Health and MMA. Are you focused on it?
Hey Guys,
Today I want to share with you an old article I wrote onOff Season Planning for Fighters.
Enjoy
Health.
We all have it.
However many of us have bad health despite training hard and
eating ‘clean’.
How is that possible? We suspect that if we are exercising
and eating a ‘clean’ diet then we must, by default, be healthy. It’s what all
the magazines, papers and our own Doctors tell us, how can they be wrong?
The simple fact is, is that health is not a priority for
fighters. They want to be at a certain weight, improve their strength, speed,
power and technique, but health? That’s way, WAY down the list. Chances are if
you are a fighter and you are reading this you haven’t gave a second thought to
your long term health.
This absolutely needs to change. Fighters cannot keep living
on diets of chicken, rice and broccoli and expecting to be living to a ripe old
age and playing with their grandkids. The sport of MMA is an abusive one on the
body. It is a high impact sport that wears down tendons, effects your immune
system, damages muscles and in some extreme cases can effect vital organs (ever
wonder what bad weight cuts do to a liver and kidneys? Go have a look). I’m
going to be real with you. There are aspects of this sport that will kill you
if you do not do them properly. There are factors that if not addressed, will
give you serve long term negative effects. Not only on your performance, but
the ability to be a husband, father and friend.
By now it should be blatantly obvious that your health needs
to be your number one priority.
It’s not all doom and gloom though. Thankfully the MMA
industry is slowly turning a corner and putting fighters health first. With
things like Safe MMA testing fighters and more and more coaches preaching about
over all health, things can only get better for fighters.
So what should you do to ensure you are maximising your health?
What techniques can you employ easily that will have a dramatic effect on not
only your health, but also your performance on the cage and on the mat?
Well luckily for you, Mike is here to give you the top
things you can start doing right now that will make a big difference!
Speak to someone who knows about health and nutrition.
This can be anyone from a professional to a coach. As long
as they have a back ground in producing great results with a variety of
different people, go talk to them. Tell them what you are currently doing, any
issues you currently have (lack of sleep, head aches, not being able to go to
the toilet, lack of sex drive etc.), and ask how they can help. Ask them what
tips they can give and what you should be adding into your over all plan. If
you have a physical problem, speak to a Doctor. The quicker you can get things
looked at, the quicker you can get it fixed. There is a massive trend in combat
sports to let little niggles fester and find ways to train around injuries.
While this keeps you training in the short term, it’s really going to mess you
up in the long term. Especially if you get a couple of these ‘niggles’. Things
mount up. Get things checked and more importantly, do what the Doc tells you to
do to fix it!
Eat your damn Veggies
I know I go on about this a lot (and will continue to), but
it is really, really important. Find a range of veggies that you like and work
them into your current meals. Use a slow cooker and different recipes to give
them flavour, add herbs and spices to liven them up. Hell, you can even blend
them together to make a sauce (tomato based is the most versatile). Just eat
the damn things. I know that a lot of you have horrible flash back of eating
badly cooked sprouts as a kid, but trust me, well cooked veggies are the bomb.
Find a way to add them to your diet and your health will improve ten fold.
Water. Drink more of it.
I will put money on the fact that most of you are not
drinking enough water. 2 litres a day? Not even close. Think 3-4 on a training
day will more the bigger you are. Water plays a role in pretty much every
function the body performs and when it is deprived of water even slightly it
struggles. Do yourself a massive favour and drink more. Your sleep, joints, fat
loss and recovery will all improve!
Improve your digestion
A healthy varied diet with lots of veggies and a bit of
fruit will help your digestion no end. However if you want to improve it a bit
then you can take the following actions,
- · Stop eating foods that give you an upset stomach. I know that seems simple but the amount of people eating foods that don’t agree with them is staggering. For most this is junk food…
- · Drink more water. See above.
- · Take a probiotic everyday. I like clients to use either Yakult or 0% Fat Actimel.
- · Eat fermented foods like sauerkraut as they are teeming with good bacteria that can help your digestion.
- · Never stuff yourself. Only ever eat to the point of being satisfied.
That’s it for now. While these tips seem very basic, they
are the ones that work 100% of the time as long as you are consistent.
Remember, consistency beats everything!
Take care of your health and your body will provide you with
the results you need. Not just for a fight camp, but for life!
Stay healthy,
Mike
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