Overtraining is a myth
There is a saying that says it's not what you do in the gym it's what you can recover from. I was listening to a podcast where a discussion of training in international wrestling came up and how the USA vs. Russians train. The overall conclusion is that the Russian national team trains far less hard throughout the year then they ramp up the training for a couple of weeks, whereas our training sessions are very intense and difficult and the athletes don't get as much overall skill development because we are training very hard all year. This, in theory, will increase your overall volume in skill training “to avoid” injuries and of course, avoid “overtraining”. The goal of this post is to talk about what that term means and how we can avoid “overtraining" even when training at maximum effort.
Let's first start with defining terms. What I am referring to is training so hard that you get injured. I see athletes all the time pushing their bodies to their limit with no real issues or any serious injury. Is this their genetics or is it something that is controllable? To be honest it's probably a combination of both. Obviously, genetics have a role in people getting injured at a higher rate than others but it's definitely not the only factor. Let's talk about the controllable We can start with the physical aspect of training and the modalities that we can practice off of the mats. These same practices can be applied to strength athletes in sports like strongman or powerlifting. Let's first talk about the annoying nagging pains you might be experiencing while lifting or on the mats. That pain you are feeling is a signal, it is your body's way of saying something is wrong and if not addressed it can lead to something more serious. Now how does this lead to an overtraining injury? Overtraining in my opinion is an easy way to scapegoat for something that could have been avoided in the first place. The hard training isn't the culprit here, it's the avoiding of the signal and dysfunction. I'm going to give a quick example of this. Let's say for example the outside of your knee pops during a grappling match or while lifting weights, people will auto-assign the cause of this injury on the warm-up or knee sleeves or some other easy thing. I am not saying that freaky things can't happen because they do all the time but from my experience, most people who deal with an injury like what I'm describing don't have a complete range of motion in their hips then they will try and load a hip that cannot rotate, so something is going to have to rotate in this case the knee which becomes a mobile joint and then pops. In short, the way this is avoided is by ensuring you have a full functional range of motion by using a well-thought-out strength program that addresses everything not just how much you bench press or curl in the squat rack.
Avoiding the boogeyman called overtraining has more to do with what you do when you’re not in the gym and believe it or not they all go hand in hand. I had the pleasure of doing a seminar with Stan “the Rhino” Efferding and he said I agree that the bedrock of diet and exercise is rest and recovery. While I agree completely with this statement I believe it is much more cyclical than this. If you were to track your rest and recovery what you tend to see is better recovery when eating close to or at your daily calories burned. Why is sleep quality so important? What you have to understand about sleep is, it's not as simple as getting in bed and sleeping, yes length of time is very important. It means next to nothing if during that long period of time in bed you spent 90% in Light sleep or worse awake. AWAKE You might be wondering what I'm talking about, When I say awake you are clearly lying down with your eyes closed in bed, While this is true you are “asleep” there are stages of sleep which are awake, light, SWS (deep), and REM sleep. For each of these stages, you have a sweet spot that is ideal for recovery. The things that can negatively affect the sweet spots can be several things such as sleep hygiene, nasal breathing or snoring, and blue light exposure just to name a few. The biggest culprit of a negative impact on sleep is mouth breathing. Some people are severely affected by sleep apnea If you do have sleep apnea i recommend you get a CPAP. For those who only snore lightly, I suggest something very simple: nasal strips and mouth tape. From my personal experience and with clients I have seen GREAT increases in sleep quality when following just those two simple remedies. The other things I mentioned are much simpler, don't look at your phone 30 minutes before bed, take a hot shower before bed, and always sleep on clean sheets. Why are calories so important in recovery, it's very simple if you're training hard at anything. How can you rebuild the “broken down” systems if you're not adding the proper nutrients to do so. I pointed at calories earlier because calories are absolutely the most important component in all fitness endeavors. If we are talking about high-performance athletes it's a little more complicated than that, while calories are still king the macro and micronutrients still have a major effect on overall performance. First and foremost I want to say exclusion diets for athletes make no sense to me, I didn't always believe this but after listening to people much smarter than me, it absolutely makes sense. What I'm looking for you to take away is that all nutrients have an upstream effect on how you perform. But also on how well you recover, i want to touch on one micronutrient. sodium is widely one of the most beneficial micro nutrients you can consume because it will be a large factor in rehydration. You hear a lot about sports drinks that will rehydrate you after hard training. I'm here to tell you that you will get a much better result from consuming food. Not to say that an intra-sports drink that has sodium isn't beneficial but the majority of your hydration is going to come from salting your foods. Understanding how everything we do has an effect on your success is paramount in being able to train hard consistently. When you are training remember it is all about what you can recover from and your recovery is based on the things you do for the majority of your day.
