Hydration Testing,  one of the first things you’ll do during your season. This year on Dec. 6th @ and according to the schedule time to be announced.

What is it and why do we have to do it?

Let’s face one realistic fact before going any further.  Cutting corners is done everywhere in sports (and life!) and it’s done in wrestling too.  Like it or not.  It’s no secret in wrestling that the lighter a weight class you can wrestle in the more successful you will be if you maintain your strength and health.  Problem is this is a big area for cutting corners.  There are drugs called diuretics out there that young wrestlers have taken to shed water.  There have been extremes of dieting and wrestlers have starved themselves while enduring grueling practices in hot rooms. There are extremes when it comes to losing water weight such as rubber suits and hot showers.  These things are dangerous and one of the ways the state has combated the problem is to require hydration testing.  Why?  Unfortunately, several young men lost their lives by doing the above things.  Enough said on that, right?

So what is this hydration test? Let’s keep it real simple.  It’s actually two things.   Ever urinate and look at your urine and it’s real dark or sometimes, almost clear?  Well that’s an indicator of hydration… or the amount of water your body is holding suspended in blood, muscle and other places.  Real dark urine means you have a high amount of “other” things and less water.  Clear and you’ve got a lot of water and a low quantity of everything else.  The other piece of this puzzle is body fat.  You need water, you’re mostly made of it.  And you need some body fat.  When your hydration level drops bad things happen… you create heat and it is dissipated by sweating.  You need a certain percentage of water for many metabolic processes not the least of which are three things… breathing, heart rate, and thinking!  A little bit farther down the line is athletic performance. Of course that’s the down and dirty easy explanation because I’m sure we don’t have any doctors reading the web site.  You get my drift.  The state has decided that to protect you from yourself and unscrupulous coaches you need to be tested and a weight loss limit set. Of course we have no unscrupulous coaches here!

On Dec. 6th “pee in the cup”.  You will stand on a scale that measures your body fat amount by a tricky thing called Bio electrical Impedance Analysis or BIA.  Fancy words but what does it do?  It passes a small amount of electricity through your body and measures your bodies’ resistance to the current thus determining your amount of fat.   The greater amount of water in a person’s lean tissue (muscle) the easier it is for current to pass through it.   Your urine will be tested for specific gravity and a doctor will tell you at what weight you can safely wrestle and both how much and how quickly you can lose the weight.  He might say that you weigh 175 and can wrestle 161.  But you can’t wrestle 161 two nights later!! You will be allowed to lose an amount he deems safe per week… like it or not.   And to be honest, it’s my opinion that it’s not a bad idea. As long as it’s applied evenly throughout the state.  Whether it is or not is another topic but let’s assume it is! Be warned of one thing... several wrestlers have tried to circumvent peeing in the cup by hiding on their body either water or someone else's urine in a balloon, condom or something of that nature. And they got caught. You will lose wrestling time if you do that and will have to repeat the test again. Not to mention looking extremely dumb in front of your friends and disappointing your coaches. It's not worth it.

What can you do to help yourself?  Read the article on dieting for wrestling to start with!  Start early in your weight loss if you plan on dropping more then ten lbs.  Get down to within striking distance of your intended weight class a week before and then follow the below suggestions by the wife of the coach of the Rancocas Valley Regional High School wrestling team.  Like Rancocas or not she’s pretty knowledgeable on the topic and nutrition in general. Here’s another suggestion.  Weigh yourself before and after practice.  You need water. Weigh in, workout, and drink so that your total loss for the day is a pound or two at most.  If you are dropping 5 lbs or more you are putting yourself in danger. And here is another big clue… you actually need water to lose weight.  We want healthy happy hard working wrestlers… not injured ones. 

Eileen Bowker, MA, ATC, provides these tips on how to keep hydrated to coaches and wrestlers at her presentations.

Two Days Prior to Testing
• Drink plenty of fluids throughout the day (water has no calories).
• Increase intake of foods high in fiber (such as salads, cereal, vegetables, and fruits)—which will help with the removal of excess weight from the body.
• Eat smaller, more frequent meals.
• Avoid foods high in fat (fried foods, meat, french fries, pizza).
• Avoid salty foods (potato chips, pretzels, tuna, crackers, soft drinks).
• Be sure you eat and drink—do not dehydrate!

One Day Before Testing
• Continue drinking fluids. Urine should be clear if you are fully hydrated.
• Continue eating fibrous foods to eliminate excessive waste from the body.
• Stay away from fatty foods and snacks.
• Avoid caffeinated drinks (coffee, tea, soda, etc.)
• Avoid any vitamins or mineral supplements.

Day of Testing
• Avoid caffeinated drinks.
• Drink about 17 ounces of fluid (a sports drink is an excellent choice).
• No vigorous activity on the day of testing.
• Avoid any vitamin or mineral supplements.

Here is the whole article / web site:  http://www.momentummedia.com/articles/tc/tc1602/wrestling.htm

Read it, there will be a test.