Nutrition Should Be An Important Component Of Your MMA Program

By Nolan Barias


While serious mixed martial artists spend hours each day in the gym working on everything from Jiu-Jitsu to boxing to strength training, exercise is not the only important factor in becoming a great athlete. The better you treat your body, the stronger and more mentally focused you will become.

One tip that should always be remembered is that you should never skip breakfast. Providing your body with a healthy mix of foods will give you a huge burst of energy in the mornings. Consider a protein-rich egg white omelet combined with a bowl of oatmeal or a smoothie that contains a mix of fresh fruits, hemp protein and almond milk. Add a scoop of natural, organic peanut butter or nut butter for extra protein and taste.

Fighters burn a lot of calories, so eating a good amount of complex carbohydrates is imperative. This type of carb provides quick energy, but whatever energy you don't use is stored in your liver and muscles for later use. This is not true of simple carbs, such as processed white bread and sugary drinks, which provide energy that is burned very quickly and then it is gone. So that so-called "sugar crash" you sometimes feel is the energy seeping out of your body. Eat complex carbs and you won't have those crashes.

There are many options for adding healthy, complex carbs to your diet. Whole grains such as oats, wild rice, brown rice and buckwheat are high in complex carbs. If you love pasta, opt for the whole grain or whole wheat pastas and you will be making better carb choices. Apricots, plums, pears and oranges are among several fruits with complex carbohydrates. When it comes to vegetables, most of them are full of complex carbs so feel free to eat a wide variety of vegetables.

Vegetables are other solid sources of complex carbohydrates, and in general, you can pretty much eat all the vegetables you want. Most are low in calories and low in sugar, but high in vitamins and minerals. Fruits lean more toward simple carbs, but these are much healthier than processed simple carbs. Eating oranges, plums, grapefruit and other more complex fruits is always a good idea.

Figuring out your daily calorie needs includes many factors, including your height and current weight, your weight goals and how many hours you work out. Your needs change coming up to a fight and then shift after the fight. Working with a trained dietician can help you make the best possible food choices.

While you can certainly enjoy a little bit of junk food from time to time, keep in mind that heavily processed foods have little to no nutritional value. So every time you put junk in your body, its ability to perform and heal is diminished.




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