What Happens Inside Your Body When You Cut Weight

Are you a fighter that has experienced extreme gut discomfort when trying to rehydrate after making weight? The chances are you probably have and this is exactly why it happens and how to stop it from ever happening again.

First, let’s think about what happens when you go through a weight cut. You stop drinking water for anywhere between 12–24 hours. Then, you sweat aggressively through training, saunas, or hot baths. The result? You lose an extreme amount of fluid, usually 3–5% of your body weight.

Since you’ve lost so much fluid in such a short period of time, it means your extracellular fluid (ECF), the fluid outside your cells, becomes depleted in fluid volume and hyperconcentrated in sodium. This is REALLY important to understand because here’s what happens next:

• The high sodium levels in your ECF trigger your thirst reflex and cause your kidneys to stop urinating to preserve water.
  
  

• Your body tries to restore balance by pulling water from your intracellular fluid (ICF)—essentially draining your cells to protect your blood plasma.
  
  

• Your cells become dehydrated, impairing everything from muscle contractions to brain function.
  
  

• Blood volume drops, heart rate rises, and the risk of cardiovascular strain or fainting increases.
  
  

This cascade is dangerous. In fact, a 2019 study found that extreme weight cutting caused a fighter to develop hypernatremia, acute kidney stress, reduced testosterone, and metabolic damage.

So what’s the fix?

You need to reverse this process immediately after weigh-ins—with the right type of fluid, consumed at the right pace. This is where Trainade Hydration comes in. Our hypotonic formula, developed with elite hydration researchers, uses a precise ratio of glucose and sodium to:

• Draw water back into your bloodstream
  
  

• Rehydrate cells efficiently
  
  

• Restore plasma volume without overwhelming your gut
  
  

This is why Trainade Hydration is SO effective at rehydrating you post weigh-in, it fixes the specific problem that fighters who cut weight face when they step off the scale. 

If you want to join the team of UFC World Champions and other elite combat athletes who use Trainade to make sure they are at their best post weigh-in, head to www.trainade.com and get yours today.