MMA News Forums » Sports & Training » Nutrition, Supplements, and Training for MMA

[JMH]

Besides cutting out the beer.

I'm looking for some basic jump starters for getting fit.

Diet,

Weights

Cardio

Although I am asthmatic and have crappy knees.

Any thoughts/suggestions?

[kylewyzle2005]

go to bodybuilding.com's main site and research. experiment with different programs to go by and learn from it, and how ur body responds to stress, and youll achieve whatever ur desired goal is.

[erockomania]

First thing is to start cleaning up the diet. Start counting your calories so you know where you currently stand. Don't cut more than about 250-400 calories per day, per week. Keep your carbs complex and your protein lean. Your protein intake should be somewhere in the realm of .75 to 1.5 gms of protein per LB of body weight. Gradually decrease your carbs throughout the day. Carbs are energy and you don't need much at night. Eat several small meals during the day rather than a couple big ones. You need to start training your metabolism.

take out(for starters):
-simple sugars as much as possible(sodas, baked goods, white bread etc..)
-foods high in saturated fats (a little goes a long way ...keep it to a minimum)
-foods high in sodium

eat(for starters):
-veggies (any meal)
-lean meats (any meal)
-whole grains (brown rice/wheat bread)
-legumes(beans)

drink(for starters):
-lots of water
-teas with no or little sugar (green tea is a good place to start)
-diet sodas if you must
-low fat milk


some foods to implement(for starters):
black beans (or any bean of your liking)
almonds (or nuts in general that aren't salted)
fish
chicken
lean beef
any veggie of your choice
whole grain bread with no high fructose corn syrup (Miltons is a good one)
brown rice
find a good protein powder for after the gym
-if you buy salad dressings, find the ones with olive oil rather than canola oil or vegetable oil, and DON'T buy the low fat versions ...they usually are taking out the good fats and tossing in some garbage ...like more sodium and sugar.
low fat milk
...and the list goes on but this is good for starters


If you're just starting the gym, try 3 days a week so you don't get burnt out and bummed out too quick. 30 mins of cardio and 15 minutes of weight per day. When you start increasing the amount of days you go to the gym, make those primarily weight training days. 45 mins is a fine amount of time. Make sure you learn the proper form, maybe even enlist the help of a trainer for the first month so you learn the proper ways to train. Don't do too much too soon. After a few months of light training you'll be more ready to start some heavier weight and higher intensity training. I find the folks that move too fast quit the soonest. Ease into it.

hope this helps,
E.

[DirtyDirtBiker]

Its hard to add onto what erockomania, but I would suggest, if you can, start your diet today! Some people like to slowly move into a set diet, but that means you already lose like a week of being on a proper diet.

Are you doing any kind of training? Doing bjj is not to bad on the knees. Now its hard to say that for you, cuz I don't know how bad yours are, but mine are pretty shitty also. So when you start feeling pain, do stop. Try to do very light weights if you decide to work out your legs and strengthen those knees, its been helping me.

Also, start recording what your weight, take measurements of your body and if possible body fat %. This way you can look to see if your improving or not and change things accordingly.

A little advice, if your really training hard and loosing a lot of weight fast, don't get too excited, it might be water that your not recovering, so make sure like erockomania said, drink plenty of it.

Oh If I can add one more thing, try to get a few books on diets, workouts (arnolds diet section in his book is really good), theirs even a nutrition book for wrestlers. Reading these things really helps you understand what carbs, protiens, fats really are and you'll be amazed that you even have to mix a few foods in order to get the max protien from them. Also from what I understand carbs are best taken after a workout.

Lots to learn Keep us updated on how your doing

[JMH]

Thanks fellas, this sounds like a good start.

I'm thinking I'll print this page out and put it on the fridge so the wife can see what to pick up at the grocery store.

I thought about trying out a few things on the home front.

Maybe just establishing some routine/discipline. Like getting up early enough in the morning before work to do some push ups, crunches, dips and stretches.

I could do some old basic kicks and punches from my limitied martial arts training back in the day to get my cardio going in this small space, like some shadow boxing?

After a week or two of this plus the dieting, I think I'd have enough nerve to get back to the gym and ask someone how to use the equipment properly and how to keep the best form.

I'm trying to figure out where I'll fit all this stuff in esp. when I go back to college next month, having a newborn and work too.

Execuses I know!

[Clint]

Check out the links in the FAQ in the training forum. There are some good resources in there.

[JMH]

Originally Posted by Clint

Check out the links in the FAQ in the training forum. There are some good resources in there.

Will do thanks.

[Ubermensch]

You need to recalibrate your muscle memory before you start lifting again... You know stuff like standing squats for like 6-8 min's kind of thing. Because before you start lifting again you want to have great form and have your stabilizer muscles work instead of compensating with your primaries that you may have already conditioned yourself to use. This will help with Explosiveness and all around strength as well as prevent injuries.

[kickbox]

Originally Posted by JMH

Besides cutting out the beer.

I'm looking for some basic jump starters for getting fit.

Diet,

Weights

Cardio

Although I am asthmatic and have crappy knees.

Any thoughts/suggestions?

pick up separate 70 pound dumbells in each arm and bent your knees and go up and down with out breathing through your mouth instead breath through your nose. it regulates your cardio imo!!