My goal in this post is not to tell you to train less hard, because in my opinion it is very important for growth within any sport to train at “game” speed and as frequently as possible. Kobe did not become one of the greats by just practicing his free throw; he practiced at game speed as often as possible to become an all-around great player. I'm extremely happy that more science has made its way into training modalities but there will never be a time when you can out-science hard work. So don't believe the myth and take care of your body outside the gym and keep working hard!!
Exercise seleCTION
Where should you start?
Damn, I'm starting with “it depends” again!!! So to answer the question of where I should start, it depends on your lifting age. This might be a phrase that you've never heard before, your lifting age is how many years you have been lifting (this is not the only factor but it is a big one). This doesn't mean that if you've been lifting a long time that you will automatically be a stud in the gym and know what to do when you scan into your local Globo gym, in fact, I've seen some guys who have been in the gym for a long time but have little to no knowledge on the “why” behind the “what”. Your lifting age just gives a good reference point on all things lifting. I'm going to keep the blog post primarily on grappling/fighting sports today. Hopefully, you'll get a better understanding of how you should approach your workouts but also how you can sift through the muck that is the internet.
So let’s sift through some of the B.S that you likely see on the internet, I'm not going to call anyone out on this post, that is not my style. I'll never try to discredit someone unless I see it being dangerous or a blatant lie. So I'm going to just focus on common things that I see. First thing I see a lot of is the overly specific moves for a sport like fighting/grappling. Let's use the landmine hip escape press, now this looks really cool for a reel on Instagram or a short on youtube and likely got a lot of likes, this doesn't have a real carry-over to combat sports, and here is why. The hip escape for those who don't know is a way to get out of the bottom position in fighting. The reason this doesn't carry over is very simple: the line in which we are pushing the barbell is linear. We will never be pushing in a linear pattern on your back in a grappling exchange. So the question becomes how do I develop strength when on my back? This is the only time I ever suggest this next exercise, “the glute bridge” I think people over the program this movement for glute growth, it is my opinion that this move does not help with glute growth but does have a carry-over for the grappling athlete because of the position that you are generating force. Let me dive a little deeper into the glute bridge and why I feel this way. The glute bridge works well for BJJ and not developing a dump truck is very simple, ROM. to get a bigger muscle no matter where it is on the body you need a full range of motion, in the glute bridge you never get full flexion or extension at any point of the lift, BUT when on your back while grappling the goal is to explode in the shortest distance possible. Another red flag is being overly vague or too specific to another sport like powerlifting or bodybuilding, there are definitely some athletes that get really far training like a bodybuilder or a powerlifter. These people should be considered the exceptions not the rule because while there should be a tremendous focus on strength we still have to consider recoverable volume. “What the hell does that mean”? Very simply put its not what you do in the gym, it's what you can recover from. So for example if you are a BJJ athlete training in the gym 5 days a week, hard practices 4 days a week, and 2 easy sessions, when the hell is the body going to recover? The answer is it doesn't, this is why and how injuries, sickness, and a whole list of other things happen. Even guys in a bunch of gear need time to recover.
SO WHAT THE HECK DO YOU DO!? Hire me! But in all seriousness, you start with a general look at how long you've been training, your goals, your body composition, and your overall ability to handle the load. How long you have been training, this one ties into a lot. How long you've been lifting is going to help gauge how hard or easy it will be to gain size and strength in a particular mesocycle. For example, if you've been lifting weights for 10 years consistently, getting stronger is going to take more effort than the guy who started 1 year ago. But the plus side to this is that the more senior lifter is going to have much less effort in maintaining what has already been built. Why in the world do you wanna lift weights? That is a question really for you as an individual. I can help you get to your destination but I don’t have the answer to your goals. I do think it is incredibly important to strive for something when you are going to the gym to work out. Something that a lot of trainers don't take into consideration is the body composition when looking to create a program for a client or when someone is doing it for themselves. This is important because it helps us look at the body honestly, if you're a guy 5’11 240 at 20 percent body fat it's not going to be a good idea to program the same for a girl 5’2 110 at 12 percent body fat. The rubric should be the same but the volume and plan should be drastically different. What can the body handle? To sum this up, everyone should have the ability to run but not everyone should run. To touch on the functional movement screen or FMS if you DO NOT have a normal range of motion in dorsiflexion you shouldn't be squatting under load. And this goes for several movement patterns the hurdle step being another if you don't have a stable system when doing a hurdle step it is not a good idea to ask you to do hill sprints. This is going to put us at a higher risk of injury.
