Half of you guys are just being trolls.

Welterweight is taking the time out of his day to help people who need it...

Please stop acting like children.. It's painful to see his polite replies.

Good thread.

Ive been training bjj for.. 6 months. Getting really into it the past couple though

I want to lift weights but I want to roll 5 times a week minimum. But my hands hurt too much

id rather focus on bjj.
Im sitting around 205 lbs snd wsnt to cut to 190ish

My diet sucks most times. Hard for me to guage my caloric necessity judging by my training

My day is usually..breakfast of oatsx raisins, tbs of natty peanut butter. Go lift.
Legs monday
Chest tuesday
Arns Wednesday
Back thursds.
.shoulders friday
Arms satursay (old bodybuilding split)

Lift sn hour, come home eat small meal of nuts/salad

Jiu jitsu about 6 hours later. MWF are competition classes after thr daily adult classes. So its roughly 10 hours of mat time a week

After bjj I usually have a fruit smoothie. Orange juice, water, various frozen fruit, fresh herbs and protein powder

I know I should count my cals but I feel like I train so hard lol. I have Bout 20 pounds I can stand to lose. At least 10.

Thinking I should do...
3 daylifting split. Mwf. Run sprints T, TH, S. Mostly compound movements
What do u think

Hey there! Nice to see a good compliment. I appreciate that.

For BJJ you will want to focus on:

-Core strength
-Coordination
-Technique
-Strength
-Cardio

Your diet mentioned seems well composed. The goals we need to focus for cutting weight are:

-Cardio implementation
-Diet modification

Your routine is good. My hat is off to you for all that mat time and all the ground grappling. BJJ is a well respected art that I can never do. Defense is enough for me. I prefer to keep it standing or within a clinch. Anyway, you have the correct concept with the split of weight lifting and running. You could try that, I will always recommend cardio, as I gave up weightlifting for cardio/MMA/speed training and have since never looked back.

It also depends on your body fat % as well, what is your current percentage and/or build? What is your height?

Depending on this, we can see what you have to drop to in order to hit your optimal fighting potential if you choose to take up an amateur fight anytime soon.

*Cardio Implementation: What I used to do when I was cutting from 195 lbs to 170 was running almost everyday for long distances. You should run 4 times a week. The first day being long distance with little stopping. Your focus is calorie burning. The next run day should focus on anaerobics a bit and speed; if you are running a track, sprint the straights and jog the curves. You want to focus on explosiveness that day. Document your mileage if you have to. Try doing at least 5-6 miles (8-10km) every other day and about 3 miles in the run days in middle (your fast run days).

Why?
- It's important to build up your cardio because in BJJ you'll be constantly scrambling for the dominant position to gain that submission. Furthermore, you'll need that cardio to maintain that strength used in a hold (e.g. Armbar, Kneebar, Kimura) as well as being defensive and not submitting to offensive BJJ while you're in full guard/half guard.

*Diet Modification: To lose the weight means to minimize sugars and unnecessary calories. My recommendations: Drop orange juice and certain frozen fruits. The sugar content is way too high which leads to excessive calories. A fruit smoothie is ok, but stay away from high fructose. I also suggest mixing in vegetables in the smoothie; spinach+blueberries+carrots are a tasty combination! Also be mindful of peanut butter...as it is high in fats and shouldn't be eaten every day. Lower your protein intake as well. Higher protein=more weight gain. Diet is half of the battle.

Some extra advice would be to drink plenty of water over any other beverage. Stick to endurance and long distance running. Your lifting should not be too heavy; I used to like doing 3 sets of 20 reps with everything. You would be surprised how well you can last in a BJJ match! I have very little BJJ experience and I can recall one time at the gym about 1 year ago, I weighed just over 150 lbs at 6' 1/2 at 23 and matched against a 6'1" 170 lbs guy who was 29 and did 10 years of BJJ. The result was me being on my back the whole time (of course) due to my lack of experience, but throughout the years of endurance/cardio training the end result was him giving up due to my defenses in the full guard. My main point is, even with zero experience in offensive BJJ, the offensive fighter submitted to a battle of endurance.

Let me start off by saying that, I love fighting. It's the only thing in the world that's ever made me motivated at this level.
I love the idea of ducking and weaving, dodging punches by a hair, hitting your opponent before they can hit you.
I know that fighters have tough lives, and unless you're the champ, you're not gonna be making much of a living off it alone.

My question is, how do I get into the UFC?

Where do I even start?

