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MINI REVIEW article

Front. Sports Act. Living
Sec. Elite Sports and Performance Enhancement
Volume 7 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fspor.2025.1495612
This article is part of the Research Topic Combat Sports in Contemporary Society: An Interdisciplinary Exploration View all 11 articles

Getting Small to Feel Big: The Psychology of Weight Cutting in Combat Sports

Provisionally accepted
Jacob Joseph Levy Jacob Joseph Levy *Christopher Boyd Christopher Boyd
  • The University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Knoxville, United States

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    This mini review explores the psychological factors associated with weight cutting practices among combat sport athletes. We overviewed combat sport athletes' extrinsic and intrinsic motivations for their sport participation and performance expectations and goals associated with weight cutting. Next, we reviewed the extant research on psychological risk factors associated with weight cutting with a particular focus on combat sport athletes' relationship with food, societal expectations concerning body image, and disordered eating. Finally, we examined how applying task-oriented strategies and Goal Attainment Theory aligns with combat sport athletes' motivation for sport participation. We called for further research into exploring how promoting gradual weight loss may promote psychological resilience with the goal of promoting healthier weight management strategies among combat sport athletes.

    Keywords: Rapid weight loss, Martial Arts, Exercise motivation, body image, performance psychology

    Received: 12 Sep 2024; Accepted: 08 Jan 2025.

    Copyright: © 2025 Levy and Boyd. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Jacob Joseph Levy, The University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Knoxville, United States

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.