If you've gotten this far and want more on how to program for yourself or want to have a conversation about online coaching feel free to make an appointment with me so we can see what we can accomplish together!!
the king of all lifts
By far my favorite of all lifts is the squat. If you follow my social media pages that should come as no surprise. The reason for that is more than just the benefits of the squat but also what the squat tells me about your ability to perform optimally during anything that requires athleticism. Although every athlete should squat, not every athlete should squat the same. What the fuck does that mean? I get a bunch of clients that complain of mostly knee or back pain when squatting so I will hear “I have bad knees” or “My back hurts when I squat” so immediately follow with “Do you avoid squatting?” usually it's a yes. I will always follow with doing a movement screen.
What are the usual suspects when I look at an athlete and see something wrong? THE MOST COMMON FAULT IS THE ANKLE/FOOT, what I see most of the time is a lack of ability to dorsiflex the ankle. What the hell does that mean? That is just a fancy way of saying not being able to bring your toes toward your shin. Why would that stop you from squatting with good technique? Think about it like this, your entire body is connected so when you squat and the ankle which is a mobile joint has a limited range of motion something in the system has no choice but to make up for the lack of range of motion and could show itself as knee pain, back pain or sometimes both. But sometimes the ankle is moving great and the squat is still all jacked up so what then? I would then look at what the hip is doing. Do we have a normative range of motion in the hip, again what the heck does that mean? Just like the ankle it is a mobile joint and needs to move in several different directions. Now the hip can be limited in several ways, the most common is rotation and extension. I'm not going to go too far into detail in this blog post on how to fix dorsiflexion or hip range of motion but I do want you to understand that sometimes by clearing up that lack of range of motion then looking at what leverages best suits you you're able to squat much more effectively.
I don’t always find any issues in any one thing that could be causing the issue when doing a loaded squat. So when talking to the client that usually reaffirms the bad knees theory or they think they have a weak core. But I don't make assumptions about what is going on in the pattern, I have to see it. So we test the unloaded pattern with no cues from me at all and what I tend to find is people emulate what they see rather than what the best squat pattern is for them. First I get a general idea of femur lengths (what is the relationship between your femur length and your tibia length) this tells me where the bar should be when it is on the client’s back. If you have long femurs like myself you should be in a generally lower bar position if you are one of god's chosen squatters and have a “50/50” relationship you would be in a high bar position and if you have long tibias you would be in a high bar position. The reason behind this is that the bar moves in relationship with your center of gravity. If someone like myself tried to squat in a high bar position a couple of things could happen, I could lose my upright position putting unwanted stress on my lower back, or on the opposite side of the body, I would need to drive my knees way out in front of me to keep the bar over my center mass. When either one of these things happens I have no choice but to create a super compensation and more than likely I'm in some sort of discomfort when I squat. The way I explain it to clients is that our bodies are incredible machines that will do A LOT, (unless the movement is self-limiting) even when we may have some sort of issues up or downstream that we don't realize are there, so after the screen, we can get an objective look at what the system is doing to put us in this situation.
What happens when I get a client that has a great range of motion and knows how to squat but is either in discomfort or just hitting a plateau? This is the most fun I get to have as a trainer. Now we push the pattern and see what is going on under heavy load. First, I obviously start with watching the squat when it is unloaded. Once I get a good idea of what is happening I start queuing. The first and most important que of them all is intra-abdominal pressure. Here is another “what” moment. To put it simply make yourself “pregnant” and then squeeze your belly like Mike Tyson is going to hit you with a body shot. What you are doing here is stabilizing your lower back. I don't want you to do the drawing-in method, this is no help for max load and puts your upper back in an altered position. Once you have that down we go to the feet, think about trying to rip the ground apart with your entire foot engaging the legs from butt to toes. Now that we have that dialed in we hit your upper back in the case of the barbell back squat think of it like doing a pull up this should cue the entire upper back. Once you are at the bottom of the squat, push through your traps.
