Trial reportJournal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition2025
Making weight makes sense: relative performance gains after rapid weight loss in powerlifting: a randomized controlled trial.
Trial report in Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
1 citing paper in PubMed.
- Short term body mass manipulation in powerlifting: a narrative review and best practice recommendations.Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition · 2025Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundRapid weight loss (RWL) is a common strategy among competitive powerlifters aiming to qualify for lower weight categories and improve competitive advantage. However, the effects of RWL followed by short-term recovery on maximal strength performance remain unclear. This study aimed to examine whether a ~ 5% RWL protocol followed by a 2-hour recovery period affects changes in maximal and relative strength performance in trained male powerlifters.
methodsThis randomized controlled trial (RCT) was registered in the Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry (ACTRN12622000924752). In this RCT study, 26 male powerlifters (24.6 ± 4.5 y; 92.8 ± 13.6 kg) were assigned to a rapid weight loss (RWL;
resultsThe RWL group achieved a mean body mass reduction of 4.81%, with significant decreases in fat mass (-15.7%), fat-free mass (-2.36%), and body water (-2.41%) compared to CON (all
conclusionIn the group that underwent a rapid weight loss of approximately 5%, followed by a short-term recovery period, maximal strength performance was maintained. This indicates that it is possible to reduce body mass without compromising absolute strength levels in competitive powerlifters. At the same time, RWL group achieved higher IPF GL and IPF GL BP values.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.