SCRAPP! FIGHT MAGAZINE
June - 2015
15
TAKING A DEEPER LOOK AT
WEIGHT CUTTING FOR FEMALES
Article By: Jessica Doener
Weight cutting in MMA is con-
stantly in the news.
Fighters miss weight all the
time and have different reasons
on why they did not make the
weight. Female fighters seem
to have a more difficult time
then the males and the men-
strual cycle is often blamed.
As a fighter, missing weight is
a big deal. We do not want to
disrespect our opponent by be-
ing overweight or risk the fight
being cancelled because we
could not make weight. There
are of course times when miss-
ing weight is out of our control
due to an illness.
A lot of times the fighter could
have done things differently
and prevented being over-
weight. I know this firsthand
as I have missed weight once
in my career and did not get to
even get to weigh in once be-
cause of passing out during a
weight cut. I believe both times
were preventable had I done
things differently. Of course,
I made every effort to try and
make weight and I am sure
most fighters do. A little edu-
cation can go a long way and I
am still learning to perfect the
weight cut and learn how my
body responds.
I did a little research on the
menstrual cycle and how it
affects the body. I am a bit
ashamed that I never looked
further into this information
before. There are two phases
the follicular phase and the lu-
teal phase. The follicular phase
begins the day your period
starts. This phase typically lasts
fourteen days and the luteal
phase starts when the follicular
phase ends.
The follicular phase is bet-
ter suited for building muscle
and the luteal phase is better
for burning fat. So if a female
is trying to cut weight and
weigh in during the follicular
phase, it will be more difficult.
Our insulin and cortisol levels
are affected by estrogen and
progesterone which fluctuate
during the two phases. When
cravings are high, there are
tricks to help keep these under
control. Branch Chain Amino
Acids (BCAAs) are one way to
trick your brain. BCAAs lower
cortisol which too much of can
cause weight gain. “Cocoa
powder is rich in bioflavanoids
especially catechins. The biofla-
vanoids are “bioactive” mean-
ing they have direct biological
activity in the body.
You can almost think of these
as compounds that act as
“food based hormones”.
Some of the active compounds
in cocoa powder include pe-
nylethylamine (PEA), anan-
damide, serotonin and other
brain chemicals and activators.
Cocoa serves to raise the levels
of both dopamine and sero-
tonin” (Teta, 2012). Knowing
our bodies and knowing the
phase we are in before we step
on that scale on weigh day can
help us plan ahead.
José Youngs/The MMA Corner