Hey Mike, there are many important and essential components to joining the UFC and similar fight leagues and will require the most dedication to do so:

1. I'll start of by saying that experience is very essential; that, along with reputation is another important component. Training in a well-known and reputable gym is the first start. When the UFC needs a fighter on short notice, Joe Silva (UFC's creator) will often call the top camps in the country to ask about fighters.

**Side note: Effective training and conditioning is VERY essential. Depending on your weight class and physique and fighting preference, I can help determine which route might be best for you.

2. The next step would be winning local fights and creating some sort of name for yourself within your region. Establishing a good positive record and having a reputable trainer as well, will help with the application process.

Extra training info:

What is recommended is:

-All types of bag training
-Sparring
-Cardio, Cardio, Cardio
-Strength endurance
-Some strength training
-Explosiveness
-Elasticity (be sure to always stretch before and after your workouts)

Your starting point would be at the gym and focusing on your technique before anything else (i.e. heavy bag and sparring). Before anything, you have to learn and understand from yourself. What type of fighter are you? What does your physique grant you to be? (striking, grappling, submissions). That is where your experience starts.

Hi just looking for some advice on how to get a toned stomach / chest and possibly back. Here's a little info:

Weight: 170 lbs
-Age: 20
-Height: 5'9 or 5'10
-Diet: - Not completely sure what you're looking for here, but I don't eat breakfast very often, occasionally I will but for the most part I dont. For lunch I normally take a ham/roastbeef sandwich (normally 2 sandwiches) a couple things of fruit whether it be a couple apples, couple bananas, pears, etc. Dinner is constantly changing but I do eat a lot of chicken/porkchops/steak normally accompanied by salad, potatoes, and other vegetables.
-Physical Routines: I work mon-fri 7-3 doing ranged work from digging ditches, flagging, raking, etc etc. On some weekends I do some roofing on the side. The days mon-fri range so much at work as there's new things that need to be done each and every day.

I don't necessarily have Moobs etc but would like to make my pecs more defined, as well as get a flatter stomach/lower stomach.

Every day that I will be going to the gym I plan on doing some cardio however due to my current cardiovascular strength it is semi-limited. (Normally like 20 mins on the bike or like 10-15 jogging on treadmill)

Look forward to hearing your advice. (A pm with this information would work perfect, but feel free to post your comments here as well. Thanks a lot)

Hey Ryan, thanks for inquiring for my advice here. Ok basically your weight is alright for your height. The concern you have is toning, which will be possible to achieve with hard work and dedication. I am going to go ahead and analyze the information you have given me.

*Not eating breakfast often is the first mistake. As to why, the metabolic rate gets affected greatly. Without a proper breakfast, your body will not burn the calories needed as efficiently to eliminate excess fat. Aside from that, it also affects your energy levels. A simple change would be to having a small breakfast; i.e. fruit, non-fat yogurt, or egg whites. I also tend to avoid any red meats, they are high in protein but also high in fat.

To strengthen pectorals, I recommend 3-4 sets of 30+ pushups if you can, or as much as you can handle. Chest flys with the machine is great, bench press helps a lot as well; try to do a slight wider grip with light weight/high reps to tone up fast.

The stomach; normal sit-ups will help. Focus on repetition and do crunches, oblique crunches and roman chair leg raises for the lower abs. If you have a heavy bag, it's also helpful to your core to practice muay thai kicks at the mid section level for more novice trainees.

Your biggest improvement to make is your cardio. You need it and you'll need to take it more seriously. 20 minutes bike OR 10-15 minutes jogging on the treadmill isn't enough. You need to do at least 30 minutes at a continuous rate having your heart rate around 120-140 bpm for fat burn. If you do this along with sprint days by implementing sprints in your runs at random bursts, with the proper and healthy diet, you will get leaner.

PM me your progress and any more questions you have. I think some MMA/heavy bag training will help you as well in achieving your fitness goal!

What evidence can you provide to show that breakfast skipping inhibits fat burning? Studies have shown that have most of your calories in the evening rather than in the morning actually shown better fat loss with great muscle retention.

Skipping Breakfast will in fact increase energy levels and hold back hunger pangs in most fit individuals. A small breakfast would in fact be the worst idea.

http://www.leangains.com/2012/06/why-does-breakfast-make-me-hungry.html

Well researched article on effects of satiety and weightless in regards to eating breakfast.

Please refer to:

11 Reasons NOT to skip Breakfast for Weight Loss

When it comes to losing weight there are a number of things you can do to increase your success and achieve your goals. One of the best actions you can take to help you achieve your weight loss goals is to eat breakfast. Eating breakfast has many benefits to your health and skipping this important meal can reduce your weight loss success and your general well-being. And there are many other reasons why you shouldn’t skip breakfast if you are trying to lose weight.

