sweat bags

[JadeDragon3]

whats everybody's oppinion on using sweat bags to loose weight.

Are they safe if used in moderation. How much water loss weight is to much to loose? And how much of that water weight do you gain back?

 

[theletch1]

You gain back as much as you put back. Personally, I deplore the things. I know, I know...tons of people use them. Intentionally dehydrating yourself has never seemed like a good idea to me. The vast majority of your body weight is water for a reason. I'm an aikido-ka so you'll probably get different answers from the folks here that compete and have to make weight but I thought I'd toss in my .02 anyway.

 

[crushing]

I agree with Jeff, but will take it one step further and say that sweat bags are dangerous and have no business in high school athletics.

http://www.vanderbilt.edu/AnS/psychology/health_psychology/Weight-Wrestling.htm

 

[Andrew Green]

whats everybody's oppinion on using sweat bags to loose weight.

Are they safe if used in moderation. How much water loss weight is to much to loose? And how much of that water weight do you gain back?

My understanding is that it is not the safest way to cut weight, as for how much, I imagine that partially depends on your body. A rubber suit in a dry sauna will let you drop weight fast, but will most likely effect your performance and be really hard on the body. You should be dropping weight at a more comfortable pace, and probably not all in one shot.

Here's a article on making weight for you, details some of the methods that can be used: http://www.graciemag.com/news/150/ARTICLE/4147/2006-04-25.html

 

[cohenp]

Ya they're definately not good for you, but at the same time the human body is incredibly resiliant. I've cut water weight before. Never in a full blown sauna suit but I've done the bundle up and sweat thing and it didn't affect me the day of competition. Aslong as you eat well and rehydrate properly you'll be alright. Anything more than like five or so pounds get's to be pretty sketch though.

 

[jks9199]

For high school students, especially, I could see using saunas, sweat suits or the like to push down if you're really close to the weight limit. Like maybe 2 or 3 pounds... Definitely not more than a couple of percent of total body weight. It shouldn't be something that's relied upon or used often, though. And I'm more than open to a doctor or other qualified person telling me I'm an idiot...

 

[Bodhisattva]

whats everybody's oppinion on using sweat bags to loose weight.

Are they safe if used in moderation. How much water loss weight is to much to loose? And how much of that water weight do you gain back?

Sweating to lose weight will kill your game. Period.

You will make weight, but the lack of water in your body will destroy your endurance, your strength, and your speed.

Water is a key reactant in most of our body's chemical reactions. Without, those reactions slow to a crawl.

That means your body has trouble replacing the fuel it has burnt, and removing the waste products as well.

Cutting weight by dehydrating yourself (and, in general, really, whatever the method) is a foolish idea on many levels.

 

[Bodhisattva]

I agree with Jeff, but will take it one step further and say that sweat bags are dangerous and have no business in high school athletics.

http://www.vanderbilt.edu/AnS/psychology/health_psychology/Weight-Wrestling.htm

totally agree.

 

[tellner]

For high school students, especially, I could see using saunas, sweat suits or the like to push down if you're really close to the weight limit. Like maybe 2 or 3 pounds... Definitely not more than a couple of percent of total body weight. It shouldn't be something that's relied upon or used often, though. And I'm more than open to a doctor or other qualified person telling me I'm an idiot...

I have to disagree. It can be done, but the gains are illusory and temporary. Dehydration can kill a strong, fit man in hours under the right circumstances. Kidney failure, electrolyte imbalance and hyperthermia are deadly.

It's not uncommon for high school and college wrestlers and boxers to sweat off a few pounds to make weight. It is also not that rare for them to end up in the hospital or a pine overcoat if they overdo it. The difference between safe and overdoing it is unbelievably easy to slip over. You can do it in a matter of minutes. While your blood pH is fluctuating and you've sweat out that critical fraction of your sodium and potassium your brain will not be functioning correctly. You will be less capable of judging when you are in danger. And your kidneys and liver can raise the white flag without you noticing it.

You might lose a couple pounds that way, but you will gain them back as soon as you take in fluids. Your body will, quite rightly, act as if it is in danger of dehydration and will keep as much liquid as possible. Screwing with that mechanism is suicidal. Until you reach equilibrium again you will be weaker, slower, stupider, less able to soak up damage and generally less efficient.

Maybe a few pounds if you need to lose them right now for a match today or tomorrow. If you're young, healthy and have competent medical monitoring it probably won't do much damage a few times. Do it habitually, do it too much or figure you can tough it out? That's not just stupid, it's dead stupid.

 

[tellner]

Personal note:

I wrestled for a while in junior high school. My high school was in the Easter Washington desert. Temperatures of 100+ were routine much of the spring and most of the summer. The coach had us run in nylon suits that kept the sweat in. He told us not to drink water because we'd "just gain weight and bloat up like girls on their periods".

Ewwww! we didn't want that.

My father was a urologist. After a couple weeks he took a clinical look at me and said that my wrestling days under that coach were over. He had blood work done. My electrolytes were off. I was chronically dehydrated. And my kidney function was compromised.

It was the only rational decision. And it's a damned ****ing shame that he didn't raise a stink with the school board about it. One kid a few years later died from that sort of training.

 

[jks9199]

Maybe a few pounds if you need to lose them right now for a match today or tomorrow. If you're young, healthy and have competent medical monitoring it probably won't do much damage a few times.

That's all I was implying; say someone who wants to wrestle or box at 160-169, but slipped all the way up to 172... If it's more than you can basically sweat out in a real hard, hot workout -- it's too much. No matter how fast you replenish afterwards, it takes time to get into the system.

I'm not trying to suggest that it's a healthy way to drop any weight. I'd love to say it should never be done. But I'm also a realist. They're going to do it. So, set up a system where it's limited to a reasonable level. Use multiple weigh-ins (coach has to submit a week's worth of weights, or something like that, with penalties for errors), maybe, to try to catch it. I don't know... it's not an easy solution.

 

[tallgeese]

They probably shouldn't have a place in HS athletics.

But they will help cut weight. Yes, it's all water and as was said, it will come back to the tune of what you put in.

Personally, I'd rather not use them. However, they can be useful for knocking off a couple of pounds for weigh in purposes. Really, they are best used, if at all, in situations where you have weigh ins the day or night before.

 

[Unkogami]

whats everybody's oppinion on using sweat bags to loose weight.

Are they safe if used in moderation. How much water loss weight is to much to loose? And how much of that water weight do you gain back?

Not safe at all, and prohibited by most HS/College sports authorities now. Back in the day, you can't imagine the crazy **** we did to cut weight.

 

[lklawson]

13 years is an impressive necropost.

Peace favor your sword,
Kirk