that has been a perennial issue for me is that my pictures aren't usually the best and they probably could improve a lot.


Thanks for the feedback so far guys. I'll go see if I can drudge up that fight anywhere too.

Well, most people think they're lower in body fat percentages than they actually are. I know I thought I was. Give it time and you'll be lean and strong enough to the point of you don't care what your actual % is in terms of a number but you'll be looking great.

[RaginAzN]

Originally Posted by th3pwn3r

Well, most people think they're lower in body fat percentages than they actually are. I know I thought I was. Give it time and you'll be lean and strong enough to the point of you don't care what your actual % is in terms of a number but you'll be looking great.

^ I totally agree with that its not about the numbers but rather how you look and feel about yourself that really matters....

[Jayke]

Originally Posted by RaginAzN

^ I totally agree with that its not about the numbers but rather how you look and feel about yourself that really matters....

Very true. I actually love how much better I look at this point than when I started. I was just straight up curious about the looking number because I saw the 10% come up multiple times and thought that it sounded waay too low for how I looked at the moment. Thanks a bunch guys.

[AFdave]

If you're really concerned with the #s I was 17% measured from the Bod Pod in my avatar.