Excellent Story on Women's Wrestling Sacrifices - 06/15/05 05:00 PM
Making Weight With PMS
"The Monthly Curse" by Caitlyn Chase
Making weight .... where do I begin? All wrestlers know about making weight. It is what every wrestler goes through in this sport, for me and every other female who wrestles we face even more challenges when it comes to making weight.
I knew making weight for Senior Nationals in Las Vegas was going to be a challenge for me, after all it was the first time making weight since my high school season was over and I was determined to make weight the right way. I had a daily diet and exercise plan ,I arrived in Las Vegas early to give myself extra time and I even took into account PMS (pre-menstrual syndrome complications)and how I was going to manage them.
"But sometimes the best intentions and plans go out the window and you end up resorting to prayers, a super lite singlet and scissors."
Guys (males) have it so easy when it comes to making weight, the guys on my team lose anywhere up to 6 lbs in a single practice. I on the other hand, lose a half a pound to 1 pound at practice and that is if I'm not PMS-ing. Pre-menstrual syndrome for you non-female wrestlers are changes that occur in females right before the onset of our menstrual cycle( or as I call it " the monthly curse"). PMS can last 1-2 weeks and it consists of fluid retention (usually about 5 lbs), fatigue , back spasms, irritability , cravings (usually chocolate), cramps,and headaches. Not all females experience all these symptoms , of course they are the lucky ones who probably never wrestled a day in their life.
I arrived in Las Vegas Tuesday night with my trusting scale and a plan in hand. Weigh - ins were not until Friday at 5:30 PM, so I had plenty of time to make weight. There is something about big tournaments that seems to bring out the worst PMS, especially when you need to make weight, but I had been following my plan and I was on schedule to make weight on Friday.
Wednesday morning, I woke up early, worked out, then went over to the arena with my scale to check my weight and make sure my scale was in sink with the check scale. My scale was dead on accurate with the check scale and my weight was right where I had planned. Now, if I could have just got rid of those back spasm and cramps, everything would have been perfect. I could not take any over the counter medications because when competing at the Senior level, many of the over the counter drugs are off limits including many that relieve PMS symptoms. So my plan for making weight while PMS-ing was simply just suck it up, block it out and tell my self it's all in my head, even though it's not .
Friday morning (the day of weigh-ins), I got my period (just my luck right) , oh my gosh, you would think this would help me lose weight, well you would be wrong! The flow never gets heavy until after you weigh in and usually gets the heaviest right before you begin wrestling.( Then poof its gone when you're done wrestling) I am quite positive this is one of Murphy's law, if it's not ,well, it should be. Anyway's, it really didn't matter , because I followed my plan and I was on course for making weight. I had already suffered through fluid retention, fatigue , back spasms, irritability , cravings, cramps,and headaches so what's a little blood. At least that's what I told myself.
Friday afternoon, I went and worked out (my last work out before weigh -ins). I came back to the hotel and checked my weight. I was on weight, so all I needed to do was chill until weigh-ins.
Finally, it was time to go register and weigh in. I walked over to the arena, went to check my weight and I could not believe my eyes. The check scale said 48.5 kilograms. I was 1. 2 pounds over with less than an hour before weigh-ins ended. How could that be? I did everything right. I thought that maybe the check scale was heavy, so I had the official check it. The scale was correct. The only explanation it could have been was that my trusty scale malfunctioned .
I was in panic mode! I didn't bring any work out clothes with me. Why would I ? I thought I was on weight. I needed a new plan and I needed it fast. Luckily, there were some very nice people there that really helped me calm down
(thanks Kip & Izzy) and gave me some work out clothes (thanks Laura &Tocarra) so I could begin my new plan.
Run until weigh-ins were over and pray while I was running. I must of said over 100 "Our Father and Hail Mary's".
I felt defeated, all those work outs and all the running that I did as well as the suffering through the back spasm and cramps, just so my scale could malfunction and deceive me, that didn't seem fair.
"I had to make weight!"
"Two minutes until the scales close", was announced . I ran to the check scale tearing off layer after layer of clothes. There is something about making weight that makes you lose all sense of modesty. You don't care who's around. All that mattered was that I got on the check scale to see how much I weighed. I was going to need a very lite singlet and this angel (yes, Danielle Hobieka is an angel) gave me this ultra lite, very small singlet to wear ( Thanks Danielle). I stepped on the check scale, it read 48.1 and I only had 30 seconds to make weight. So I grabbed scissors and started cutting off my hair at the scalp. My hair was wet (drenched from running) and wet hair is heavy, hopefully heavy enough to make weight, but I had no time to re-check my weight. I ran into the weigh-in room and while one girl was still weighing-in, I decided to stand on my head until it was my turn. I heard about how standing on your head can alter your weight , although I had never done it before.
It was my turn to stand on the scale. I was trembling and could not stop shaking. It was all or nothing. The official asked me to stop shaking , but I couldn't control my body, I was terrified. I could not even look down at the scale.
