You've come to the right place. Mixed Martial Arts training is actually a highly preferred type of exercise even for people who want to get into or maintain shape. From a healthy standpoint, for someone of your height and age that is male, you should weigh about 235 lbs. For you I would focus on increasing your cardio and diet so you can cut weight efficiently. First, start off with focusing on long distance running and do as much as you can while maintaining a good speed, but not too fast enough to tire yourself out. Even if it takes you one hour to run 6 miles, just complete the distance. Completion is the key here and endurance. The benefit of being heavy is being able to burn A LOT of calories like I once did. Focus on cardio for at least 3-4 days a week. For weight lifting, focus on high reps and lower weights. You should be doing 3-4 sets of 12 on lifting days and be sure to run before lifting, because if you lift first, your running will be minimized due to fatigue.

To be effective in the ground game will require strength, endurance and cardio. Imagine trying to hold down someone who is 260 lbs while trying to land a clean and solid shot while they're on the ground...it will be extremely difficult without the proper conditioning.

Now that we have the brief basics of a work out routine, we'll cover the diet plan. This is actually pretty easy if you are determined. What worked for me on the drop from 220 lbs to 180 lbs was lower calorie intake. It's simple, you start off with a small breakfast...something to get your metabolism going, then a small snack (fruits or vegetables), a small lunch, another small snack, followed by a small healthy dinner; try for six small meals a day. Focus on burning 1,200 calories at a minimum each day and include running, elliptical machines, etc to meet that goal. For food, minimize fats and sugars. This means, no sugared drinks and beer.

A sample diet for you would be:

*Meats: Lean chicken breast, tuna, turkey
*Vegetables: Celery (burns calories), Broccoli, Beans, Spinach, Cauliflower, Cabbage
*Starches: Breads and pasta to a strict minimum
*Dairy: Strictly to a minimum, but I recommend no dairy for best weight loss results
*Fruits: Berries, Watermelon, Cantaloupe, Apples, Nectarines, Peaches

Sample meal day:

Breakfast at 8 AM: Oatmeal (one cup)
Snack 1 at 10 AM: Apple
Lunch at 12 PM: Tuna or Chicken Wrap or Tuna Salad (no mayonnaise; only vinaigrette if needed)
Snack 2 at 3 PM: Handful of Almonds
Dinner at 5:30 PM: 220g of skinless Chicken Breast grilled with one cup of rice or vegetables (brussel sprouts, broccoli, celery)

Rule of thumb:

*Do NOT eat after 8:00 PM
*Drink 2 Liters of water every day (to keep the metabolism and digestion functions at its maximum potential)

Other helpful low calorie dietary ingredients to cut your appetite:

*Water before a meal
*Lemon in water
*Vinegar
*Celery
*Hot peppers (only if you can manage these)

The above ingredients are known to help in weight loss and increased metabolism, especially hot peppers. Those have helped me recently cut down to my weight goals.


Always make sure to keep hydrated at all times. Going into a dry sauna after a good work out is always a nice finish to the gym session too. Be mindful of your calorie intake and how much calories you lose each time. Just think, each day you work hard and burn 1,200 calories will be a step closer to your goal. Just know, that there are 3,500 calories that make up one whole pound.

If you have any more questions, please reply back and let me know. I would like to be in tune of your progress.

This post was edited by Welterweight on Jul 14 2013 05:11am

Can you give more examples of meal plans? or list some good snacks breakfasts, dinners, and lunches.

I start this Monday is my plan I will post my results though I am not too sure about the 235 goal as best shape of my life with high school basketball I was 260. I will aim for 235 though before I try to bulk up at all.

Thanks for the advice though. How often you want results?

Oh and any diet supplement you reccomend or none?

This post was edited by Ladd3r on Jul 14 2013 10:23am

Okay so I was simply surfing theough profiles etc and I came accross your fitnessthread and im extremely interested.Here are some specs185 lbsMax bench of 140 maybeCan run 1.5 miles in 9 and a half minutesNo knowledge of mma, however very interested in mma. I like the idea of speed endurance and good strength. Highest priority would to be healthy and extremely fit and cut.Ive tried to work out before. Ive gotten into some routines and I always fall out of it.Id really like to do this. I fel like if I have a professional enough routine and results I could really be willing to commit to it.Only thing is I work close to 60 hours a week.I love swimming and dont mind running.Thats pretty much it obviously if you have more questions ill be happy to answer them

Forget this post. I copied and pasted the personal message I sent you and for some reason it pasted like this.