If you've gotten this far, thank you for visiting my site. I hope this gives you some insight into how I view and break down the squat pattern.
Here are some of the key benefits of the squat.
When squatting properly you are bringing the ankle, knee, and hip to its end range while having to use a tremendous amount of core strength to keep the spine in a neutral position.
The squat will improve your vertical which is one of the key markers for success in any professional sport.
The types of squats that you can perform are endless, with each squat having a key reason as to why they are more beneficial for a given athlete.
The squat can be used at any level of fitness and can be used towards any fitness goal.
You can use the squat as a cardio underload exercise. This will help you avoid painfully boring trips to the treadmill.
These are just a couple of reasons why everyone can be squatting. If the squat is the king the deadlift is the queen. Stay tuned for my next blog post where I will break down the deadlift the do’s and don'ts and why the deadlift is a safe lift for people of all skill levels can and should be doing.
Why foam rolling?
Let me start off by saying foam rolling isn't some magical way to fix an injury or to fix all of your dysfunction. The way I look at foam rolling is just another tool in your gym “tool belt”. Also if you're experiencing severe pain when doing any type of activity please go see a doctor. With that being said the question at hand is, why foam rolling? Well, there are a couple of reasons why I recommend foam rolling to anyone at any level.
Desensitization is a treatment technique used to modify how sensitive an area is to particular stimuli. This technique is utilized to decrease, or normalize, the body's response to particular sensations. So think about it like this, our shoulders are tight in the overhead position. So how would we foam roll to help get into the overhead position? First, we need to think about what muscle groups would negatively affect the shoulder in the overhead position. In most cases, I start with the lat, teres minor, and serratus muscles, which can limit your ability to put your arms overhead. The way we foam roll these areas is not to just passively go up and down on the roller; this is an absolute waste of your time. The method that you should use is called tack and floss. This method calls for you to move your body but will also call for small movements of the foam roller, I'll explain, first let’s go over moving your body. These are not giant motions if you can move in big movements then you're not in the right area with the foam roller. First, find a spot that makes you go “oof”, this shouldn't be super painful just enough that you're not happy about it. Once you find this area you will bring the joint in this case the shoulder through the range of motion that is bothering you. Do not become complacent with that spot and find new spots. I like to put a timer on for about a minute and only move when it starts becoming less uncomfortable, sometimes you will be in one spot the entire minute. Now option two is moving the roller itself, usually I use this method when the area is super tender. Now again this isn't a huge motion. These are tiny little oscillations. Think about it like trying to scrub little chunks off of a pan after cooking. Like the first method, you will find new spots that are tender. And remember if there is extreme pain go to the doctor.
It makes stretching easier. I am not a fan of stretching, I'm not naturally bendy, so I am very uncomfortable when I'm stretching. But because of the desensitization of foam rolling, I am able to get into better positions when trying to stretch. I'm not saying that out of nowhere I'm a world-class yogi but it does make things a little bit more manageable. Now stretching for performance is a subject for another blog post, but what I will say is stretching is a virtual part of training and should be used in your warm-up and cool-down. The reason that making stretching easier is important is that you should be stretching areas that are tight, not areas that are already mobile.
They are cheap and can be done anywhere and anytime. A good nickname for foam rollers is a poor man's masseuse, now I'm not trying to insult anyone. I'm just saying that I know I cannot afford to get a massage multiple times a week at any time of the day. So a great alternative is a foam roller.
These are just a couple of reasons why I like foam rolling but the foam roller is only one of many tools in a method called tack and floss which was discussed earlier. There are A LOT of tools on the market that I like using that have the same principles. (I will link some of my favorites.) There are also a bunch of different foam rollers on the market and to be honest some companies' claims are out of this world so here is a rule of thumb if it seems too aggressive or causes significant pain it's not the roller for you. Hope this helps. Thank you for taking the time to read my blog post!!
Here are just a couple of my favorites:
What your feet are telling you?
As I'm watching a UFC fight, the fight in question is Tsarukyan vs Ismagulov. One thing I noticed is the consistent take down and lack of takedown defense. This is not me saying the only reason for the success in the takedown is foot strength, but I know it doesn't hurt. As I watch the takedown defense of Ismagulov, his toe box is very narrow in his sprawl as Tsarkyan drives through this less-than-optimal defense.
