Making Weight & Everything Else Making weight and everything else | Page 14

do. I was too tired to run and I had to try something. I was so desperate
that I went to the supermarket and bought 3kg of salt. I had read
somewhere that when the body is surrounded by salt, it loses more
liquid. I threw the salt into the hot bath and stepped in. I called it
“Roni-soup”.
Boiling myself in a bath didn’t seem to help. At 16:00 I went running
again. Have I mentioned how much I hate running? That wearing a
sweat suit feels like being trapped in a sauna?
The next morning, weigh-in and competition day, I woke up early to
check my weight on the official scale. I stood naked on the scale and
saw the number swing between 48.0 and 48.1. I couldn’t take the chance
that the scale would show the wrong weight at crunch time, so I went
running for the last time. I searched for a place where my opponents
wouldn’t see me and ran until the weigh-in started. At weigh-in time,
I stepped onto the scale and my weight was 48.0. Relief. I was finally
in the game.”
– Roni, judoka
For many years I witnessed athletes cutting weight, and experienced it
myself as well. I saw athletes sitting in the sauna for hours, had my sleep
disturbed as they ran through the corridors at 5:00 in the morning, and saw
them in the restaurant areas only when the competition was over. It was
always unfortunate to see athletes who paid so much attention to their
weight, and so little to the competition. With so much effort to make
weight, they never had time to prepare for any other aspect of the
competition. When did they prepare mentally, physically and technically?
Did they really use the last training before the competition in a beneficial
way? In the competition, were they able to live up to their potential? Making
weight is only an entry ticket for the competition and no one is there for
participation.
“Making weight & everything else ” is written for athletes who want to achieve
more. Athletes who are willing to do the craziest things if they believe it will
help them achieve their dream. But you know what? With a bit of planning
and a good weight management strategy making weight doesn’t have to
mean a crazy routine. Many athletes do not lose weight because they eat too
little. Isn’t this ironic? Others have hard time cutting weight because they