1. Lowers your metabolism

One of the worse things about skipping breakfast is that it lowers your metabolism. Your metabolism is your body’s ability to burn calories and is often referred to as your body’s furnace. Eating regularly helps to keep the ‘fire burning’ and by skipping breakfast you are essentially letting the ‘fire’ burn out. While this is a bad idea at any time of the day, it is particularly bad first thing in the morning as your body has been fasting all night and breakfast helps to kick start your metabolism and provides you with energy for the day ahead. Keeping your metabolism firing is essential for burning fat and calories when trying to lose weight.

2. Lowers your concentration levels

If you have ever missed a meal, you will know how had it can be to concentrate on even the simplest tasks. Regularly skipping breakfast lowers you concentration levels and makes it hard for you to perform at your best. Not only will your concentration levels be affected but your memory and coordination as well. Definitely bad news if you have a job that requires you to use all three!

3. Lowers your energy levels

When you skip breakfast and don’t provide your body with any fuel, you also don’t provide yourself with any energy. We all need to eat a certain amount of calories a day to ensure our bodies are getting enough energy. When you don’t provide enough fuel, it is very hard for your body to do everything it needs to do each day. This will leave you tired and lethargic, and you’ll find it very difficult to get through the day, not to mention exercise.

4. Lowers your blood sugar levels

Skipping meals and not refuelling your body for a number of hours can lower your blood sugar levels so low that you will experience hypoglycaemia. Hypoglycaemia occurs when the amount of sugar (or glucose) in your blood drops below 4.0mmol (this is a measurement used by medical professionals to measure the amount of glucose in the blood). When this happens, you may experience sweating, dizziness, nausea, and shaking. Regularly eating meals will help to prevent this and boost your metabolism at the same time. Maintaining good blood sugar levels is very beneficial to your weight loss journey.

5. Mid-morning cravings

One of the worst side effects of not eating breakfast is that come mid-morning you are so hungry you are more likely to fill up on high fat, high sugar snacks with no nutritional value. These snacks are also high in calories and can throw all your good work out the window. Eating breakfast (especially a healthy one), helps to control cravings and keeps you full and satisfied, meaning you are more likely to eat a healthy snack at morning tea to tide you over til lunch (and keep your metabolism burning to help with your weight loss).

6. Leads to overeating for the rest of the day

Skipping breakfast not only leads you to choose the wrong foods at morning tea but can lead to overeating for the rest of the day. When trying to lose weight it is easy to believe that once you have eaten the wrong thing, that there’s no point in trying until tomorrow. A healthy breakfast helps to set you up for a good day ahead and makes it easier to say no to unhealthy foods.

7. Stops you losing weight

As mentioned earlier, skipping breakfast lowers your metabolism and your ability to burn fat and calories. When you lower your metabolism, it is much hard for your body to burn fat and calories, hampering your weight loss efforts. Small, regular meals, starting with breakfast is a great way to fire up your metabolism and keep your weight loss on track.

8. Makes exercise difficult

Another side effect of skipping breakfast is that it makes you tired and lethargic and this makes it very difficult to find the energy or motivation to exercise. As you know, regular exercise is essential if you are trying to lose weight. Exercise requires energy and the best source of energy is regular, healthy meals, including breakfast.

9. Makes you grumpy

There’s no nice way to put it – being tired, lethargic and hungry makes you grumpy! Skipping breakfast, especially if you don’t eat until lunch time will make you grumpy and agitated, which is not a great combination if your work requires you to be around other people? It’s hard to be nice when you can’t concentrate, are fighting hunger pains and don’t have the energy to stay awake.

10. Makes it difficult to stick to your plan

When it comes to weight loss, stick to your plan is very important and it is difficult to do that when you are hungry and chocolate is calling you. If you want to stick to your weight loss plan, you need to make breakfast a must. It not only kick starts your metabolism but makes it much easier for you to make smart food choices for the rest of the day.

11. Any breakfast is better than no breakfast

Many people think that breakfast needs to be some healthy, ‘hippy’ type meal. Anything you eat at breakfast is better than going hungry. If you don’t have the time to eat breakfast at home, try keeping something at the office to eat there or try getting up a little earlier (easier said than done!). Smoothies and milk shakes are also an option for those with little time.


From my own experience, I have tried severely weight cutting without eating breakfast vs eating SOMETHING for breakfast now.

My findings yielded what I have posted in 11 reasons. Skipping meals is never advisable; not even by a licensed nutritionist, sports trainer or physician.

Wow a ton of that is false, when you choose to eat is not important