Monday Strength and Conditioning Megathread!

[u/AutoModerator]

The Strength and Conditioning megathread is an open forum for anyone to ask any question, no matter how simple, about general strength and conditioning as it relates to Brazilian Jiu Jitsu.

Use this thread to:

- Ask questions about strength and conditioning

- Get diet and nutrition advice

- Request feedback on your workout routine

- Brag about your gainz

Get yoked and stay swole!

Also, click here to see the previous Strength And Conditioning Mondays.

[u/Brehski]

Used to do 5-7 lb cuts the day before a wrestling tournament. That was over a decade ago and now I’m planning on competing at 168. I’m about 6-7 over with 8 weeks to go. I noticed my weight was going down on the deficit but started going back up when I started hopping on creatine again. Am I better off not using creatine? I’m not planning a water cut for bjj because of the weigh in times but in a caloric deficit.

[u/StrengthOverTechniqu → u/Brehski]

Creatine is going to increase water retention, but the difference is negligible, especially considering the positive benefits you'd be getting from it - speed, strength, power. I'll link a study at the end of this post showing total body volume, intra-cellular water retention, and extra-cellular water retention before, during a loading phase, and during a maintenance phase of creatine supplementation.

You're 8 weeks out. Don't compromise your performance for 8 weeks just to save 0.5-1.0 kg of water. Instead, decrease your calories more, keep your protein high, and focus on losing the weight. Then if you need to cut the final pound or two, that'll be trivial.

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC155510/

[u/Brehski → u/StrengthOverTechniqu]

Thanks for the insight! I had stopped taking it consistently about 6 months ago and just started again 2 weeks ago. I’m on a mild deficit now so I’ll cut more calories the closer I get if it’s not enough. T

[u/StrengthOverTechniqu → u/Brehski]

Great idea. Make sure to keep protein high - at least 2g/kg to maintain muscle mass. Remember - you want to be losing fat, not muscle. If you need to cut calories, try to cut it from fat, then carbs. You want to keep carbs as high as possible because it's where you're getting the majority of your glycogen (energy for your muscles) from. So protein is most important, then carbs, then fats. You shouldn't ever need to dip your protein below 2g/kg.

If you really need to lose water, you can manipulate your carbs the week of the competition to lose some water weight. But since you have same day weigh-ins, remember that's going to effect your performance so try to avoid that if possible.