Weight loss is an extra challenge for fighters before fights

The Brazilian Amanda Lemos, 36, better known as Amandinha, faces this Saturday (16) the American Michelle Waterson, for the UFC. In the hours before the match, Lemos, 1.63 m tall, will have to lose 10 kg to fit the strawweight limit (up to 52.6 kg). The amount represents almost 20% of her body mass.

After the official weigh-in, which takes place on Friday (15), the goal is to recover 6.4 kg to reach the fight with 59 kg, according to Peterson Pepe, Lemos’ coach.

Rapid weight loss is not exclusive to the female category. However, the lack of studies and specific strategies for female athletes worries specialists.

Research developed by the universities of São Paulo, Birmingham and Nottingham and published in 2019 showed that female fighters proportionally lose as much weight as men in the moments before the pre-fight weigh-in.

To arrive at the result, the researchers compiled body mass data from 4,432 boxing, judo, MMA (mixed martial arts, in translation), taekwondo and Greco-Roman wrestling athletes tabulated in previous studies.

According to the survey, MMA athletes undergo, on average, the greatest variations, with weight loss of 7.4 kg, followed by mass gain in the same order. The fighter’s gender had no relevant impact on the measure.

But another conclusion of the research was precisely the lack of female representation in this type of study. Of the total number of athletes who had the data compiled, only 156 were women. This lack of a specific look at female fighters can be dangerous.

In a recent article, Reid Reale, a sports nutrition researcher with a focus on combat sports at Shanghai University, stated that there is an imbalance in pre-fight strategies, as men and women adopt similar practices to lose and regain weight, without consider existing physiological differences. This can put them at risk, as there is no consolidated knowledge on the subject.

“Women’s weight loss strategies should be considered on a case-by-case basis, taking into account the individuality of each athlete,” concludes Reale. Without proper follow-up, fighters may have difficulties to rehydrate and regain muscle mass, which can cause loss of strength, endurance, in addition to health damage.

Specialist in combat sports, professor USP Emerson Franchini says that the greatest difficulty in understanding the performance of female athletes is related to hormonal variations resulting from the menstrual cycle.

“In some studies, this control is important in order to understand physiological adjustments”, explains the professor. On the other hand, according to Franchini, when the gender variable is not important, the analysis can be performed in a similar way to what happens with male athletes.

He also clarifies that there is a difference between the modalities: in MMA, it takes between 24 and 36 hours between weigh-in and competition, with no post-weigh-in weight gain limit. “Thus, athletes reduce a much greater percentage of body mass and recover an amount also much more accentuated than in judo.”

Franchini brings Japanese wrestling as an example because it is the modality in which he concentrates his studies. He and four other researchers from the School of Physical Education and Sports at USP identified a tendency for judokas who won their matches at the Tokyo Olympics to have gained more body mass between individual and team matches than those who lost their matches. Teams in judo are made up of men and women in equal proportion.

The case of judo can serve as a reference, according to Franchini. “As the International Judo Federation started to give equal importance to both sexes, this generated a positive effect of more equal investment, and the interest of researchers also increased in relation to the disputes of female athletes”.

The professor, however, warns that “some methods adopted for weight loss, such as laxatives, diuretics, sauna and rubber vests, can be harmful to health.” Athletes are still subject to high stress loads.

“Recovery does have an influence on the athletes’ performance, those who have a better recovery with follow-up have advantages, as research shows”, says Peterson Pepe, Lemos’ coach.

In her preparation, Amandinha resorts to 11 workouts a week, a diet accompanied by a nutritionist and dehydration — with various methods, such as a sauna, thermal blankets with towels and a hot tub. On the athlete’s instagram, you can find videos of her in the process.

Amandinha started her career at bantamweight (up to 61 kg) and was the champion of Jungle Fight — the biggest national competition of the modality. As Pepe explains, the change of category has impacts on the athlete’s life. “Today, she has another routine to keep her shape and weight down. That’s when endocrinologist, nutritionist and other health professionals came in”.