WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.839 I think having a plan with your coach or whoever 00:00:02.839 --> 00:00:05.700 you're working with is important and keeping 00:00:05.700 --> 00:00:09.060 the weight loss if it's possible around less 00:00:09.060 --> 00:00:12.919 than 5 % of your body weight because greater 00:00:12.919 --> 00:00:16.059 than 5 % is when you typically start to see a 00:00:16.059 --> 00:00:18.739 lot of the more significant changes happening 00:00:18.739 --> 00:00:22.230 both psychologically and physiologically um so 00:00:22.230 --> 00:00:24.329 if that's possible that can be something else 00:00:24.329 --> 00:00:26.969 to take into account and keeping those weight 00:00:26.969 --> 00:00:29.949 loss goals more realistic so again less than 00:00:29.949 --> 00:00:32.909 that five percent is realistic for most people 00:00:34.729 --> 00:00:37.189 Hi Zee, it's my pleasure to have you on Evidence 00:00:37.189 --> 00:00:39.549 Strong Show. If you could briefly introduce yourself. 00:00:39.750 --> 00:00:42.350 Hi Alex, thank you so much for having me. I am 00:00:42.350 --> 00:00:45.770 a first year PhD student at the University of 00:00:45.770 --> 00:00:48.630 Toronto in Canada. And I previously completed 00:00:48.630 --> 00:00:51.729 my bachelor's degree in psychology, which is 00:00:51.729 --> 00:00:56.869 what got me into the field of exercise and psychology 00:00:56.869 --> 00:00:59.909 and how those two things intersect. I also am 00:00:59.909 --> 00:01:02.689 a powerlifter and have been powerlifting for 00:01:02.689 --> 00:01:05.310 about five or six years now. And it was really 00:01:05.310 --> 00:01:08.790 this interest in lifting and feeling good about 00:01:08.790 --> 00:01:11.230 myself and my mental health that got me into 00:01:11.230 --> 00:01:14.030 the field of kinesiology, where I'm currently 00:01:14.030 --> 00:01:17.290 doing my PhD. We are talking about weight cutting 00:01:17.290 --> 00:01:21.750 and body image. Why this is the topic you chose 00:01:21.750 --> 00:01:24.090 for this paper and for your work? Yeah, great 00:01:24.090 --> 00:01:27.810 question. So before I started doing my master's 00:01:27.810 --> 00:01:31.010 thesis, I had competed a couple times in powerlifting 00:01:31.010 --> 00:01:34.370 and I started to lose weight. for competitions 00:01:34.370 --> 00:01:37.750 in order to make a lower weight class. And I 00:01:37.750 --> 00:01:42.290 noticed that it's a fun process. It's a challenging 00:01:42.290 --> 00:01:45.989 process. It's a rewarding process. But anecdotally, 00:01:46.010 --> 00:01:48.349 there was a lot of psychological things that 00:01:48.349 --> 00:01:50.730 were going on for me personally, and also people 00:01:50.730 --> 00:01:53.109 that I had talked to who went through the process 00:01:53.109 --> 00:01:55.709 of losing weight for a competition. And when 00:01:55.709 --> 00:01:59.209 I decided to start my master's, I was very interested 00:01:59.209 --> 00:02:02.590 in the psychological changes that were potential. 00:02:02.760 --> 00:02:05.540 happening for people who were losing weight while 00:02:05.540 --> 00:02:07.980 preparing for a competition and when I started 00:02:07.980 --> 00:02:10.979 to look into the scientific literature I noticed 00:02:10.979 --> 00:02:13.800 that a lot of the research was more focused on 00:02:13.800 --> 00:02:17.319 physiological changes which is valid and we want 00:02:17.319 --> 00:02:20.099 to know how the body reacts to such a stressful 00:02:20.099 --> 00:02:22.500 event and how it affects performance which is 00:02:22.500 --> 00:02:25.240 all things people would want being an athlete 00:02:25.240 --> 00:02:28.240 but I felt that the psychological aspect was 00:02:28.240 --> 00:02:31.219 missing from the literature and although there 00:02:31.219 --> 00:02:34.360 may not be a direct link currently between psychology 00:02:34.360 --> 00:02:36.879 and performance. And I felt that there was merit 00:02:36.879 --> 00:02:39.560 to studying this. So I wanted to add to the literature 00:02:39.560 --> 00:02:42.500 by looking at the psychological changes. That 00:02:42.500 --> 00:02:45.340 was something that interests me from an anecdotal 00:02:45.340 --> 00:02:48.039 perspective to begin with. So my own experiences 00:02:48.039 --> 00:02:50.460 is what got me interested and then seeing the 00:02:50.460 --> 00:02:52.840 gap in the literature and being able to fill 00:02:52.840 --> 00:02:55.680 that gap and start that process, continue to 00:02:55.680 --> 00:02:58.120 drive the research forward. Excellent. We need 00:02:58.120 --> 00:03:01.159 research in this area, the audience of this. 00:03:01.199 --> 00:03:03.479 This podcast had an opportunity to listen to 00:03:03.479 --> 00:03:07.060 Jolanda Cruz, who was exactly describing what 00:03:07.060 --> 00:03:09.620 you said. She was talking about there is the 00:03:09.620 --> 00:03:11.860 physiological side, but there is a mental side 00:03:11.860 --> 00:03:15.680 to the cutting weight process too. So how did 00:03:15.680 --> 00:03:19.340 you go about designing this study? Yeah, so taking 00:03:19.340 --> 00:03:21.639 a look at the literature, there was a couple 00:03:21.639 --> 00:03:23.900 of descriptive studies that had recently come 00:03:23.900 --> 00:03:27.500 out before I started my master's thesis. And 00:03:27.500 --> 00:03:31.729 they described the time. lines that people typically 00:03:31.729 --> 00:03:34.349 follow when they are preparing for competition. 00:03:34.629 --> 00:03:38.050 So just understanding the typical length of time 00:03:38.050 --> 00:03:40.969 that powerlifters take to lose weight so that 00:03:40.969 --> 00:03:43.650 I could start to gauge like how long do I need 00:03:43.650 --> 00:03:47.409 to be looking at this process and what the timeline 00:03:47.409 --> 00:03:49.789 would look like. That was sort of how we started 00:03:49.789 --> 00:03:53.090 to develop the methods for the study and the 00:03:53.090 --> 00:03:56.729 design, knowing that we wanted it to be a longitudinal 00:03:56.729 --> 00:04:00.009 study. So looking at multiple time points. And 00:04:00.009 --> 00:04:02.430 also knowing that we needed to start far enough 00:04:02.430 --> 00:04:05.389 in advance so that people probably hadn't already 00:04:05.389 --> 00:04:07.610 started cutting weight. So keeping all those 00:04:07.610 --> 00:04:10.509 things in mind. And then also looking at the 00:04:10.509 --> 00:04:14.069 International Powerlifting Federation rules around 00:04:14.069 --> 00:04:16.629 weight loss and registering for competitions. 00:04:16.790 --> 00:04:20.009 We kept those in mind as well. That brought our 00:04:20.009 --> 00:04:22.910 start time to about nine weeks before competition. 00:04:23.149 --> 00:04:26.889 And then from there, we measured the all of the 00:04:26.889 --> 00:04:29.300 measures were taken every three weeks. leading 00:04:29.300 --> 00:04:32.360 up to competition so one measure at nine weeks 00:04:32.360 --> 00:04:35.939 one measure at six weeks when six weeks was about 00:04:35.939 --> 00:04:39.180 when most people reported starting to significantly 00:04:39.180 --> 00:04:41.920 lose weight for competition and then one measure 00:04:41.920 --> 00:04:44.759 at three weeks which is at the time when i was 00:04:44.759 --> 00:04:47.639 conducting the study that was when the international 00:04:47.639 --> 00:04:49.980 powerlifting federation had set the deadline 00:04:49.980 --> 00:04:52.600 you can't change your weight class after the 00:04:52.600 --> 00:04:54.860 21 day mark so we figured that would be a good 00:04:54.860 --> 00:04:57.459 