The Myths We Let Win
After chatting with my best friend, I realized we confuse pain with discipline. I’m breaking down the toxic wrestling myths we cling to, the actual science, and why taking a break isn't a setback.
Photo by Usa Wrestling Today, I was struggling to find a topic to journal about. During the week, practice hands me material on a silver platter with all its constant challenges, but by day two of resting, my creative well was running dry. Thankfully, I was talking to my best friend Marilyn, and we got into how insanely hard it is to actually let yourself rest. When you’ve been grinding for 10 to 12 years straight where a "long break" is maybe two weeks maximum, taking a step back feels almost impossible, even when you know your body desperately needs it.
That conversation really encouraged me to sit down and unpack some of the toxic wrestling myths we constantly tell ourselves. I wanted to share what I’ve learned on my own journey of figuring out a healthy relationship with food and training to avoid severe injuries (well, except for that one freak accident three years ago!). I hope you enjoy this breakdown its part one of my four part series, and I’ve attached all the scientific sources at the bottom so you can read up on the actual facts behind this information yourself.
I hope this helps many!
The Myth: "I ate so much this weekend, and now I'm so fat."
The Truth: You did not gain a ton of actual fat over a two-day weekend. To build one single pound of body fat, you have to eat roughly 3,500 calories above what your body burns just to stay alive. What you are actually feeling is stored carbs and water weight.
When you eat heavier, carb-heavy meals, your body stores those carbs in your muscles as fuel (called glycogen). For every single gram of fuel stored, your body holds onto about 3 to 4 grams of water. Add in the extra salt from eating out, and your cells become literal sponges. You aren't fat; your body is just temporarily hoarding fluids. Once you return to your normal eating and training routine, that water flushes right out.
Something that helped me just watching my carb consumption and salt intake on the weekends. Making sure to drink water.
The Myth: "If I stay off the mat for a week, my cardio will disappear and I'll fall behind."
The Truth: Fitness does not evaporate in a week. Exercise science shows that it takes about 10 to 14 days of complete inactivity for your lung capacity and heart fitness to even begin to drop.
When you come back and feel sluggish or uncoordinated, it isn't lost conditioning—it is just your brain and nerves waking back up. A strategic break gives your body's control center the downtime it needs to lock in all your hard work. Taking a week off actually prevents you from falling behind, because it stops you from driving your body into a burnt-out, injured state.
The Myth: "I just had a brutal practice, my weight came back down, and I feel so skinny."
The Truth: You didn't burn off all the fat you thought you gained just by sweating for two hours. As wrestlers, we fall into the trap of enjoying the instant gratification of losing water weight and calling it "fat loss."
Real fat loss requires your body to actually break down body fat—a process that takes at least a week or more of consistently eating less energy than you burn to truly see. That massive drop on the scale after a hard practice is purely fluid manipulation. You just sweat out the water your body was holding onto. Confusing water loss with fat loss creates a toxic mental loop where we think one hard workout fixes a bad weekend.
Fun fact: On average, the adult human body is made up of about 60% water.
The Myth: "The more time off I take, the more I get set back."
The Truth: Time off is not a setback; it is a biological requirement to get better. When you are drilling, lifting, and fighting for inside ties, you are actively breaking your body down. You are creating tiny tears in your muscles and draining your energy.
You do not actually get stronger or faster on the mat. The repair process—the actual healing and muscle growth that makes you a better wrestler—only happens when you are completely at rest. Avoiding breaks keeps your body in a constant state of breaking down, which leads to overtrain which explains why a lot of athletes deal with injuries.
The Myth: "Severely restricting food and water is the best way to cut weight."
The Truth: Starving and dehydrating the body does so much long-term damage to your metabolism that it ultimately backfires. When you chronically restrict fuel and water, your resting metabolism slows down to protect your vital organs. Your body goes into survival mode, clinging to every ounce of energy it can.
When you finally do eat or drink water after the season, your body over-stores it to protect against the next time you starve it. This yo-yo effect is exactly why wrestlers often find themselves naturally getting bigger and heavier, carrying more body fat with every passing season.
Which is something I see a lot as a high school coach now. High schoolers are not educated on how to cut weight so they do it. Easiest but painful way possible which leads to a lot of eating disorders and body dysmorphia in young girls.
The Myth: "Pushing through extreme exhaustion means I am getting mentally tougher."
The Truth: There is a massive difference between mental toughness and completely burning out your body. Pushing through standard tiredness builds grit. Pushing through a fried nervous system just leads to injury. Ignoring those warning signs usually results in forced time off because of a blown joint or a torn muscle.
I always talk about this a lot with other wrestlers that sometimes the culture of wrestling is pushing through everything and if you don’t, you’re not tough, but as I got older, I noticed that there is a big difference in between working smarter and not harder. There’s time to push, and then there’s times to figure out other ways to utilize getting better by taking care of your body.
The Science: Where to Learn More and where the information came from
If you want to read up on this and understand the actual science behind how our bodies react to training and diet, here is exactly where this information comes from:
On Fat Loss vs. Water Weight: The American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) provides extensive research on how the body stores carbs and water. Their nutrition guidelines explain exactly how carbs bind to water in the muscle, proving that rapid weight shifts are fluid, not body fat.
Read more on nutrient timing and carbohydrate storage from the International Society of Sports Nutrition: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC2575187/
On Metabolic Damage from Weight Cutting: The International Society of Sports Nutrition (ISSN) has published official position stands specifically on combat sports athletes. They document how rapid weight loss and severe dehydration slow down your metabolism and lead to long-term weight gain post-competition.
Read the official ISSN position stand on combat sports and weight cutting: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/15502783.2025.2467909
On Overtraining and Falling Behind: The National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA) outlines the difference between pushing hard for a week and completely burning out your nervous system. Their research shows that muscle building requires total rest, and that your heart and lung fitness remains completely stable for up to two weeks of doing nothing.
Read the NSCA's breakdown on overtraining and rest: https://www.nsca.com/education/articles/kinetic-select/overtraining/