Comments on: Are you training for a Sumo Wrestling Competition?

By: Bill

Bill — Tue, 23 Nov 2010 05:21:30 +0000

This article is wrong in so many ways. First off, rikishi don’t eat anywhere near 20K calories per day. Probably more like 6K (I know .. I’ve eaten with them – yummy!). Thing is that sumo training is hard but doesn’t involve all that much calorie burn. Football linemen eat about the same amount of calories (been there too as a player) but workouts in training camp are much more strenuous in terms of calorie burn – lots more cardio for longer periods of time. The closest that rikishi come to cardio is “butsukari-geiko” where one guy basically acts a blocking sled and the other guy has to push him across the ring. The key to the weight gain is the sleep after eating and the large meals. As for exercising on an empty stomach, anyone in the military will be familiar with this – you do PT *before* breakfast (been there too). They do this to speed up the metabolism, not to slow it down. The big difference is the amount of food and the sleep.

By: Holly

Holly — Tue, 06 Apr 2010 21:08:00 +0000

Hey there,
i was just wondering, that if you were a sumo wrestler, what would you eat for BREAKFAST if you were trying to GAIN weight?

By: Daniel

Daniel — Sat, 15 Aug 2009 18:17:34 +0000

I am considering applying some sumo dietary methods to a muscle building/weight gaining regimen. I am a very skinny man with a naturally hyper-fast metabolism. The greater portion of my large meals will likely be made more of protein however, but with a considerable amount of carbohydrate as well. The main point will be to get my body to actually have some fat on it so I will actually be able to keep the muscle tissue I build.

By: Chiyonofuji

Chiyonofuji — Mon, 18 May 2009 18:28:18 +0000

I am sorry, my mistake : Konishiki is samoan.

By: Chiyonofuji

Chiyonofuji — Mon, 18 May 2009 17:16:42 +0000

“The average rikishi weight starts from 400 lbs –and it is considered to be lightweight… ” I am sorry but that is not true. Today the average sekitori (sumo wrestler of the top divisions wich are usally the heaviest as they are more experienced and have had more time to get big) is around 325 lbs. The rikishi are heavier nowadays than they used to be after world war II, when the average weight in the top divisions was 250lbs. The lightest in the top division these days is actually weighing around 250 lbs. So, no 400 lbs is not considered a lightweight. Just for you to know the biggest sumo wrestler ever is the Hawaian wrestler Konishiki, with 615 lbs.

“Sadly enough this plan closely resembles the lifestyle of an average American. Except that the exercise is often out of question in our overloaded daily routine.”
Studies have compared rikishi to normal subjects of the same weight. They have shown that the japanese wrestler have a much higher percentage of fat-free mass (that is, way more muscles) than the usual overweight person. I don not have a ready link but you should find an abstract if you loo it up on google.

By: Maya Sarkisyan

Maya Sarkisyan — Fri, 08 May 2009 21:49:23 +0000

Thank you, I stay corrected. The indeed consume more carbohydrates than fat! So next time we look at the big plate of PASTA (!) think about that….

By: lars

lars — Fri, 08 May 2009 13:05:53 +0000

Actually the sumos consume much larger quantities of carbohydrates than high fat food. Fat is only around 10% or their daily calories.

Lots and lots of beer, rice and chankonabe wich is a stew of chicken, soy and some vegetables in a chicken broth. The Rikishis know that carbohydrates —> insulin= fatstorage !

By: Red Apple Yoga

Red Apple Yoga — Tue, 05 May 2009 16:03:06 +0000

This is a great post. Goes to show you that everything we do, when how and why we eat is just as important as what we eat. This is especially good for people who want to lose or maintain their existing weight but find that their habits are more like a training sumo wrestler!!