time to capture if people were panicking and 00:04:57.459 --> 00:04:59.379 changing their weight class or if they were still 00:04:59.379 --> 00:05:01.860 set on being in that weight class and then we 00:05:01.860 --> 00:05:04.220 tried to get as close to the competition day 00:05:04.220 --> 00:05:07.019 as possible but also without trying to disrupt 00:05:07.019 --> 00:05:09.879 the athlete on the actual competition day so 00:05:09.879 --> 00:05:13.300 we measured or asked them to record 24 hours 00:05:13.300 --> 00:05:16.100 before their competition and then it's reported 00:05:16.100 --> 00:05:18.240 in the literature that most powerlifters gain 00:05:18.240 --> 00:05:21.100 about 50 % of the weight that they've cut back 00:05:21.100 --> 00:05:24.500 about a week after competition so we also captured 00:05:24.500 --> 00:05:27.370 that at one week mark in hindsight I wish we 00:05:27.370 --> 00:05:29.290 would have went a little bit further, but trying 00:05:29.290 --> 00:05:31.870 to reduce participant burden as much as possible 00:05:31.870 --> 00:05:34.189 while still collecting data. So yeah, that's 00:05:34.189 --> 00:05:35.930 how we just developed this. There were four, 00:05:35.990 --> 00:05:38.670 five time points. Four of them were before competition. 00:05:39.069 --> 00:05:41.649 Who did you invite to the study? So we decided 00:05:41.649 --> 00:05:45.129 to focus on female powerlifters. Over the age, 00:05:45.129 --> 00:05:47.589 they had to be at least 18 years or older. We 00:05:47.589 --> 00:05:50.569 didn't put an upper age limit on it. Knowing 00:05:50.569 --> 00:05:52.930 that there's also master's powerlifters, which 00:05:52.930 --> 00:05:55.810 I was able to actually capture a master's powerlifter 00:05:55.810 --> 00:05:59.009 as well. So no upper age limits. And they had 00:05:59.009 --> 00:06:02.750 to be anticipating to lose weight for competition. 00:06:02.949 --> 00:06:05.769 That was one of the criteria. And they also had 00:06:05.769 --> 00:06:10.029 to be competing within an international powerlifting 00:06:10.029 --> 00:06:13.180 federation competition. between the months of 00:06:13.180 --> 00:06:16.519 when did we do data collection, August and December 00:06:16.519 --> 00:06:20.120 of 2023. So any time point in between there. 00:06:20.240 --> 00:06:22.620 So I had people kind of all over the place starting 00:06:22.620 --> 00:06:26.139 at various times. And I was just keeping track 00:06:26.139 --> 00:06:29.259 of them as they were going through the data collection 00:06:29.259 --> 00:06:32.660 phase, even if I'm going to think back. Yeah, 00:06:32.699 --> 00:06:34.620 those were the inclusion criteria. They could 00:06:34.620 --> 00:06:36.660 be from anywhere in the world. That was the other 00:06:36.660 --> 00:06:38.860 thing too. So as long as they were part of the 00:06:38.860 --> 00:06:41.399 International Powerlifting Federation, it didn't 00:06:41.399 --> 00:06:43.360 matter where in the world they were planning 00:06:43.360 --> 00:06:45.360 on competing or where they were currently training. 00:06:45.560 --> 00:06:48.259 So I did have a couple international powerlifters 00:06:48.259 --> 00:06:50.319 in the sample as well. So it was nice to get 00:06:50.319 --> 00:06:52.680 a range of competitors. After we went through 00:06:52.680 --> 00:06:55.180 the entire data collection phase, I was able 00:06:55.180 --> 00:06:58.519 to use data from 12 female powerlifters in a 00:06:58.519 --> 00:07:02.259 sample. The average amount of weight loss. throughout 00:07:02.259 --> 00:07:04.579 the I'm going to talk about those like first 00:07:04.579 --> 00:07:07.360 nine weeks leading up to competition was about 00:07:07.360 --> 00:07:11.160 three and a half kilos on average from nine weeks 00:07:11.160 --> 00:07:14.050 out of competition. So