Do your knees hurt when you squat, when you run or even when you get off the couch? Why in the world would someone who trains so consistently be in pain like an elderly man/woman? Maybe it's your feet or ankles. One of the biggest issues I see with fighting/grappling athletes is poor motor control in the foot and lack of range of motion in the ankle. So what am I looking for when I'm looking at my athlete’s feet?
What does the big toe look like when we stand and perform a squat? If the big toe is pushing towards that second toe that is an issue. The toes should be the widest point of the foot. From years of wearing common shoes with a narrow toe box, you will literally reshape the way your foot is naturally shaped. Just by having a poor position of the big toe, creates what is called an ankle valgus, or pronation of the ankle, during any type of movement. What this means is the ankle is now rolling inward whenever there is a load put on it, including standing. Which can potentially travel up the chain into the knee and the hip causing issues there as well.
If you were seated, do you have the ability to open your toes so that the toes are the widest point of your foot? If not, that tells me you do not have complete motor control of your foot. When we are doing any type of movement pattern, it is important to be able to control the feet so that you can evenly distribute the weight throughout the entire movement pattern. Also, during any type of combat situation, you should be able to engage the feet whenever you need to. As mentioned before, look at the foot in the sprawl. If we are starting in a bad foot position, we are only going to have to work that much harder to compensate for the bad foot positioning. When fighting/grappling, you must have motor control of the entire body, not just the big areas like the hips.
Are your arches working? We have three arches in the foot. I'm focusing on the big one that everyone talks about getting arch support for. It is very possible to have a low arch that is very strong. What I'm looking for is when you're walking does your arch collapse? Do you have control of the arch? A narrow toe box can contribute to this but not always, sometimes it's from wearing arch support. Have your arches become weak and lazy? Imagine wearing an ankle brace every day all day long, we all can understand that the ankle will become weaker and has a higher probability to get injured when that brace is not on.
What does your ankle mobility look like? If you don't have a normative range of motion in the ankle this will hinder your ability to do anything involving knee flexion. If you shoot a blast double without a normative range of motion in the ankle you will create a super compensation elsewhere. Because of this compensation speed and power are without a doubt going to be lost. Not to mention the added stress to other parts of the leg and knee which can also put us at higher risk of injury. The same thing can be said when performing something as basic as a squat. If you're a fighter/grappler squatting is something you should never avoid.
None of this means that it cannot be fixed. But it definitely takes work. One of the biggest and easiest ways to start fixing this is by changing the shoes you wear daily. At one point in time the finger shoes were the only shoes on the market that you could find that would address these issues. BUT they were UGLY as hell unless you're a ninja but there is no such thing as ninjas so let's leave those shoes in 2009, please. Luckily today we have a very wide variety of shoes ranging from boots to casual shoes, military boots, running shoes, etc. another very basic and cheap way to address this is toe spacers wearing toe spacers during warm-ups or when you're chilling at home watching TV goes a LONG WAY!!! One more very simple way is to embrace the power of feeling. There is a mat called a rock board, standing on the rock board will give you the ability to feel the 200,000 nerve endings in your feet increasing the proprioception in your foot.
So basically never leave any stone unturned. Never neglect your feet; they are the first thing to come into contact with the ground; it's where all of your power and speed start. So don't let this be something that is slowing you down from becoming the monster you are looking to be.
Training for fighting.
Training for fighting.
3 Types of Training for Fighting
Isometric:
Isometric exercises are tightening (contractions) of a specific muscle or group of muscles. During isometric exercises, the muscle doesn't noticeably change length. The affected joint also doesn't move. Isometric exercises help maintain strength. They can also build strength, but not effectively. This translates to controlling your opponent, some of the best ground fighters have AMAZING isometric strength.
Rotational:
This is exactly what it sounds like, when performing a rotational exercise the point is to rotate key structures to develop strength, muscle coordination and skill acquisition. Rotation will help develop power in punches, kicks, takedowns, and transitions on the ground.
Anti-rotational:
An anti-rotation movement is any movement that involves contracting your core and holding it completely still while keeping the rest of your body within just one singular plane, or direction, of motion. When performing anti-rotation you will fight a force that is trying to move you. This is great for defending takedowns or controlling an opponent in the clinch or on the ground.
These methods require minimal equipment, and should be done at all skill levels of lifting. These should be fundamental parts of your training program. Things you may notice about my thoughts on training is there is a lot of overlap and things can be combined.
