The use of girdles and sauna suits in boxing

By Psychologist Diana Sosa, member of the WBC Medical Committee

The use of thermal abdominal belts or sauna suits, made of materials such as plastic and neoprene are a constant in boxing.

When fighters go to the gym to train, they use them in order to sweat more copiously accompanied by gels or ointments, and thus lose pounds to comply with weight their category.

Some weight can be shed, but you don’t lose weight permanently, it’s only temporary. The only thing that occurs when having a girdle or sauna suit and sweating is a phenomenon of dehydration, since fat is not lost in sweat, but water. Boxers can weigh themselves or measure their waist at the moment they have finished training and have sweated excessively and, in effect, have lost a couple of centimeters or a few pounds, but in the course of the day they will regain the previous measurements with the ingestion of food and water.

To achieve real weight loss without severe dehydration, it is necessary to combine several factors. The most important is a complete and healthy diet, since boxing is a sport where the fighter receives punishment to the body and must have a strong physique and necessary to be able to face the blows. Otherwise, the punishment will be double: poor nutrition, extreme dehydration, and the blows will affect you twice as much.

It is very important that both trainers and boxers are well informed about those behaviors that are harmful to the fighter’s health. The WBC helps disseminate this information in the “Nutrition and Weight Management in Boxing” course, which broadly exalts the importance of adequate hydration and balanced nutrition.