It doesn’t read as a question, it reads as an innuendo. You make an accusation as if it were some common tradition.
The fact that it’s dramatically off topic I won’t address.
I didn’t read it as innuendo at all. I read it as asking how much weight a pair of shorts, or a jock strap, could possibly weigh. And I have to agree with him. If your UnderArmour causes you to miss your weight, then give it up.
Nothing homoerotic about that. And I think you owe alphaboi an apology.
Lisa, wife of a former wrestler who’d do all kinds of idiotic things to make weight, including jogging around in a garbage bag.
That’s not really how wrestling works. The weight classes have fairly large differences compared to how much someone weighs. In HS, weighing 130 is a huge advantage over weighing 125. At the larger end of the scale, the classes are (from memory, unless they’ve changed) 160, 171, 189, 215, 285.
So let’s say you come into a season, as I did once, weighing 184. I was relatively fat (relative to wrestlers) coming from off-season, and already underweight for the 189 class that I was in. At that weight, 13 lbs isn’t a huge amount, but it still takes some time to lose. I don’t remember how long I had to lose it, but just from doing the practices alone I dropped probably 5 lbs in not too long. Through changing eating habits (not starving myself, but eating more healthy foods) I was probably able to lose another 3 or so lbs. So now I weigh about 175ish. This is what I weigh during the week. We have a match every Wed and Sat.
Those last few pounds can be lost through sweat. Every practice (and yes we had water breaks, not having them is stupid and dangerous) I would lose 4-6 lbs. Of course it was just water weight, but in 2 hours I would be 5 lbs lighter than I had been previously. Even though our matches were sometimes in the afternoon, we would get up and weigh in at 7. I had to weigh 171 at 7, and then by the time the match rolled around at 3, you’re given a 3 lb allowance, so 174.
So Tuesday and Friday nights, I would have to keep the water weight off that I had lost from 4-6PM until 7AM the next morning. I usually had an orange and an 8 oz glass of water for dinner.
But most of the time, I and everyone on my team ate well (not hard-- when you eat crap you feel like crap. I was never “tempted” by sweets or fried crap during the season) and lost weight well. I agree with that part of your post. What you don’t understand is that making that next weight class down isn’t a “few pounds” and it isn’t a case of “manning up” for a “challenge.” Wrestling is one of the toughest sports there is, and wrestling down at the next weight class, if you can make it safely and correctly, is simply where you’re supposed to be. Even though it might look like a huge weight loss to an outsider, it’s just how the game works. At 171, I was wrestling guys who were like me, probably cut down from 180-190 lbs, and are swinging 5 lbs of water weight. By the time we get to the ring, we both weigh about 175. If I were to wrestle 189, I’d be up against someone who probably weighs 195.
When I was in college, there were failsafes being put into place to insure that people didn’t cut too much weight. You passed a hydration test, then had a body fat percentage done, and then you weren’t allowed to wrestle at lower than a minimum body fat percent, which gave you a minimum weight. But even there, it seems like a huge amount. I weighed in at maybe 180, and my minimum weight was 164 or something like that. It’s just how the sport works.
The bad parts come from when you don’t lose weight safely, and rather than water weight you’re swinging bile weight by purging just before weigh-in. No one on my team did that, and it’s not really all that smart, but surely you can see why it’s important to be down at the next weight class.
ETA: Oh, and if you’re sweating up on that bike at 6:50, trying to get that last .2 lbs off, you better believe the jock strap is coming off. No one was “forcing” anyone.
You’d be surprised. A pair of boxers and shorts could easily be 3/4-1 pound of weight. That doesn’t sound like much, but it could be the difference between making weight and not.
Not gonna happen.
The thread is about the ethics of coaches withholding water from athletes. He came in out of left field to ask if the athletes had to weigh-in nude. First, it’s off topic. Second, it’s not even remotely true. Third, it’s intentionally tawdry and demeaning.
An analogy would be me trotting into a discussion on the ethics of gay couples adopting children and saying, “sorry for the hijack, but don’t all gay people stop at the local rest area to cruise for blowjobs”?
Someone’s not living up to his username.
Let’s simplify things so you don’t hurt yourself:
Left field? Uh huh. :rolleyes:
Wow, that was one of the weirdest replies I’ve seen here to a perfectly civil question that was quite in line with a discussion of what athletes do to make weight.
I guess the username explains it–he knows what secrets lurk in the hearts of everybody.
ETA: I meant omniscient of course, not Q.E.D.
Oh, and to add: this is, bar none, the stupidest analogy I’ve read on these boards all year.
Oh please, no one but him implied anything about nude weigh-ins. His going the extra step to imply that it was mandatory and common made it specifically ignorant.
I note that he didn’t ask anything about spitting, bulimia, urination or any of the health aspects to cutting weight, which is the topic.
He intended to paint a visual of a bunch of straight guys forced to be naked together so he could giggle about it.
Exactly what, pray tell, leads you to this patently absurd conclusion based on his completely matter-of-fact question? Pulling stuff out of your ass does not constitute deductive reasoning.
In theory, but Americans get enough salt in their diet that it’s never a problem.
Well see, alphaboi is gay therefore any time he mentions straight guys it’s because he wants to fantasize about them being naked, since all gay guys do is think about fucking straight men. It couldn’t possibly have been an innocent question.
:rolleyes:
What, never? Well, hardly ever? A guy in my city died a few years ago from drinking too much water while exercising too hard (it was a hazing thing)–wouldn’t that be what he’s asking about?
Were you a wrestler? Because acc. to my husband, everyone DID get on the scale nude. That’s not saying it was mandatory but it was certainly common here in Ohio back in the 80’s.
And they did it right before they writhed all over each other’s sweaty bodies on the wrestling mat.
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Now that WAS intentionally provocative. See the difference?
[Moderator Underoos On]All of you will knock it off now! No parting shots, no “You can’t expect me not to respond!”. The last word is mine-next Pit worthy retort in this thread will get an official warning.[/Moderator Underoos On]
Shouldn’t it be Moderator Underoos Off in the last bracket, or are you keeping them on all day now, just in case? Can you wear your moderator underoos at a weigh-in? 
No, because he wrote “[/Moderator Underoos On]” (note the “/”, indicating the Moderator Underoos are no longer on). I hope this doesn’t count as a “parting shot” :).
To try to get the thread back on topic, speaking personally I generally prefer not to take much, if any water while exercising, even for periods of an hour or more. I find it’s likely to slow me down and cause me to burp, which can be uncomfortable. I just rehydrate with a pint or three (of water!) at the end. This may not be ideal for my body but I’ve been doing it for years with no apparent ill-effects.
The potential for discomfort I mention may be another reason for some coaches’ dislike of water breaks, but I would agree with the consensus that it is unethical to deny them on this (or any) basis.