University of Central Florida STARS Honors Undergraduate Theses UCF Theses and Dissertations 2021 The Relationship Between Rapid Weight Loss and Physical Performance in Combat Sports Sean P. Cavey University of Central Florida Part of the Exercise Science Commons Find similar works at: https://stars.library.ucf.edu/honorstheses University of Central Florida Libraries http://library.ucf.edu This Open Access is brought to you for free and open access by the UCF Theses and Dissertations at STARS. It has been accepted for inclusion in Honors Undergraduate Theses by an authorized administrator of STARS. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Recommended Citation Cavey, Sean P., "The Relationship Between Rapid Weight Loss and Physical Performance in Combat Sports" (2021). Honors Undergraduate Theses. 883. https://stars.library.ucf.edu/honorstheses/883 THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN RAPID WEIGHT LOSS AND PHYSICAL PERFORMANCE IN COMBAT SPORTS by SEAN CAVEY A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Honors in the Major Program in Sport and Exercise Science in the College of Health Professions and Sciences and in the Burnett Honors College at the University of Central Florida Orlando, Florida Spring Term 2021 Thesis Chair: Anna Valdes, Ed.D. ABSTRACT The purpose of this study is to determine if there is a relationship between rapid weight loss and physical performance in combat sports athletes. Inclusion criteria was rapid weight loss and physical performance effects among combat sports researched in the last 20 years. Phrases as well as key words were searched using multiple databases. The key words included mixed martial arts (MMA), judo, wrestling, taekwondo, boxing, studies which looked at multiple disciplines at once, and unspecified disciplines. Results of the literature review indicate that there are negative effects on performance due to rapid weight loss and dehydration in combat sports. Appendix I summarizes the data found. However, other literature has suggested no physical performance effects following a period of rapid weight loss. Determination at what percentage of body mass loss unequivocally affects physical performance measures and the threshold in which a certain athlete is likely to experience these effects is key. Factors which seem to influence the magnitude of measured performance effects include the length of recovery time following the period of rapid weight loss, magnitude of body mass lost, as well as methods used to achieve weight loss. The results of this study may help provide insight into areas of research which are lacking data on this subject and may also provide helpful guidelines for combat sport athletes and trainers alike. ii DEDICATIONS This research is dedicated to a host of individuals including my mother Bridget for the continued love and support throughout my life and through all the difficult circumstances which we have faced together. My training partners and coaches (Julien Williams, Leo West) at Fusion X-Cel Performance gym for the amazing environment in which to train which cultivated my interest in trying to give back in my own way to the gym and community through this research. To my friend Jason for introducing me to jiu-jitsu and the lessons taught along the way I am grateful, and to my immediate family and other close friends, I appreciate the support. None of this would have been possible without these individuals. iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to acknowledge the help and mentorship of committee members Dr. Anna Valdes and Dr. Thomas Fisher for their help and guidance throughout the process of this research. The patience, the encouragement, and the wealth of amazing feedback that I received throughout the writing will never go unappreciated nor will it ever be forgotten. I would also like to acknowledge the help and resources provided by the Burnett Honor’s College as well as the staff who work directly with the students within the Honor’s Undergraduate Research Office. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT .............................................................................................................................. ii DEDICATIONS ........................................................................................................................ iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS....................................................................................................... iv TABLE OF CONTENTS ............................................................................................................v INTRODUCTION ......................................................................................................................1 LITERATURE REVIEW ............................................................................................................5 RESULTS ................................................................................................................................. 72 DISCUSSION ........................................................................................................................... 75 CONCLUSION ......................................................................................................................... 84 APPENDIX A ........................................................................................................................... 85 APPENDIX B ……. ................................................................................................................. 88 APPENDIX C ........................................................................................................................... 91 APPENDIX D ........................................................................................................................... 94 APPENDIX E ........................................................................................................................... 96 APPENDIX F ........................................................................................................................... 99 APPENDIX G ......................................................................................................................... 101 APPENDIX H ......................................................................................................................... 103 APPENDIX I .......................................................................................................................... 105 PERMISSIONS ...................................................................................................................... 107 REFERENCES ....................................................................................................................... 114 v LIST OF TABLES Table 1 ...................................................................................................................................... 90 Table 2 ...................................................................................................................................... 93 Table 3. ..................................................................................................................................... 95 Table 4. ..................................................................................................................................... 98 Table 5. ................................................................................................................................... 100 Table 6. ................................................................................................................................... 106 vi LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1.. ................................................................................................................................... 87 Figure 2................................................................................................................................... 102 Figure 3................................................................................................................................... 104 vii INTRODUCTION Combat sports are defined as a class of contact sports in which two individuals engage in one-on-one combat. Rules for scoring points and winning differ depending on the type of combat sport. “Combat sports” therefore is an umbrella term that includes but is not limited to sports and disciplines such as Judo, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, kickboxing, boxing, wrestling, mixed martial arts (MMA), Taekwondo, and Karate (Barley, Chapman, & Abbiss, 2019). Divisions of competition are based on weight classes. Weight classes are implemented to match athletes against other athletes close to their weight and size. Doing so provides a more equitable level of competition, while reducing potential injuries that may be caused by differences in strength due to a large difference in body mass (Pettersson, Ekström, & Berg, 2013). The existence of these weight classes/divisions does give rise to the practice of weight cutting. Weight cutting or rapid weight loss (RWL) is a form of short-term weight manipulation (Conor and Egan, 2019). By weight cutting, a larger athlete could reduce weight to participate at the high end of a lower weight class. By doing so, that said competitor could gain a competitive advantage. In the process of RWL, the athlete loses a certain percentage of their body mass in a short period of time before weighing in. Once the athlete has weighed in for the competition at that lighter weight class, they typically regain the weight they lost in between the time of weigh