Steps taken to make cutting weight safer

By Jeff Easton, Journal Assistant Sports Editor | Wednesday, November 30, 2005

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RAPID CITY -- Matt Bury faced the same dilemma other wrestlers have faced for years; deciding which weight class was best for him.

The Rapid City Stevens sophomore wanted to compete at the 135-pound weight class this season, but after starting the school year weighing about 150 pounds, getting there was a sizable leap.

The National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) recommends a seven percent body fat limit for male wrestlers, 12 percent for girls. With a body fat percentage around 10 percent, Bury had a little fat to lose, but not much.

Stevens assistant coach John Aldridge watched as Bury worked to lower his weight. The Raider wrestler watched what he ate, staying away from junk food, foods with fat and sugar, and went heavy on the carbohydrates in his diet. He worked out religiously.

"He's got absolutely no body fat on him and he's trying to cut to 135 pounds," Aldridge said. "Five pounds doesn't sound like a lot to you or I, but to a kid like him, I couldn't pinch an inch of body fat on him if I tried."

So Aldridge and Bury sat down one day and talked.

"I said wrestle your body weight and see what happens," Aldridge recalled. "During the course of the year, if he's on full feed and working right, he might lose that and be at full strength."

For now, Bury's body answered the question for him.

"Right now, I'd like to wrestle at 140 because I'll have more energy," he said. "I was cutting two, three pounds a day to get to 135. When I was at 139 pounds, I had no energy left. Now, practice is a lot better."

Ten years ago, a wrestler in Bury's situation may not have made a similar choice.

For decades, wrestlers dropped weight by employing some dangerous techniques. Some cut weight using a method Aldridge called "ringing out," a process that takes off pounds by dehydrating the body, mainly by denying it water, wearing rubber "sauna" suits during workouts or sitting in saunas.

That changed in 1997 when three college wrestling deaths brought weight-cutting methods under public scrutiny. A series of rules changes soon followed to protect wrestlers from cutting weight in ways that put their health at serious risk.

"From that time forward, the evolution has been toward weight management," said North Dakota High School Activities Association Executive Secretary Dave Carlsrud, who serves as chairperson of the NFHS wrestling rules committee.

Following the 1997 deaths, the NCAA set a five percent body fat minimum weight limit, and the NFHS recommended a seven percent limit for males. In 2002, the NFHS recommended a 12 percent limit for female wrestlers.

Both groups banned specific weight-cutting practices like the use of "sauna suits" during practice and the use of laxatives.

The South Dakota High School Activities Association adopted a plan to discourage dangerous weight-cutting practices.

According to Bob Lowery, Assistant Executive Director of the SDHSAA, each wrestler must be examined by a physician, and by mid-December, the physician certifies the weight a wrestler can compete at. The wrestler's parents have to sign off on that minimum weight. The parents can disagree and go higher, but they cannot go lower.

Second, half of a wrestler's weigh-ins are required at the weight they will wrestle at during postseason tournaments.

Third, once a wrestler is certified, he can wrestle at that weight class or one class higher.

"One of the first things was a rule against sweat suits and saunas as a means of weight loss, no artificial means," Lowery said. "The second was 50 percent of weigh-ins during the season. That in it self did more for weight loss than any other change.

"By requiring them to have half of their weigh-ins at a weight, we've seen them hold that weight, and we've found that kids stay higher."

The NFHS has a rules change that will take effect during the 2006-07 school year that will further address weight management.

The three-point program will require proper hydration, a body fat assessment and a monitored, weekly weight loss plan of no more than 1-1/2 percent per week.

According to Carlsrud, to burn one pound of fat requires using 3,500 calories. But, a wrestler needs to consume 2,500 pounds per day to maintain muscle mass. By placing a limit on weekly weight loss, a wrestler must drop the weight at a slow pace and avoid cutting in dangerous ways.

"If there's a caloric deficit in exercise and food intake, then the body tends to protect itself by shutting down," Carlsrud explained. "It takes time to burn fat. You can cut weight, but you want to burn fat. It takes time, food nutrition and exercise."

Lowery said South Dakota may not adopt the NFHS rules change because the SDHSAA feels its current weight-management plan is working and the "papertrail nightmare" he said was created by the new system. "I don't see kids struggle to maintain weight like they did 10 years ago," he said. "We still have kids struggle, but then it becomes the responsibility of the doctor and parents to manage it.

"When I attended nationals meetings and I heard stories about kids who come into the season - they're eating and drinking properly - but lose two or three percent of their body weight. Then we have to write an exception. Or the kid that comes in in shape, already at five percent (body fat). But he's below the seven percent limit, so we've got write an exception."

Carlsrud said the new rules are currently being employed by several test schools. "With some of them, things are going smoothly, some didn't educate their parents well enough. We've had some kids losing at a rate faster than the program indicated they should have. Those are kinks we hope to smooth out."

He added that some problems, specifically with football players making the transition to wrestling, can be avoided by making weight management a year-round priority.

"What we're doing up here is to educate our football coaches in that many don't monitor the weight their players are carrying," Carlsrud said. "If you have a kid who is carrying more body fat, then it takes them longer to reach their proper weight. They can put their football players on it and target body fat compositions. If you have kids in that area, it helps them when it comes to switching sports."

Lowery said the SDHSAA will decide next spring whether to adopt the new NFHS rules.