How to lose 30 pounds of water in 24 hours by endangering your body.
I wouldn't argue with that. Given the disclaimers and warnings in this article, I don't think Ferriss is arguing with that either:
It should be noted that dehydration can result in internal organ failure, coma, and even death, particularly when diuretics are used...
...do your research and don’t treat this as a low-stakes game. It will kill you.
Those aren't exactly weasel words.
I can't speak to the truth of the mixture of science, pseudoscience, and unconfirmed observations in this article (can anyone?) but if you think that this sort of thing hasn't been standard technique in many sports for a century and more... you haven't read Laura Hillenbrand's Seabiscuit. I don't know if any jockeys read HN, but if they do, they are yawning right now. They used to do this all the time. I would be amazed if they don't still do it.
I think this sort of thing is a terrible idea, but that's why I'm not an athlete. Given that athletes exist and will try these experiments, it's just as well that they conduct open debates on the Internet rather than try to invent this stuff for themselves in private. And if we actually want to stop this sort of thing, I think Ferriss is on the right track:
The practice of severe dehydration will continue among elite athletes in weight-class-based sports until competition weigh-in timing is changed. The problem is amplified further when athletes gain muscular mass over the course of a single competitive season, yet are required to remain in a single weight-class to retain records and ranking.
If these sports encourage stupid behavior, perhaps it is because they need different rules. [1]
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[1] Though changing the weigh-in timing can't fix horse racing, where the rules are ultimately enforced by the laws of physics. I'm not sure what is to be done with horse racing, other than to adopt rules that will slow everyone down. Although my favorite idea is the robot jockey:
I really don't think of this as drivel. I knew a couple high school wrestlers, and weigh-ins are very important. There are all kinds of strategies to make weight, and then rapidly gain weight.
It's a necessary thing to do if your seriously competitive in sports that have a weigh-in. Just think about it, weight classes are so that people are appropriately matched. Most people try to lose weight before a weigh in, so if someone doesn't it would be competing against people in a weight class above him.
The discussion in the comment section is actually really good. Tim Ferriss makes a few interesting statements.
First, he said that making weight was against the spirit of the competition, but until rules changed it would be a necessity.
He also mentioned that this method does not hold a lot of attraction for people with eating disorders. It makes people look like zombies. He said that he had coached female athletes with eating disorders and that these methods were very unattractive.
He did say that this method was dangerous. But cutting weight was extremely common in athletics, so he wanted to lead people to the method that was the safest and had the least risk of organ failure.
I do think that he should have emphasized more in this article that not even this method is safe, just less dangerous.
This title should read: How to lose 30 pounds of water in 24 hours by endangering your body.
I hear heroine works pretty well too.