that was roughly about 00:07:14.050 --> 00:07:16.910 what would be expected in the literature from 00:07:16.910 --> 00:07:20.009 other studies on powerlifters reporting weight 00:07:20.009 --> 00:07:23.490 loss. We had people from Canada, people from 00:07:23.490 --> 00:07:26.810 the US, some people were from Europe, Australia, 00:07:26.990 --> 00:07:30.129 and someone from Mexico as well. So there was 00:07:30.129 --> 00:07:32.509 quite a broad range of countries, which was quite 00:07:32.509 --> 00:07:34.709 nice. And like I said, people were competing 00:07:34.709 --> 00:07:38.649 at the regional level, the national level, and 00:07:38.649 --> 00:07:41.709 also the international level. So a broad range. 00:07:42.250 --> 00:07:45.009 competitors at different levels. And some people 00:07:45.009 --> 00:07:47.689 had never lost weight for a competition before. 00:07:47.810 --> 00:07:50.589 And some people had done this upwards of 10 to 00:07:50.589 --> 00:07:54.430 15 times. Awesome. So 12 females, and then you 00:07:54.430 --> 00:07:57.410 put them through some battery of tests. So what 00:07:57.410 --> 00:08:01.189 did you measure? Yes. So there was three measures 00:08:01.189 --> 00:08:05.750 for body image. And these were one measure for 00:08:05.750 --> 00:08:08.490 positive body image, which is body appreciation 00:08:08.490 --> 00:08:12.370 was the scale that we used. measures general 00:08:12.370 --> 00:08:16.009 appreciation of the overall health appearance 00:08:16.009 --> 00:08:19.250 function of the body the other two measures were 00:08:19.250 --> 00:08:22.050 trying to tap into the more negative side of 00:08:22.050 --> 00:08:25.050 body image so whether or not people were currently 00:08:25.050 --> 00:08:28.290 satisfied or dissatisfied with their weight we 00:08:28.290 --> 00:08:30.629 thought that was important since this was a study 00:08:30.629 --> 00:08:32.870 about weight loss and cutting weight and then 00:08:32.870 --> 00:08:35.429 also whether or not people were satisfied or 00:08:35.429 --> 00:08:37.809 dissatisfied with the shape of their body so 00:08:37.809 --> 00:08:39.570 getting out the difference between weight and 00:08:39.570 --> 00:08:42.840 shape and then the fourth measure was specifically 00:08:42.840 --> 00:08:46.120 for well -being. So just general feeling and 00:08:46.120 --> 00:08:49.159 functioning well in everyday life. So those were 00:08:49.159 --> 00:08:51.620 the four measures that were completed at every 00:08:51.620 --> 00:08:55.570 single time point in the study. asked people 00:08:55.570 --> 00:08:59.929 to report their body weight on each of the days 00:08:59.929 --> 00:09:02.490 when they were completing all of the other measures. 00:09:02.610 --> 00:09:05.269 We didn't give any specific instructions about 00:09:05.269 --> 00:09:07.710 how people should be weighing themselves. And 00:09:07.710 --> 00:09:10.649 we wanted to try to do this to make it as relative 00:09:10.649 --> 00:09:13.590 and relevant to the participant as what they 00:09:13.590 --> 00:09:15.909 would do when they were preparing for a competition. 00:09:16.230 --> 00:09:19.389 So personally, for me, I try to make my times 00:09:19.389 --> 00:09:22.669 when I weigh in as similar to when I compete 00:09:22.669 --> 00:09:25.240 or what time I will be. competing so we didn't 00:09:25.240 --> 00:09:27.139 want to limit people and say oh you have to take 00:09:27.139 --> 00:09:28.860 your weight in the morning or you have to take 00:09:28.860 --> 00:09:31.240 your weight in the evening in case that wasn't 00:09:31.240 --> 00:09:33.980 relevant to what their personal preparation for 00:09:33.980 --> 00:09:37.899 competition was so we asked people to just report 00:09:37.899 --> 00:09:40.559 their body weight knowing that it was a subjective 00:09:40.559 --> 00:09:43.820 measure however we did correlate it with their 00:09:43.820 --> 00:09:47.320 actual official weigh -in on at the day of competition 00:09:47.320 --> 00:09:51.019 so 24 hours before and then official competition 00:09:51.019 --> 00:09:54.440 weight were correlated just so we can get more 00:09:54.440 --> 00:09:57.039 of a subjective and objective correlation. And 00:09:57.039 --> 00:09:59.240 they were almost perfectly correlated. So I do 00:09:59.240 --> 00:10:02.139 believe that people were telling me their actual 00:10:02.139 --> 00:10:04.419 body weight throughout the entire duration of 00:10:04.419 --> 00:10:06.299 the study, which was great. Would you be able 00:10:06.299 --> 00:10:08.159 to tell us what have you found in the study? 00:10:08.320 --> 00:10:11.039 Yes, definitely. I guess that's some of the important 00:10:11.039 --> 00:10:15.139 stuff to know. So what was found was that obviously 00:10:15.139 --> 00:10:18.200 people did lose weight over time between that 00:10:18.200 --> 00:10:21.399 nine -week mark leading up to competition until 00:10:21.399 --> 00:10:24.210 the day of competition. And people were more 00:10:24.210 --> 00:10:27.570 satisfied with their weight as weight decreased, 00:10:27.769 --> 00:10:31.070 which is to be expected. We also found that there 00:10:31.070 --> 00:10:35.149 was improved well -being. as body weight decreased. 00:10:35.350 --> 00:10:37.990 And then, which was sort of the opposite of what 00:10:37.990 --> 00:10:40.649 I had hypothesized and what was expected from 00:10:40.649 --> 00:10:42.789 the literature. And we can talk about that as 00:10:42.789 --> 00:10:44.669 well a little bit more. And then for the other 00:10:44.669 --> 00:10:47.490 two measures, there was no significant changes. 00:10:47.570 --> 00:10:50.610 So no significant changes for body appreciation 00:10:50.610 --> 00:10:53.889 didn't increase or decrease significantly. And 00:10:53.889 --> 00:10:56.429 same for shape satisfaction. So even though they 00:10:56.429 --> 00:10:58.809 were losing weight, those measures did not necessarily 00:10:58.809 --> 00:11:02.090 change. The weight satisfaction one makes sense 00:11:02.090 --> 00:11:05.169 that it was increasing people became more satisfied 00:11:05.169 --> 00:11:08.230 the well -being one was an interesting one to 00:11:08.230 --> 00:11:11.230 think about why people would feel generally feel 00:11:11.230 --> 00:11:13.389 better and be functioning better going through 00:11:13.389 --> 00:11:15.909 such a difficult process especially when a lot 00:11:15.909 --> 00:11:19.250 of the literature shows people feel more stressed 00:11:19.250 --> 00:11:22.570 angry fatigued especially weight class athletes 00:11:22.570 --> 00:11:25.389 a lot of the literature is in combat sport athletes 00:11:25.389 --> 00:11:28.090 so they typically have these more negative mood 00:11:28.090 --> 00:11:30.289 states as they're losing weight for competition 00:11:30.940 --> 00:11:32.639 So it was interesting to see that well -being 00:11:32.639 --> 00:11:35.879 improved. But we did find some data to possibly 00:11:35.879 --> 00:11:38.139 support why this might have been happening in 00:11:38.139 --> 00:11:40.899 relation to goal setting. So this was also something 00:11:40.899 --> 00:11:43.279 that wasn't measured. But it seems that a lot 00:11:43.279 --> 00:11:45.940 of weight class athletes in qualitative literature 00:11:45.940 --> 00:11:49.100 feel quite proud of themselves when they achieve 00:11:49.100 --> 00:11:51.580 their weight loss goal and actually make weight 00:11:51.580 --> 00:11:53.740 for competition, which could be contributing 00:11:53.740 --> 00:11:55.899 to the fact that people are actually feeling 00:11:55.899 --> 00:11:58.460 better and their well -being is improving. So 00:11:58.460 --> 00:12:01.039 they're working towards a goal. make weight they're 00:12:01.039 --> 00:12:03.100 also working towards their goals of how much 00:12:03.100 --> 00:12:05.779 they want to lift and how training is going so 00:12:05.779 --> 00:12:07.779 I didn't really measure any of those performance 00:12:07.779 --> 00:12:10.559 indicators or performance factors because this 00:12:10.559 --> 00:12:13.059 was mostly focused on the psychological aspects 00:12:13.059 --> 00:12:15.159 but I think that would be an interesting future 00:12:15.159 --> 00:12:17.899 direction to see if those are correlated and 00:12:17.899 --> 00:12:20.679 if there's any relevance to well -being changing 00:12:21.419 --> 00:12:24.200 while your performance is increasing, decreasing, 00:12:24.299 --> 00:12:26.500 and while your weight is also changing. Because 00:12:26.500 --> 00:12:28.879 I think all those factors definitely play a role 00:12:28.879 --> 00:12:31.460 in the entire preparation for competition. The 00:12:31.460 --> 00:12:33.860 question was, could we speculate a little bit 00:12:33.860 --> 00:12:37.419 on why the well -being of the athletes at the 00:12:37.419 --> 00:12:39.799 competition was better than when they started? 00:12:39.960 --> 00:12:42.960 So were there any things they did with the food? 00:12:43.059 --> 00:12:45.820 Upping quality, for example, because they couldn't 00:12:45.820 --> 00:12:48.320 have the calories, they couldn't sleep. I don't 00:12:48.320 --> 00:12:51.539 know. Reading about athletes talking. about their 00:12:51.539 --> 00:12:54.879 weight loss journeys yes it's challenging yes 00:12:54.879 --> 00:12:57.440 there's a lot of drawbacks and things don't always 00:12:57.440 --> 00:12:59.779 go the way that they want them to but they do 00:12:59.779 --> 00:13:02.919 really focus on the quality of their food they 00:13:02.919 --> 00:13:05.240 focus on the quality of their sleep they focus 00:13:05.240 --> 00:13:08.700 on social interactions that are the most meaningful 00:13:08.700 --> 00:13:11.580 to them because obviously maybe going out for 00:13:11.580 --> 00:13:14.379 dinner and having a big meal like that is not 00:13:14.379 --> 00:13:16.899 the most in line with the goal of weight loss 00:13:16.899 --> 00:13:19.879 but they try to find those other social interactions 00:13:19.919 --> 00:13:22.759 that are meaningful and will be able to still 00:13:22.759 --> 00:13:25.659 keep them on the path of losing weight and cutting 00:13:25.659 --> 00:13:28.100 weight appropriately. So getting the most meaning 00:13:28.100 --> 00:13:30.720 out of their social interactions during this 00:13:30.720 --> 00:13:34.000 time and really just focusing on that main goal 00:13:34.000 --> 00:13:37.700 of losing weight for competition. Also, if training 00:13:37.700 --> 00:13:40.460 is going well during this time, I think you're 00:13:40.460 --> 00:13:43.299 so focused on your performance as well as the 00:13:43.299 --> 00:13:45.879 athlete. That's the main goal going into the 00:13:45.879 --> 00:13:47.940 competition. Not only do you want to make weight, 00:13:48.039 --> 00:13:50.419 but you want to also optimize your performance 00:13:50.419 --> 00:13:53.779 at a lower body weight. So if training is going 00:13:53.779 --> 00:13:57.620 well and you are seeing those improvements as 00:13:57.620 --> 00:14:00.039 you are preparing for competition, I think that's 00:14:00.039 --> 00:14:03.240 going to make a huge impact on how you are feeling 00:14:03.240 --> 00:14:05.299 because you feel like everything you're doing 00:14:05.299 --> 00:14:08.139 is now trending in the exact direction that you 00:14:08.139 --> 00:14:10.940 want it to be going. How about the week after? 00:14:11.080 --> 00:14:13.379 I did just look at the descriptive statistics. 