You don’t win one Mr. Olympia title, let alone four, without making major sacrifices. From sticking to a strict diet and sleep schedule for 16 weeks to spending more time in the gym than with your family, competitors must take on steep challenges to ascend to the top of the bodybuilding mountain.
- The most challenging part of contest prep isn’t tracking calories, lifting weights, or perfecting your poses. Rather, it has everything to do with a necessary but potentially dangerous aspect of the sport.
With top contenders like Derek Lunsford, Hadi Choopan, and Samson Dauda making their final preparations for the 2024 Olympia, four-time champion Jay Cutler addressed the complicated and controversial topic of cutting water on Oct. 8, 2024.
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Jay Cutler Spills Water Depletion Truth
Anyone who’s competed in bodybuilding understands that every detail matters. While athletes spend months training to pack on lean muscle, they must shift focus in the final weeks and days heading into a show.
With their frames essentially maxed out, it’s all about manipulating their bodies to strike the right balance of looking lean and full on stage. Competitors seeking Olympia glory have the unenviable task of depleting their body (and brain) of its most precious resource.
Many people are confused about how we achieve this look.
Cutler’s camera panned to a wall of framed magazine covers showcasing his impressive physique.
To guarantee that look, you have to go through a crazy transformation; a lot of that is water depletion.
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How do Olympia hopefuls successfully navigate this risky process? According to Cutler, “You can’t just cut the water off.”
Instead, there are several ways to achieve the right level of dryness that Cutler shared during his walk-and-talk treadmill session, including:
- Tapering water intake
- Cutting salt
- Changing carb sources
- Consuming natural diuretics like black coffee and asparagus
- Using diuretic supplements
Cutler mentioned that some competitors cut out egg whites due to their natural sodium content. He strategically switched from white rice to potatoes during his competitive career since cooking rice requires additional water. He used oatmeal as a carb-up, noting that it can “be like cement” without a lot of fluid in your system.
The manipulation was the hardest because when you’re dehydrated, it alters your mind and makes you kind of loopy.”
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Cutting Is a Risky Business
Although he didn’t dive deeper into his dehydration experience, Cutler touched upon some of the dangers of water depletion. On one hand, dehydration can negatively impact physical and cognitive performance.
According to a 2022 systematic review of 24 trials, hypohydration — a sustained decrease in body water — impairs cognitive performance and mood at higher levels of 3-5% of body mass loss. The findings showed that mood disturbance, fatigue, and ratings of perceived exertion were also associated with hypohydration. (1)
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Competitive bodybuilders willingly subject themselves to the risks of dehydration during peak week — a period in which they carefully manipulate their supplement, fiber, water, and food intake to achieve their optimal physique. This includes everything from depleting carbohydrates and loading to maximize muscle glycogen to water tapering to reduce subcutaneous water.
The risk-to-reward ratio of taking such extreme measures is high risk. A 2022 case study conducted in Switzerland on the impact of peak week manipulations raised a valid concern: (2)
- 62% of the athletes in the study experienced significant or severe dehydration on competition day due to water manipulation.
Whatever It Takes
Is the cut worth it? When you have the Olympia crown on your mind, it might be easy to throw logic by the wayside. However, from a health and safety standpoint, there’s no doubt water depletion is a dangerous endeavor.
Even though Cutler looks forward to seeing Martin Fitzwater and Andrew Jacked go toe-to-toe with reigning Mr. Olympia Lunsford and 2022 champion Choopan, he remembers they put more than their physiques on the line when they step on stage.
References
- Dube, A., Gouws, C., & Breukelman, G. (2022). Effects of hypohydration and fluid balance in athletes’ cognitive performance: a systematic review. African Health Sciences, 22(1), 367–376.
- Barakat, C., Escalante, G., Stevenson, S. W., Bradshaw, J. T., Barsuhn, A., Tinsley, G. M., & Walters, J. (2022). Can bodybuilding Peak Week manipulations favorably affect muscle size, subcutaneous thickness, and related body composition variables? a case study. Sports, 10(7), 106.
Featured Image: @jaycutler / Instagram
