[eastcoaster]

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When I wrestled in HS I probably ate 500 or less calories per day for days at a time. I wasn't very strong at the end of the season, but I was in phenomenal cardiovascular shape and weighed the least I ever have in my adult life.

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Seriously, everytime I talk to a friend that wrestled in highschool I ask myself wtf were their coaches thinking. These kids are lucky enough to be talented and involved in a sport that can make them great allround athletes, and their coaches go and ruin it by forcing them into starvation to stay in a weight class. Newsflash: if you are 15 you're going to be gaining weight cause you're [censored] growing. jesus christ.

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I knew plenty of wrestlers in HS & college who dropped weight to stay in a specific weight classes. Never knew any who were "ruined" by the experience. None of them 'fasted' either, they ate healthy foods, just not nearly as much as they normally would; and they exercised like crazy (usually running). Also, none of them were forced to do it, but were asked/encouraged by the coach. If the team didn't have someone to compete in a weight class, the team would forfeit the match for that weight class during the meet thus limiting their chances of winning the meet. Coach's job is to make sure he has someone to compete in each weight class, that is likely what the coach was thinking.

I don't condone fasting. I have read some crazy stories of people who have fasted (some up to 30 or 40 days) and wound up dying as a result. Although they did lose weight that was not the reason they did it. They did it because they felt it purged their mind, body and soul.