00:14:13.580 --> 00:14:17.820 of the post -competition time just out of curiosity 00:14:17.820 --> 00:14:20.799 to see. And people actually did increase their 00:14:20.799 --> 00:14:24.360 weight. So from 24 hours before competition to 00:14:24.360 --> 00:14:27.139 one week after competition, there was about a 00:14:27.139 --> 00:14:30.980 50 % increase in weight. And most of the measures, 00:14:31.039 --> 00:14:33.919 if you're just looking at them from like a graph 00:14:33.919 --> 00:14:36.620 level descriptive, there was no statistic that 00:14:36.620 --> 00:14:38.580 went into this, but just looking at the trends, 00:14:38.720 --> 00:14:42.220 most of the measures for most people completely 00:14:42.220 --> 00:14:44.759 went in. the opposite direction so if they had 00:14:44.759 --> 00:14:47.340 been feeling if their well -being had been improving 00:14:48.000 --> 00:14:52.419 up until competition. At that like 24 hours before 00:14:52.419 --> 00:14:56.679 and one week after, the trend switched. It wasn't 00:14:56.679 --> 00:14:59.139 meaningful enough to be looked at with analyses, 00:14:59.360 --> 00:15:01.679 but I could see that there were changes happening. 00:15:01.919 --> 00:15:05.139 So it was interesting to see that, but unfortunately 00:15:05.139 --> 00:15:09.899 not able to statistically analyze it. So in weightlifting, 00:15:10.000 --> 00:15:13.120 we sometimes speak about post -competition blues. 00:15:14.809 --> 00:15:18.629 this kind of mental maybe exhaustion maybe it's 00:15:18.629 --> 00:15:21.070 I don't know some things didn't go well or you 00:15:21.070 --> 00:15:23.789 know you don't feel great a few days after the 00:15:23.789 --> 00:15:26.330 competition do you think it's it's similar in 00:15:26.330 --> 00:15:29.090 powerlifting yes I have heard people talk about 00:15:29.090 --> 00:15:31.830 this in powerlifting as well and just from my 00:15:31.830 --> 00:15:34.330 own personal experience sometimes the week after 00:15:34.330 --> 00:15:36.210 competition like you don't even want to go to 00:15:36.210 --> 00:15:38.889 the gym you don't want anything to do with it 00:15:38.889 --> 00:15:41.690 and I think a lot of those really foundational 00:15:41.690 --> 00:15:44.529 habits that you had been undertaking through 00:15:44.529 --> 00:15:48.519 those weeks leading up to your competition. It's 00:15:48.519 --> 00:15:51.120 almost like you just want to let everything go 00:15:51.120 --> 00:15:54.899 down the drain and just maybe be the least organized 00:15:54.899 --> 00:15:57.539 and rigid version of yourself so that you can 00:15:57.539 --> 00:16:00.019 just relax. And I think this is where some of 00:16:00.019 --> 00:16:02.700 the psychological changes really come into play. 00:16:02.820 --> 00:16:06.419 You start getting into conversations about like 00:16:06.419 --> 00:16:09.399 poor eating habits, which can come into play, 00:16:09.500 --> 00:16:11.820 especially in that like one week post competition 00:16:11.820 --> 00:16:15.159 after potentially being restrictive during for 00:16:15.159 --> 00:16:17.259 such a long period of time. So I think a lot 00:16:17.259 --> 00:16:19.330 of that. That definitely comes into play. And 00:16:19.330 --> 00:16:21.789 I can't say that that's what was happening for 00:16:21.789 --> 00:16:24.029 sure, but I think there's definitely something. 