So lemme rewrite what im trying to figure out.

Id like a scheduled workout so I can get bigger and cut, but not massive.

I want to be physically fit and in great health. Id like to be able to bench 2x my weight as well as run a mile in 5 minutes with ease.

Current info:

6 feet tall
190lbs
Normal build

Another thing to consider is I have work like 60 hours a week. So that has to be accounted for as well.

Id like to know some good diets to eat including which proteins and preworkout or meal replacements I could use.

Id pretty much like to stay my weight and switch fat for muscle haha

Alright well.. first of all, I'm around 5'11 136
I'm looking to gain weight, muscle weight. I have a gym membership and can afford a reasonable amount of food.
gaining weight has been hard for me, though I think I may be improving.

my diet is relatively healthy .. i will outline it -
breakfast: protein shake with ~5g of creatine + a clif energy bar
meal 2 some almonds for the fats, if still hungry i add in fruits and maybe a bowl of pasta
meal 3 a bowl of pasta (800-1000 calories)
meal 4 is what i kinda struggle with.. id like this to be steak every day but seeing as it expires in less than a week its hard to stock up on it as i cant go buy food so often.

i will also add a protein shake + (maybe) another 5g of creatine as a post workout, 2-3 days a week.

i drink a LOT of water and maybe a cup or two of milk a day
for personal problems, im really motivated and needing to gain weight (strength, muscle, tone for the attractiveness) and learning how to fight. hopefully you can help

Well basically what I provided was one example. You can break up your meals into 6 if you want to keep the metabolism going.

Good foods for breakfast or snack:
-Oatmeal (no sugar/add skim milk)
-Berries, Apples, Nectarines, Peaches, Watermelon
-Egg whites for added protein and minimal calories
-1 slice of toast whole wheat without butter
-Almonds (handful)
-Broccoli, Cauliflower, Carrots (not too many), Celery, Cabbage

Good foods for lunch/dinner:
-Lean chicken or turkey in a wrap for low carb/calories
-Grilled chicken salad
-Tuna
-Beans
-Water based soups; i.e. Chicken noodle (avoid high sodium)

If you would check back in every two weeks, I would like the results.

I do not recommend dietary supplements. They are not needed and your weight loss is manageable and possible. Doing it naturally will be most rewarding.

Let me know if you have any more questions regarding food. Just be mindful of not only what you eat, but also how much you eat also. Think; burn more calories (higher quality [low fats, carb, high protein]) and take in less calories altogether.

Lifting that much and running that fast IS possible. This will be difficult due to the limited time you'll be having to train and exercise.

As for diet, some examples of good foods are


This is how I did it when I weighed as much as you and trained heavy lifting:

Week 1 (High Reps/Low Weight): I worked out five days a week and did long distance running M/W/F while doing sprinting shorter distances on Tue/Thurs. Implement working on Chest/Back on Mondays; Biceps/Triceps on Tuesdays; Legs on Wednesday; Shoulders/Upper back on Thursdays; Biceps/Triceps/Legs on Fridays. Try to do 4 sets of 12 on everything; eventually work up to 20 reps per set if you can. You'll also want to work on core (abs, obliques, lumbar region) nearly every day also; sit ups, roman chair leg raises, medicine ball tosses, etc.

Week 2 (Lower Reps/Higher Weight): Same as above, but only with heavier weights. Higher protein intake this week. Some running, but more so lifting here; you'll want to do 3 sets of 6 with everything.

Week 3 (See Week 1)

Week 4 (Rest and repair week): Basically you can do a lighter version of Week 1 or 2. Focus on repairing your muscles, stretching, and drinking plenty of water.

Let me know with any more questions, as well as your progress of course. Focus on higher protein intake; Syntha-6 is a good protein powder that I used after my work outs for muscle repair. The consistent running will help maintain your weight also.

For muscle weight I will basically recommend the last person's schedule but will modify it heavily;

Week 1 (Lower Reps/Higher Weight): Implement working on Chest/Back on Mondays; Biceps/Triceps on Tuesdays; Legs on Wednesday; Shoulders/Upper back on Thursdays; Biceps/Triceps/Legs on Fridays. Try to do 3 sets of 6 on everything. Higher protein intake for this week. Take in 1.5 x your bodyweight in protein grams per day. Recommended Protein Powder: Syntha-6

Also, a mass gainer will help; ISOMass is good.

