MMA and other good stuff!

First of all, I have a lot on my heart so I hope you'll enjoy this post, in a sensual way. No, really.

So yeah, MMA today was effing brilliant (as always). New guy joined, he's got a lot of BJJ experience so it's good to grapple with him. Improvements, improvements... I'm getting better at the kipup, I'm more flexible every week (feels good being flexible, you can do weird ninja stuff). And I got a slightly swollen lip, battle scars baby. Ok not really. But eyebrow cuts are cool.

And on to the next topic. Fitness. Training, weight lifting, cardio, nutrtition, you name it! The sad thing is that so many people are doing it wrong!

Every time I'm at the gym I see a variety of people, I'll break it down for you;

• 1. Teenage boys who go straight to the bench press, no warmup whatsoever. 12319 reps later they go and do an average of 8271 situps (yes, I've kept statistics). And to finnish it all off they do barbell curls. I'm not blaming them though, they are influenced by fitness magazines and stuff; they just don't have the knowledge. "Big" arms, pecs and chicken legs. No, no.

• 2. Women (all ages) and older men who do cardio for about 8 hours and then do various machines sloppily for as long as they can keep their interest up. BUT CARDIO WILL BURN TEH FATZ, RITE?

• Keep in mind, I'm not hating on the two above groups. It's still better than doing nothing (bad mentality btw).

• 3. Men who do the real deal. Compound movements, squats, deadlifts, dips, chinups and all that good stuff. And the trend is? They are all big and strong. On rare occasion you see women do this too; they're mostly middle-age and extremely fit.

Okay, so let's say you identify yourself with one of the upper groups; don't panic! Danix is here to help you.

The first factor you need to change is INFORMATION. You have to know what's effective and what's not. What's a myth and vice versa.

Here's some really basic stuff (don't worry I'll post some good links at the end of the post).

• Calories in vs calories out. If you take in more calories than you burn, you're going to gain size. If you spend more calories than you take in, you're going to lose size. And if you take in as much as you spend, you're going to maintain size. Men or women. Old or young. Doesn't matter, it's pretty simple.

Okay, so you might be thinking "Okay, great I'll just starve myself with a 300kcal/day diet. Then I'll lose those extra kilos, right?" (girls)

No. Starving is not an option. Your metabolism slows down because the body is going ""Wtf is happening, why am I not getting energy?!". The body is then going to eat muscle first, it's trying to save the fat, because it's thats where the energy is. And then when you start eating normally again the metabolism is slowed down, so you'll be burning less calories than before! Point being: DON'T starve yourself, it'll only lead to an eating disorder. Okay that was a depressing section.

So now we know that starving youself is bad, but how can you lose size the right way? Or gain size, lads.

Step 1 - The diet (aka. what you eat):
 Eat healthy (healthy doesn't equal minimal amounts of food). Amount of calories according to own goal (lose, gain, maintain). Eating decides size, training decides how much of that is muscle/fat, or for size loss how much muscle you're going to get/maintain.

Step 2 - Cardio and weight training:
Okay so here's where people fail. Here's the secret guys. Whatever your goal is. If you're a girl who want's to lose weight or get "toned". If you're a guy who wants to gain size. Whatever your goal is; do both cardio and weight training. Okay, okay hold on. Real weight training, not machines. Do compound lifts, with heavy (heavy is a relative term) weights. Low sets, low reps. 3 sets 5 reps is the most common. To repeat; compound movements are the squat, deadlift, overhand press, bench press, chinups and such. Movements where you use many joints and muscles. Machines only train one joint/muscle at a time. Compound lifts with free weights is going to give you much more overall lean muscle.

To keep progressing always put in more effort than the last time; the body won't adapt doing the same thing over and over. That means: more weight/a couple of more reps every time possible. Remember to rest in between the sets; 2-3 minutes should do. Limit your workout to a couple of lifts only, eg. Squat - Bench - Chinup, Squat - Overhead press - Dips or similar. Overtraining is bad.

Also, lifting burns a lot of calories.

Girls, you might be skeptical now. But think like this: Do you want to be thin and bony, or slim and fit?

vs.


















For the lads it's more obvious; men want muscle. Lift weights. Same as above, just trying to get the girls to open their eyes.


For women: No, weight lifting isn't going to make you a manly russian bodybuilder. You won't pack on muscle like that. It's not easy for men, let alone women. You'll get toned. That's right, cardio doesn't get you toned that way, heavy lifting does.

In conclusion: Whatever your goals are, mix cardio and effective weight lifting up. Split it up, 2 days cardio, 3 days weight lifting or similar. Remember to have days off.


Here are some links everyone should visit:

http://www.liamrosen.com/fitness.html

http://newbie-fitness.blogspot.com/2006/11/why-weight-machines-are-bad-for-almost.html

http://www.t-nation.com/free_online_article/sports_body_training_performance/dieting_disasters;jsessionid=B3AF3C815AB2FB4C960E4741BB9A6ACE-mcd02.hydra


Edit (3.4.2011): Weight machines are not the devil, it's just that compound lifts with free weights are superior. If you're a little confused about this whole "compound lift", take a look at this: Compound exercises. To get started with these you should watch videos of people doing them; and start with low weights and keep good form. That means: start with the bar only, add weights slowly.

Edit2:  Incase anybody's wondering about abs;

- Crunches/situps are useless (no, really, they are useless)
- Abs are made in the kitchen (diet). Situps won't burn the fat off your stomach , and btw you can't spot reduce fat. Strong/big abdominal muscles come from heavy lifts, along with all the other benefits.

Edit3: Diet = what you eat daily (not like diet in swedish).