Training help needed

[Schwobe301]

I need some training advice. i weigh about 160 and need to drop to 155, id like to fight in the light weight class. I would like to do so while also not losing any strength/muscle or at the same time maybe gaining muscle. I'm kind of at a dilemma, i ran cross country and distance track and wrestled for 7 years. My body fat isnt all that high but definately not where i want it to be. Anyone have any ideas on how to lose the fat but in return become stronger at a lower weight? I run 4 miles bike 10 and swim 1 5 days out of the week. I try to rotate what muscles im working on every other day. thanks

 

[Nolerama]

How long have you been training in MMA? Maybe your "walking weight" might be the right place for you to be as a fighter.

Is there any particular reason you want to fight in that weight class?

 

[Schwobe301]

I've been training for 5 months, ever since my last year of track ended. I just always pictured light weight classes as the faster paced fights but then again this is mma and there really is no slow fighting. walking weight?

 

[Nolerama]

"Walking weight" is the weight you generally stay at when you're not trying to cut/gain weight.

However, there's nothing against being a faster fighter in the heavier ranks. I think that's very important and will increase in importance as the sport progresses. The face of MMA is always changing. We're going to start seeing a lot more speed in the near future. If you look at UFC heavyweights a few years ago and compare them to UFC heavyweights today, you'll see a huge difference.

Good luck in whatever you choose. If you really want to cut that weight down, dropping 5 pounds isn't a whole lot to lose. If you really want to kill yourself, you can sweat it out in a steam room. But you could also change your diet.

Your perspective a year from now will be entirely different. You might choose a different specialization in MMA, and might need to bulk up. Or your conditioning while doing MMA will increase your weight. I suggest that your weight right now is the least of your concern, and that you should work on technique and mechanics instead.

My $.02

 

[Schwobe301]

Thanks u raise some good points, i have a lot of training and techniques to practice so it will be a whole different ball game next year. Thanks again

 

[SA_BJJ]

Question...you wrestled for 7 years and dont know what walking weight is or cutting weight? Weird.

 

[Tez3]

If you are considering MMA as a professional fighter or fighting professional rules you need some good personalised advice with weight etc. I have a mate ( a pro fighter as well as a trainer) who does this, it'll cost you (not much for what you get out of it though) could save your health and career though. worth contacting him to see what he thinks at any rate, tell him I sent you lol!

http://www.ianbutlin.com/

 

[Nomad]

It sounds like you already do a lot of exercise. Cut your calories. Cutting 300-500 calories a day (mostly from fat if possible, since they give the most calories/gram) is not terribly difficult for a short time, and should lead to the loss of ~1 lb/week.

If you aren't already doing it, try to eat 5-6 small "meals" a day rather than three big ones. This keeps your metabolism high, and avoids the "I'm starving" pig-outs.

You might also want to change your workouts up a bit... try doing high-intensity interval training (for instance, instead of running 5 miles on a treadmill at 6 mph, do 1 min intervals between 9 mph and 6 mph... for 10-15 minutes). You can do similar things with workouts on the bag (high intensity, shorter time), shadowboxing, swimming... anything you enjoy doing.

If you aren't doing it already... start weight training. More muscle mass means you burn more calories (even while resting).

These worked wonders for me, and I had a LOT more than 5 lbs to lose. Good luck with the holidays right around the corner!