Weight management in amateur boxing is a much talked about subject and one with a lot of misinformation. In this post we try and give a better understanding of how we view and manage the issue of a boxers weight at our club.
For a parent having a child who trains and competes in a combat sport, the stresses, emotions and pressures can be overwhelming. From watching your child move into full contact in the gym, through to competition and championships, plus pressures on finances to have the latest and greatest gloves, boots or headgear can be a minefield.
One other area that comes up in many discussions in weight management.
Managing this as a parent can be difficult as there is a lot of negative and incorrect methods paraded online, mainly coming from the pro and White-Collar game.
Hopefully this document will help with a little bit of understanding of how weight is treated in our Club, club bouts and championships.
Weight Categories
For obvious safety reasons weight categories are in place to keep competitors safe. Particularly in lower age groups and, consequently lower weights, a small difference in kilograms can be a large percentage of the boxer’s overall weight.
For this reason, the categories are set up to ensure boxers compete at similar weights to allow skill, determination and fitness to play a larger part in the competition.
However, there is a big difference between club boxing and championships that we will explore later.
In the gym
Under no circumstances do not want to develop poor relationships with food and on the severe end, eating disorders.
In the gym we a not overly concerned with weight when compared to overall fitness, technical ability, well-being and enjoyment of the sport. By developing a healthy relationship with an active lifestyle, weight should look after itself.
It should also be noted that, in general, boxing coaches are not trained nutritionists and any advice on weight will be a basic reference to a healthy eating lifestyle.
If you have any concerns of weight or the advice you are being given it is important to speak to coaches/people who you feel confident in getting the right information from.
Carded Boxers and Club Bout Matching
At the time the coaches feel a boxer is ready to compete they will be registered with England Boxing, undertake a medical examination and be made available for club bout matching. These boxers are referenced as “carded”.
At this time the weight of the boxer will be monitored, not managed.
One misunderstanding it that this monitoring is to put a boxer into a particular weight class. This is incorrect and can start to cause an unhealthy relationship with nutrition and food in general.
There are no weight classes in Club boxing. The only reason to monitor a boxer’s weight at this stage is to ensure club matching is done accurately and competition is fair.
We will also use weight information to match sparring sessions so Coaches can set conditions and controls in place to ensure boxers learn something during the session.
With growing children, weight can fluctuate from day to day as they develop and grow. Each child is different, and these fluctuations can be varied from boxer to boxer. It is important that we keep a record of this so we can spar and match effectively.
Weight and the Club Matching Process
Club Shows are difficult to manage under any circumstances but without effective matching these become disastrous.
Clubs will list their carded boxers on a national database and when clubs are matching for a show, they will look at this database for a suitable match. This database contains information for date of birth, age, weight and experience and Matchmakers will try to make competitive bouts based on this information.
Regarding weight, the maximum variance allowed is 2Kg. This is not to say we always take bouts that allow for this variance as we may feel one boxer may be able to handle a heavier opponent whilst another may not.
This matchmaking happens weeks before any club show, with a bout list generated, officials booked, and tickets sold.
On the day of the show, every boxer will weigh in to confirm the information given is still accurate. If, at this point, the bower weighs in lighter or heavier than the agreed weight the bout will be called off by the Officer in Charge (“OIC”).
This is the worst situation to occur, as Coaches, boxers, parents, family members and friends of both boxers may have travelled many miles to come to watch the bout.
This can and should be easily prevented by effective monitoring and control of weight in the weeks prior to any bout.
Any matched boxer will be told the weight they have need to weigh in at. It is expected that the boxer understands this and follows a healthy diet and active lifestyle to ensure their weight is maintained at the appropriate level. The Coaches will continue to monitor the boxer weight to ensure the match will go ahead on the day.
Championships
Any boxers entering national championships will have had some experience of club bouts and will have the necessary skills, fitness and understanding to be competitive at this level.
At this stage, boxers will be placed into a weight category that matches their general, everyday boxing weight. We would not enter boxers into a weight category that requires any significant change to their daily nutrition needs or require an intensive weight cut or gain.
If we feel they would not be competitive at this weight, they will not be entered.
Maximum weight loss for bouts
In any week, the maximum weight loss for any boxer is 2Kg. Losing weight at a greater rate is not recommended and can be dangerous. This is also dependant on the boxer as a 10-year-old, 32Kg boxer losing 2Kg is obviously not a course of action we want to be promoting.
We may, under some circumstances, perform an intensive training session, recommend a particular meal plan for bout week, or suggest a small breakfast on the day of the bout with additional nutrition added after the weigh-in.
We will only advise this if the boxer’s weight is on the limit, and we are sure any additional weight can be lowered easily. Under no circumstances would we promote or enter into an intensive weight cut program.
Do’s and Don’ts
Do’s
Speak with your child’s coaches, they should be able to give advice should you need it.
Try to have your child eating a healthy balanced diet, all meals should include protein, carbs, fats & vegetables.
Adequate amounts of fluids in a day, 2L where possible, no added sugar cordial if children struggle with just water.
Try to implement the healthy eating across the family, include yourself in your child’s sport and show support this way.
Try to understand that your child is growing at the fastest rate they ever will in their life, a lot of the time weight cutting will just not be an option, and this is where conversations with coaches need to happen regarding the weight they compete at.
Dont’s
Obsess over the scales & have them on the scales every night. Coaches will monitor weight accordingly and discuss if needed.
Deprive them of things they enjoy eating, they are after all, still children.
Feel like they must eat bland tasteless foods to maintain/lose weight. They can eat normal meals.
Exercise just to lose weight. Exercise should be enjoyed and for a purpose of more than just weight loss.
Rely on the use of sweatsuits, bin bags and all the poor, lazy and dangerous ways of last-minute weight cutting that is seen promoted in the media. THIS IS DANGEROUS.
No one should undertake energy restriction or dehydration without the strict supervision of a registered nutritionist or medical practitioner.
Commenti