NUTRITION

This chapter gives general sports-nutrition principles for a combat athlete. It does not say what Myanmar fighters or any named gym eat, and it gives no calorie, macronutrient, fluid or supplement targets for Lethwei or for any weight class. We have not found a published source for figures of that kind, and the right figures depend on the individual, so they should come from a doctor or registered dietitian.

Fuelling training

Nutritional needs depend on the type of activity, sex, weight, height, the stage of the session (before, during or recovery) and the time of day. The foundation of a sound diet is a variety of foods that balances carbohydrates, protein, fats, vitamins and minerals.

Intense exercise draws on the body's stored carbohydrate (glycogen), and carbohydrate eaten afterwards helps refill it. Protein supports the repair and growth of muscle. Fruit and vegetables supply vitamins and minerals lost through exercise. An athlete who eats too little for the body's needs breaks down lean tissue for energy and repair.

How much and when depends on the individual and the training load, so this chapter gives no meal plan and no quantities.

Weight cutting: why there is no protocol here

Weight cutting is the practice of fast weight loss before a competition, usually to qualify for a lower weight class or to meet the limit of the fighter's own class. Lethwei, like other combat sports, has weight classes. Common methods include restricting food, water-loading, perspiring through exercise, wearing a sweatsuit and sitting in a sauna.

Nutrition experts rarely give advice on how to cut weight safely or effectively, and recommend against cutting weight. Losing a large amount of weight in a short time with a sauna, a sweat suit, severe dehydration or water-loading is widely described as dangerous, and deaths during weight cuts for combat-sport bouts have been reported.

For that reason this chapter publishes no cut schedule, no calorie floor, no water-loading or sodium plan and no target rate of loss for Lethwei. A fighter who has to make a weight limit should plan it with a doctor or registered dietitian well before the bout.

Hydration in heat and humidity

In warm or humid weather, or during heavy exertion, water loss can increase markedly, because humans have a large and widely variable capacity for sweating. Exerting oneself in hot and humid weather is a recognised risk factor for dehydration.

Signs of dehydration include thirst, tiredness, decreased urine, dizziness, headaches and confusion, and even mild dehydration is shown to impair cognitive performance. Drinking too much is a risk as well: exercise-associated hyponatraemia (low blood sodium) develops when athletes drink more fluid than the kidneys can excrete. Drinking as much as possible is therefore not a safe default.

Dizziness, confusion or a severe headache in training are reasons to stop and get medical help, not to push on. This chapter gives no fluid volumes or salt amounts: they depend on the individual, the climate and the session.

Supplements

Athletes may choose to take dietary supplements to help performance. Whether a given supplement works, and whether it is safe, depends on the product, the individual and any health condition, and not every supplement works: some have been studied and found to bring higher health risks and costs without substantial benefit. This chapter names no products and gives no doses. Anything taken for performance should be checked with a doctor, and against any anti-doping rules that apply to the event.

Fight-day eating

Eating on fight day should be built from familiar food: a meal the fighter has eaten many times before training, light enough to digest and substantial enough to fuel. A fighter does not try a new food, a new supplement or a new caffeine dose on fight day; whatever is consumed has been rehearsed in training.

The right timing, portions and fluid volumes depend on the individual, the start time of the bout and the weigh-in schedule, so this chapter gives no clock times or quantities.

After the bout

Recovery nutrition uses the same building blocks as everyday sports nutrition: carbohydrate to refill energy stores, protein to repair muscle, and fluids and electrolytes to replace sweat. Soft, easily digestible food is easier to eat when appetite is low. Alcohol worsens dehydration, so it works against recovery.

A fighter who has been knocked out or has taken a heavy blow to the head needs a medical assessment, and no meal plan replaces one.

Some passages in this chapter draw on Wikipedia ("Weight cutting", "Sports nutrition" and "Dehydration"), whose text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike licence (CC BY-SA 4.0).