Finally, the official said, "48.0" I made weight!
"The Monthly Curse" by Caitlyn Chase
Making weight .... where do I begin? All wrestlers know about making weight. It is what every wrestler goes through in this sport, for me and every other female who wrestles we face even more challenges when it comes to making weight.
I knew making weight for Senior Nationals in Las Vegas was going to be a challenge for me, after all it was the first time making weight since my high school season was over and I was determined to make weight the right way. I had a daily diet and exercise plan ,I arrived in Las Vegas early to give myself extra time and I even took into account PMS (pre-menstrual syndrome complications)and how I was going to manage them.
"But sometimes the best intentions and plans go out the window and you end up resorting to prayers, a super lite singlet and scissors."
Guys (males) have it so easy when it comes to making weight, the guys on my team lose anywhere up to 6 lbs in a single practice. I on the other hand, lose a half a pound to 1 pound at practice and that is if I'm not PMS-ing. Pre-menstrual syndrome for you non-female wrestlers are changes that occur in females right before the onset of our menstrual cycle( or as I call it " the monthly curse"). PMS can last 1-2 weeks and it consists of fluid retention (usually about 5 lbs), fatigue , back spasms, irritability , cravings (usually chocolate), cramps,and headaches. Not all females experience all these symptoms , of course they are the lucky ones who probably never wrestled a day in their life.
I arrived in Las Vegas Tuesday night with my trusting scale and a plan in hand. Weigh - ins were not until Friday at 5:30 PM, so I had plenty of time to make weight. There is something about big tournaments that seems to bring out the worst PMS, especially when you need to make weight, but I had been following my plan and I was on schedule to make weight on Friday.
Wednesday morning, I woke up early, worked out, then went over to the arena with my scale to check my weight and make sure my scale was in sink with the check scale. My scale was dead on accurate with the check scale and my weight was right where I had planned. Now, if I could have just got rid of those back spasm and cramps, everything would have been perfect. I could not take any over the counter medications because when competing at the Senior level, many of the over the counter drugs are off limits including many that relieve PMS symptoms. So my plan for making weight while PMS-ing was simply just suck it up, block it out and tell my self it's all in my head, even though it's not .
Friday morning (the day of weigh-ins), I got my period (just my luck right) , oh my gosh, you would think this would help me lose weight, well you would be wrong! The flow never gets heavy until after you weigh in and usually gets the heaviest right before you begin wrestling.( Then poof its gone when you're done wrestling) I am quite positive this is one of Murphy's law, if it's not ,well, it should be. Anyway's, it really didn't matter , because I followed my plan and I was on course for making weight. I had already suffered through fluid retention, fatigue , back spasms, irritability , cravings, cramps,and headaches so what's a little blood. At least that's what I told myself.
Friday afternoon, I went and worked out (my last work out before weigh -ins). I came back to the hotel and checked my weight. I was on weight, so all I needed to do was chill until weigh-ins.
Finally, it was time to go register and weigh in. I walked over to the arena, went to check my weight and I could not believe my eyes. The check scale said 48.5 kilograms. I was 1. 2 pounds over with less than an hour before weigh-ins ended. How could that be? I did everything right. I thought that maybe the check scale was heavy, so I had the official check it. The scale was correct. The only explanation it could have been was that my trusty scale malfunctioned .
I was in panic mode! I didn't bring any work out clothes with me. Why would I ? I thought I was on weight. I needed a new plan and I needed it fast. Luckily, there were some very nice people there that really helped me calm down
(thanks Kip & Izzy) and gave me some work out clothes (thanks Laura &Tocarra) so I could begin my new plan.
Run until weigh-ins were over and pray while I was running. I must of said over 100 "Our Father and Hail Mary's".
I felt defeated, all those work outs and all the running that I did as well as the suffering through the back spasm and cramps, just so my scale could malfunction and deceive me, that didn't seem fair.
"I had to make weight!"
"Two minutes until the scales close", was announced . I ran to the check scale tearing off layer after layer of clothes. There is something about making weight that makes you lose all sense of modesty. You don't care who's around. All that mattered was that I got on the check scale to see how much I weighed. I was going to need a very lite singlet and this angel (yes, Danielle Hobieka is an angel) gave me this ultra lite, very small singlet to wear ( Thanks Danielle). I stepped on the check scale, it read 48.1 and I only had 30 seconds to make weight. So I grabbed scissors and started cutting off my hair at the scalp. My hair was wet (drenched from running) and wet hair is heavy, hopefully heavy enough to make weight, but I had no time to re-check my weight. I ran into the weigh-in room and while one girl was still weighing-in, I decided to stand on my head until it was my turn. I heard about how standing on your head can alter your weight , although I had never done it before.
It was my turn to stand on the scale. I was trembling and could not stop shaking. It was all or nothing. The official asked me to stop shaking , but I couldn't control my body, I was terrified. I could not even look down at the scale.
Finally, the official said, "48.0" I made weight!