Some of my favorite equipment for training:
Kettlebells: We can use the kettlebell for all three types of training. They are fairly cheap considering the amount you can accomplish with just a kettlebell. There are different styles of kettlebells that serve different purposes. One is the fat handle kettlebell. This kettlebell is great for increasing grip strength and overall strength and conditioning.
Steel mace: This piece of equipment is the oldest strength-building tools on the planet. And like the kettlebell can be used for multiple types of training. Also like the kettlebell, there are different types of mace, with different lengths and widths of the handles to attack different areas of concern simultaneously.
Bands. These are by far one of the most used tools in my coaching tool belt. One of the key benefits to bands is changing the strength arch, This means that the easiest part of your lift now becomes the hardest. Like the previous 2 training tools, bands are fairly cheap and are very easy to store.
Tools in action:
THE KB deadlift:
The KB deadlift is not something that is thought of as an isometric exercise but in the context of the core there needs to be sufficient isometric contraction to maintain neutral spine position. This is also a perfect exercise for athletes at all levels because the only joint at near end range is the hip.
3 major ques for the KB deadlift:
Keep your eyes fixed on something that is eye level at the start position. This will help keep you in a neutral position throughout the entire movement.
Core tightness, imagine Mike Tyson was going to punch you in the belly. Maintain that same level of tightness throughout the entire hinge movement pattern.
Split the ground with your feet, imagine you trying to tear the ground under you use your toes and along with heel to stay rooted in into the ground, Become immovable
This is a movement that is very easily scaled up or down.
The volume will be moderate 4 sets of 8-10
The Steel mace
The rotational uppercut:
This pattern is great for multiple reasons, we are attacking several plains of motion while adding movement patterns that directly affect fighting/grappling. Something that we should focus on is where the rotation is coming from. We are rotating in the hips so when performing the rotational uppercut we should be doing so on the balls of the feet.
3 major uses of the rotational uppercut:
Keep your eyes fixed on the top of the steel mace. Your body will follow your eyes. This movement requires much more movement than your standard patterns so take your time.
Rotate on the balls of your feet. When we are throwing punches or rotating on a take down our feet lead the dance so this pattern needs to be the same.
Keep the cheeks tight! When doing any rotation we sometimes rotate too much in our lumbar spine. To avoid this we need to keep our glutes tight, this holds true for almost all movement patterns.
Scalability is moderate because it is a rotational pattern. If this needs to be scaled to a large scale we will change the implementation all-together.
Volume should be moderate to high 4 sets of 10-12 on each side
The banded PALLOF press.
The Pallof is one of my absolute favorite ANTI-ROTATION movements. I primarily use this movement as a preparatory exercise for athletes that are not rehabbing. But we can absolutely scale this pattern to make it more challenging for athletes at all levels.
3 major ques for the PALLOF press:
When letting up your band, ensure good positioning. You should be in direct line with the band, so when setting up make sure the band is in a straight line from your torso and the rack/rig.
Make sure there is an adequate level of tension in the band. The band tension should be heavy enough that you're feeling a pull toward the rack/rig.
Keep the glutes and core tight. This tightness will ensure that there is a limited amount of movement in the system.
Scalability is very high. This is an anti-rotation that we can make very hard very quickly.
The volume will vary on what the goal is in training. Generally 3-4 sets of 10/10
WHen should you cut weight?
When should you cut weight?
Let me define my terms, when I say “cut” I'm not saying cutting water weight what I'm referring to is a body recomposition or losing body fat, I also want to say I'm not a dietitian nor do I claim to know everything there is to know about dieting. But I do have some degree of understanding of how the body performs and what it needs to perform optimally. Let's start off with the basics.
What are calories?
Calories are the amount of energy released when your body breaks down (digests and absorbs) food.
Now this is important because this is what our bodies use for fuel. I know this is very basic and may seem redundant but I promise I'll make my point soon enough.
What makes up a calorie? Three macronutrients
Protein
Carbs
Fats
Again all very basic and silly I know but stay with me. Each one of these macronutrients has a job to do when you're training at the extreme levels of a fight camp. Think of all of these macronutrients having some role in your overall recovery during the mesocycle of camp or in the microcycle of your day-to-day training sessions. If these are not being replenished we are shooting ourselves in the foot. It doesn't stop here, what is a Micronutrient? Micronutrients are vitamins and minerals needed by the body in very small amounts. Now these are all important because they help us in our day-to-day living, for example, calcium, this little micronutrient is responsible for muscle contraction. What contracts involuntarily all day every day? Our heart and I really don't need to get into how important calcium is, not only for fighting but also for our overall longevity. When we are in a caloric deficit it is impossible to cover all of these bases and get the most out of your body.
