Dave, What was your highest competition weight? I’m asked this about once a week. The answer is 308 on the scale and 312 on the platform. I never had to drop to 308. I had to grow into it every meet. This is why I asked for JM's help. After his help, my optional training weight was 292–294. At this weight, recovery was on point; I could train very hard and didn’t have to worry about daily life outside of shoe laces and long walks (more than 10 yards) This weight put me in a position where the Monday before the meet, after my morning training, I could begin my bloating protocol and hit the scale at 308 if things went well. Then add a few more pounds before the next morning. Toward the end of my platform days, hitting the right weight mattered a lot. Too little, and your gear sucked. Too much, and you were going to have to fight the gear way more than you wanted to and risk bombing out. It also matter how hard or soft I was and where I was holding the water. If it wasn’t going in the muscle I had to walk and move if it was all good, all I had to do was lay back and chill (some who cut will do some light training). I also knew if I ever fell lower than 282 I was screwed, and had to turn it around fast. If I just acted normal my weight would fall fast. I went on a cruise once and lost 17 pounds! There have been a couple times over the past several years where my weight did go over 300, and once hit 317, but those were not related to bloating up or training reasons, and were more related to various medical reasons and meds (my second hip replacement was PR for these) – maybe another time. Here are some pics I found from right before, or right after, meets
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