“What weight are you wrestling this year?”

“Um… I was thinking about dropping down a weight class.”

That’s the buzz that will be going around in the hallways at school between wrestlers.  Everyone wants to find the weight that will give them their best shot at success…

… and if you’re a High School or College wrestler chances are good that you’ll be faced with weight cutting.  (I’m not a fan of weight cutting, especially for really young wrestlers in Elementary and Middle School).

But, I’m also a realist and know that weight-cutting will probably be used in wrestling as l0ng as it’s a sport.

So… if you “plan” on cutting weight this season, be sure to include these 2 supplements:

1.  Glutamine This amino acid is the most-abundant amino acid in your muscles.  It acts like an army of power for your muscles.  By consuming 5-10 grams daily you help supplement the glutamine that is lost in your muscles when you are in a low-calorie situation and still training hard.  It helps prevent muscle loss and injury through overtraining.

Now for the important part…

Glutamine takes at least 4-5 weeks to start working in your body.  Your body takes time to absorb it and use it as a functional supplement to your muscle tissue.

If you’re planning on cutting weight, NOW would be the time to add Glutamine to your protein shakes. (always make sure your Doctor says it’s cool, and that you follow the directions on the bottle:))

2.  Branched Chain Amino Acids Branched Chain Amino Acids or BCAA’s were a very popular supplement back in the 80′s with bodybuilders who were dieting and wanted to preserve as much muscle as possible in the process.

… and they worked!

Amino Acids are the building-blocks of protein… and muscle is made of mostly protein.

Adding BCAA’s to your meal plan when cutting weight helps to spare your muscle tissue from breaking down and being used as energy.

BCAA’s are one of those Amino Acids that you can’t get simply by eating meat and other protein like the other Amino Acids.

The good news is these days they’re back and different then those big ‘ole horse pills.  The good news is that amino acids can be found in smaller capsules these days for easier consumption and better absorption into the blood stream and eventually the muscles.

** You can always tell if your BCAA’s are “good quality” because they taste bitter if you break the capsule open.  If you’d prefer not to do that you can just take my word for it that Prograde BCAA’s are the best quality I’ve found!)