00:16:24.330 --> 00:16:27.309 From what you've read and what your study brought 00:16:27.309 --> 00:16:29.850 to us, would you have a few pointers for the 00:16:29.850 --> 00:16:32.470 athletes how to navigate the process of weight 00:16:32.470 --> 00:16:35.450 cutting if they choose to do so? How to end up 00:16:35.450 --> 00:16:39.029 with higher well -being at the end of the process 00:16:39.029 --> 00:16:42.549 than at the beginning? Yeah, definitely. I think 00:16:42.549 --> 00:16:45.809 it's important to have take -home messages. Something 00:16:45.809 --> 00:16:50.090 that is easily or hopefully applied to everyday 00:16:50.090 --> 00:16:53.629 life. So I would say the biggest thing is gradual 00:16:53.629 --> 00:16:57.889 weight loss over a very short burst of weight 00:16:57.889 --> 00:17:00.909 loss. So the study was nine weeks leading up 00:17:00.909 --> 00:17:03.629 to competition. And there is also recommendations 00:17:03.629 --> 00:17:07.369 in the literature to focus on like at least a 00:17:07.369 --> 00:17:10.869 six week weight loss practice prior to competition. 00:17:11.009 --> 00:17:13.690 But a gradual weight loss, if you're able to 00:17:13.690 --> 00:17:17.019 plan for it. prepare for it will be helpful to 00:17:17.019 --> 00:17:19.500 mitigate some of the psychological and definitely 00:17:19.500 --> 00:17:22.319 the physiological concerns. I think having a 00:17:22.319 --> 00:17:24.940 plan with your coach or whoever you're working 00:17:24.940 --> 00:17:27.940 with is important and keeping the weight loss 00:17:27.940 --> 00:17:32.839 if it's possible around less than 5 % of your 00:17:32.839 --> 00:17:35.940 body weight because greater than 5 % is when 00:17:35.940 --> 00:17:38.579 you typically start to see a lot of the more 00:17:38.579 --> 00:17:41.140 significant changes happening both psychologically 00:17:41.140 --> 00:17:44.559 and physiologically. So if that It's possible 00:17:44.559 --> 00:17:46.920 that can be something else to take into account. 00:17:47.019 --> 00:17:49.980 And keeping those weight loss goals more realistic. 00:17:50.019 --> 00:17:53.660 So again, less than that 5 % is realistic for 00:17:53.660 --> 00:17:57.099 most people. In this study, people lost around 00:17:57.099 --> 00:18:01.240 3 -4 % on average of their body weight. So that 00:18:01.240 --> 00:18:04.700 could also be playing into why well -being increased. 00:18:04.720 --> 00:18:09.539 Because it wasn't an unmanageable goal to reach. 00:18:10.079 --> 00:18:12.279 Whereas if you're trying to go for 8 % to 10%, 00:18:12.279 --> 00:18:15.759 that can be a lot more difficult and maybe have 00:18:15.759 --> 00:18:18.559 more implications. Awesome. So realistic goals, 00:18:18.880 --> 00:18:23.619 longer cuts, longer in weeks, not in days. Anything 00:18:23.619 --> 00:18:26.119 else? Yeah. And just some, yeah, I guess that 00:18:26.119 --> 00:18:28.380 goes back into the realistic goals of setting 00:18:28.380 --> 00:18:31.500 a manageable weight loss goal. Awesome. Oh, having 00:18:31.500 --> 00:18:34.670 help. You mentioned that. Whoa. Yes. Yeah. Okay, 00:18:34.690 --> 00:18:36.750 three things then. Awesome. Two short questions 00:18:36.750 --> 00:18:39.349 to finish. The first one is, what is your favorite 00:18:39.349 --> 00:18:42.480 lift? My favorite lift is the bench press. Might 00:18:42.480 --> 00:18:44.500 be a little controversial, but I think it is 00:18:44.500 --> 00:18:48.079 the most technical lift out of the three for 00:18:48.079 --> 00:18:50.619 powerlifting, in my opinion. Awesome. And where 00:18:50.619 --> 00:18:53.339 people can find you online if they want to follow 00:18:53.339 --> 00:18:55.799 your work or ask a question, where should they 00:18:55.799 --> 00:19:00.319 go? Yes. So my powerlifting Instagram is strongerwithit. 00:19:00.559 --> 00:19:03.440 And that is where I post research studies that 00:19:03.440 --> 00:19:06.200 are being done in our lab, research findings, 00:19:06.359 --> 00:19:09.720 and then also just general day in, day out powerlifting 00:19:09.720 --> 00:19:12.190 in the gym. So that's the best. place to find 00:19:12.190 --> 00:19:14.609 me awesome Izzy thank you so much for today it 00:19:14.609 --> 00:19:16.470 was a pleasure thank you so much Alex have a 00:19:16.470 --> 00:19:16.809 great day