Week 2 (Higher Reps/Lower Weight): Same as above, but only with lighter weights. Some running helps too; you'll want to do 4 sets of 12-15 with everything.

Week 3 (See Week 1)

Week 4 (Rest and repair week): Basically you can do a slightly "easier" version of Week 1 and 3. Focus on repairing your muscles, stretching, and drinking plenty of water.

Week 5 (cycle out creatine and protein and proceed with work outs)

Week 6 (resume supplement intake again)

So, with creatine and protein intake as explained. Your creatine intake is fine. There are 3,500 calories that makes up a pound. If you can exceed that daily, you will put on mass. It is up to you with what you eat and how hard you train, how "clean" this mass gain will be. You'll want to avoid sugars and fats and keep it at a minimum. Realistically it is ok to treat yourself to something "unhealthy" but it should be maybe once a month. Now that we have the weight training in place, we'll talk about MMA training.

First, I want you to start off with the basics...which is using the heavy bag with handwraps and large gloves (preferably 12 oz is fine). Focus on your jabs, hooks and crosses. It's basic boxing technique but you need to get comfortable with yourself first before you can fully take on the knowledge of hand to hand combat.

Get familiar with your footwork (jump rope and plyometric box jumps are a huge help with footwork coordination); and once you are familiar with the basics, we can advance to more techniques. I also recommend at this time to look at nearby MMA gyms or Krav Maga training gyms if there are any nearby.

could you give me some ideas for some basic workout i can do it pretty much a normal gym? something i can do by myself without having to have someone else there?
meal plans

basically

long distance running as in run before and after each workout or run like 10 miles before or after a workout? what do you suggest?

Im pretty much wanting to write out a whole plan to follow verbadum so i know exactly what to do each day.

THANK YOU!

so each day which workouts would i do as well as recovering and such.

also what protein powders should i use? and should i be using preworkout as well or is that bad?

This post was edited by Bizarre_Candyman on Jul 17 2013 01:09am

Running before lifting always.

Basically the ideas for a work out would be broken down like this:

Monday: Chest/Back
Start off with a good stretch and run first of course.

I prefer incline bench press for the main chest lifting workout;
12 reps at 1 set.

alternate with wide lateral pull downs (machine) or wide gripped pull-ups with your body weight (or add weight to a belt and chain if you can do 12 reps easily)

You'll want to alternate between both workouts for 3-4 sets of 12. Increase weight if desired.
==========================================================
Next, you will move on to chest fly work outs (fly machine or dumbbell fly) and lateral pulls with the cable machine; you will alternate these like the other two workouts; you can also add in your ab workout.

For core, do as many ab movements as you can. Start with full sit ups, oblique turns with a medicine ball or oblique crunches, and lumbar back extensions with added weight. You can alternate these within the chest fly/pull workouts.

If you have a dry sauna at the gym, go there for about 15 minutes and get a good stretch.

This basically summarizes your Mondays; considering you ran a good distance in addition prior to the lifting, you'd have burned a lot of calories doing so. With this, you must replenish with a post-workout protein shake (Syntha-6 is good); since you want to keep your bodyweight the same, it's important to remember that you want to consume about 1g:1lb of protein to your bodyweight. In your case, 190g a day of protein. ALWAYS hydrate each day.

Tuesday: Biceps/Triceps
Again, alternate between barbell bicep curls and tricep pulldowns for 3-4 sets of 12
-Incorporate abs as explained before
Next, target a different angle; look up (hammer curls with dumbbell) for biceps and (french press) for triceps. Again for 3-4 sets of 12.

Wednesday: Legs/Core
Do 90 Degree Barbell squats 3-4 sets of 12, then move on to all leg machines; quads extensions alternate with hamstring curls, then move on to calf raises.
-Incorporate abs

Thursday: Shoulders/Back

-Same as Monday, but instead of Incline Bench/Chest flys, incorporate seated military press and dumbbell raises instead for the same reps.
-Core as before

Friday: Legs/Biceps/Triceps
Add a bit of Tuesday+Wednesday with core.

Weekend: You can do a 2 mile cardio flush if you feel like it, otherwise just rest.

Always keep hydrated, and make sure to take a post work out each day you're working out. Syntha-6 is a good post-workout; taken about 10 mins after a good workout after your lifting. Normally drink NO-Xplode 1-2g before workout (This will help with your energy level and muscle gain).

Let me know if you have any more questions; this is basically a write up of my lifting schedule from when I weighed 185 lbs+ and trained for running fast and increasing bench press maximum for 500lbs+