Health!

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

If anyone wants to ask any questions or has a specific area they would like to ask questions on, you can contact me through the website HERE