Curious to know what your diets were like when you were wrestling in high school, how it may have changed during college and through to the international level.

How did you control your weight during the season?

Did you have really strict diets or did you allow yourself to eat whatever you wanted and burn it off with extra workouts?

How many meals per day did you eat?

How did your diets change as you got older, especially if your training changed? What have you learned over the years that works best for you?

Anything that anyone would like to share about dieting during the season or "off season" (even though I don't like that term) would be appreciated.

also... fluid intake

During high school I wasn't very concerned about my diet, I would work the weight off with more workouts. This was very tough and draining mentally. As I got older and into international competition I became more focused on my diet. I consulted with a nutritionist from a hospital. This was a big turning point in my career. I got my weight under control and was able to train and compete harder. I also recovered a lot better because I wasn't taking so much water out of my body. As I got to understand the nutitional needs that was required for training at the international level, I ate more frequently and wasn't always hungry. I would eat three balanced meals and incorporate snacks throughout the day so it seemed like I was always eating.

Weight management is simple, but not easy.

The calculation for the average human being is 11cal/pound of body weight for maintainence. For example, if I weigh 150lbs, I have been eating, on average, 1650 cal/day for the past 90 day or so, or 11 x 150. If I want to lose weight, I must eat less than that amount. If I eat 1200 cal/day, I will lose weight, and if I eat 1000 cal/day, I will lose weight faster. This calculation is almost universal, and the 3% of the population with "slow metabolism" are so sedentary that they will not be discussed in a post on athlete training for performance and health.

Notice how I said the "average human". A wrestler who practices and trains 2-4 hours a day is not going to qualify as average. But, once you get into a training regimen, you will be able to track what each athlete's effective calorie intake (EFI) is. The EFI can be thought of like this: I work in my clinic, I work out 4-5 days/week. I weigh 150 lbs, and I eat 1650 cal/day. My EFI is 1650 cal/day. Now, I get a new job, as a roofer. I am carrying shingles up a ladder for 6-8 hours a day. My calorie usage goes through the roof, no pun intended. Now, I am burning, in addition to my typical 1650 cal/day, 1000 more calories per day. So, my EFI is only 650 cal/day. I will not weigh 150 lbs for very long. Therefore, I will have to eat 2650 cal/day to maintain my weight. (Please don't quote my numbers, I have no idea how many calories a roofer burns, this is only for explanation purposes.)

The point is this: We now have a tool that helps us know what our calorie intake can be for each wrestler. My oldest son is wrestling at 119 this year. At the beginning of the year, he lost weight due to the increased calories expended during workouts, and no increase in calorie intake. He was losing matches, saying he felt weak, and that a four to five pound difference from his opponents put him at a disadvantage. My wife was upset with me. I got a great protein powder (Mediclear from Thorne Research) and made daily smoothies, increasing his calorie intake by 400 cal/day. We now know he is expending around 1900 cal/day, so we keep him on a strict count. He won his conference tournament this past weekend, and is going on to regionals on Saturday. Part of his success this season (in addition to this website and the camps put on by Coaches McGovern, Hall, and Brands) is the fact that there is no drama around weigh ins or diet. It is what it is, he feels good in his body, and there is no yoyoing around.

Start with the 11 cal/lb of body weight calculation, and go from there.

Calorie counting/journaling is ESSENTIAL. With out accurate accounting, it is impossible to predict where a wrestler will be on match day, and it becomes a guessing/hoping game. Everything gets counted, fruits and vegetables get weighed, etc. The internet has multiple sites to track calories, and iPhone even has an app. We use pencil and paper.

I would be remiss if I didn't mention calorie sources. A Hershey bar has roughly the same number of calories as an 8oz serving of yogurt. They count the same when managing weight, but no one will argue that the candy is as good for an athlete's body as the yogurt. From a weight management point of view, a calorie is a calorie. From a nutritional and a performance point of view, you want your wrestlers making the best possible choices...but we all have to have pizza and root beer once in a while.

I hope this wall of text has been helpful.

Chad Larson

Make sure to watch Dr. Chad's session on Nutrition & Weight Management presented at the 2009 Live Online Coaches' Clinic.