Enlargement

Before martial arts, my weight was over 215, pushing 220.

The least I've weighed in middle age was before my tournament and black belt test, when my weight got down to 190 or, I think before the tournament, 188 (at age 48). I'm six-foot two. Interval sprints were a big factor in getting my weight down that low. I now find sprints hard to do because they hurt my knee and my feet.

I gained weight after my ACL operation, even though my left leg was visibly atrophying. When I got back to martial arts classes, I brought my weight down to around 194, where I had been before the operation, though it has fluctuated widely.

This morning I tipped the scales at 202.5. At most, the gunk in my sinuses could account for only a pound or two. (Yeah, gross, I know.)

Now, I have been doing more strength training, with a personal trainer and on my own, and that probably accounts for some of the weight gain--muscle weighs more than fat. But not all of it. At 51, I don't grow muscles like a teenager.

It's the holidays, and I've been eating.

At this point, I don't know what my fighting weight would be. More about fighting weight in a moment.

In terms of weight divisions: At a student competition my school holds, I figure I could easily (when I'm not sick and it's not the holidays) make the 185- to 204-pound division--the same division I was in at 48. (This weight includes equipment, which maybe adds four or five pounds.)

In amateur boxing, I figure I would be a Heavyweight (up to 201 pounds). I don't think I could make it down to light heavyweight at 178 pounds.

In IKF amateur kickboxing, I'd currently be, gulp, a heavyweight, or if I trained hard and got below 195, which I think is definitely possible, a cruiserweight.

In mixed martial arts, I'd be a light heavyweight (185 to 205).

But really the question is not what division I can squeeze into, but what is a good weight for me to be at. And right now the answer seems to be a bit in flux. I'll see what happens to my weight when I'm feeling well, I'm working out more regularly, and I"m not eating my way through the holidays.