During camp the last thing you should be stressing about is weight. Now when I say that a lot of fighters and grapplers cringe because that’s all they think about. So for you guys reading this saying no way, give me just a few more minutes of your time. There needs to be a very systematic approach to camp and your fight career. If you need to lose 20 lbs in camp, that is a huge problem. The reason this is a problem is that everything is stated previously.
1. The purpose of camp is to get to peak performance.
2. You need all the calories possible to get you to peak performance. 3. You need all the macronutrients for energy and to rebuild the system. 4. You need all the micronutrients possible to ensure long-term health. “Then I'll just do the keto diet and lose 20 lbs because you don't need carbs for energy” You can do the keto diet and find success in losing weight, but you have to understand how you're losing the weight. Think of the extra weight as energy storage, so just in case you run out of fuel your body has something to call on for the energy expenditure. So what is literally happening is you are putting your body in a caloric deficit so that your body has to use the extra to keep you alive there is nothing left over to help with recovery. Your body doesn't care about what you look like in a speedo so it will take muscle mass as well as fat. And it's probably going to take much more muscle mass than you would want. I hear all the time it's because muscle is more dense, while this is true that's not really how your body looks at it, muscle mass is expensive as hell, and it requires a lot of nutrients to keep it, and that's why it's so damn hard to gain and maintain. So when you're in a cutting phase you will lose muscle mass as well as fat mass but when done properly you will maintain as much of that muscle as possible. It is also worth noting that sports like MMA or grappling make it very difficult to gain solid mass but gaining is for another blog post.
So how in the world would I recommend being able to focus on the task of peaking for a fight or grappling match? The most simple is, never get out of shape and don't fight so far away from your natural weight. Now this is the most unpopular of every method because fighters and grapplers like food and sometimes partying or taking a break from training. But it can be done, by choosing a balanced lifestyle. Now I'm not typing this with my hands in a yoga position speaking about balance. I'm talking about staying consistent in the gym all year round. We need to understand the importance of calories as it relates to recovery from training. To be clear, the way we lose weight is with a calorie deficit or hypocaloric, there is no other way to lose weight. It's not carbs or fat that made us fat Americans, it's too many calories. So the only way to combat this would be reverse engineering our weight gain with fewer calories. But this comes at a cost. When you're not eating and going through very intense practices you will without a doubt be under recovered. And for something like fighting and grappling recovery is everything. Without recovery you will hinder your ability to develop new skills, higher risk of injury, decreased immune system and the list goes on. Very simply put, recovery is king. So the reason it is best to stay in shape all year round is so we can eat at either isocaloric or hypercaloric. Studies have shown that with regard to recovery, eating hypercaloric will promote better recovery. So when in camp my recommendation is to be as close to your fighting weight as possible. If you're going to cut water weight make sure it's minimal. because the larger the weight cut the higher the risk of dehydration and if you’re not working with a weight cut specialist that has a rehydration protocol you are running the risk of at the very least a less than optimal performance and in the worst case scenario potential death. So weight cutting should be done with care. Weight-cut suggestions would be
24-hour weigh-in 5%
12-hour weigh-in 3%
2-hour weigh-in 2%
Mat-side weigh-in 1%
Another way is to have a weight loss phase when not in camp. What this means is getting super focused on your weight by regulating calories before camp starts. Let's say 8 weeks with a 2-week phase where we bring calories up to find a good baseline so that we are isocaloric or in a weight maintenance phase. The way this is done is by monitoring calories and macros. The purpose of doing this before camp is so that you create a new set weight. A set weight should be looked at as the weight we maintain without any dietary intervention. Like stated previously we should be focused on what is important, which is the fight in the fight camp not the fight with the scale. The most obvious downside is time. And my immediate response would be, to be more disciplined all year or fight at a heavier weight class. It is my recommendation that when we are looking to book a fight or do a major grappling competition agree to a weight class that is realistic for you and your body type.
I know this entire blog post is about cutting weight but, maybe you shouldn't cut weight at all. Maybe the real advice you need is to go up a weight class and put size and strength on to compete a little bigger. But I'll save that for another post. Thanks for taking the time to read my blog post. I hope you have a great day and stay on the mats!!!