SHREDbyCROM™: 10 Week Battle Ready Nutrition Program Blog 1

by Nathan Aripez

This is my first blog entry for what I expect to be a great lifestyle change for myself. For those not familiar with me, my name is Nathan and I run MuayThaiAuthority.com. I love Muay Thai and Kickboxing and providing the best information available on the sport. I first started training Muay Thai when I was 20 years old, and now at 31 I am nowhere near the shape I was in back then. As the years go by the distance between myself and training becomes greater and so has my gut, life just gets in the way. I really noticed the change about 3 or 4 years ago when I stopped being active as my day job and website duties made it hard for me to get in the gym. 

Aside from not having time to train, I love to eat food and that has made things worse. I finally decided enough was enough and I reached out to Chris Romulo who had been contributing some great fitness and nutrition articles to Muay Thai Authority. We decided to do this blog with his SHREDbyCROM™: 10 Week Battle Ready Nutrition Program and use me as the subject. I looked at it as the perfect way for me to get back in shape and live a healthier lifestyle. Being that my journey would be documented; having people read my blog weekly would hold me accountable.

Chris and his team, Sarah Romulo and Marycatherine (MC) are great. Being that they are in New York and I am in California we had a phone conference where they explained how the entire program would work. They sent me a detailed guide structured for my first week on what I could eat and what workouts to do.

Week one started out rough, but I was prepared as they explained to me that the first few days would be hard because I was going to be taking in less carbohydrates than I was used to. I was the type of guy that got to the point of basically eating 3 things, burritos, cheeseburgers (with fries), and pizza. I decided I was focusing on sticking to the diet and not what I was eating so I made very basic meals for the week that I prepared in advance. I wasn’t thinking about how good the food tasted just making it past the week. 

I felt really tired the first 3 days from Monday to Wednesday because of this I was only able to work out one day. I tried to go to bed as early as possible so I would not be thinking about food. I was getting plenty of food but not the fatty greasy food that I was used to. It was lean meats and vegetables that I was eating now.

Thursday I started having a bit more energy and by the weekend I was feeling like a champion. I had been planning my earned meal all week. They don’t call it a cheat meal on this program because cheating is something you’re not supposed to be doing, an earn meal you achieve by being dedicated and working hard, and therefore you should not feel guilty. I was feeling so great on Saturday that when I got to the restaurant instead of ordering what I originally intended to order (which was a great huge sandwich at this restaurant called The Mill by my house) I opted for an omelet and some potatoes that were a normal portion size. I felt like I had done so well and I didn’t want one crazy meal to send things out of control. 

I ended the week strong with some exercise and was able to continue to eat well the rest of the weekend. I went shopping for the second weeks supplies after Chris sent me the updated plan for week 2, and I prepped everything at home on Sunday. What made the first week easier was the plan was simple. I am not nutrition expert and the plan laid out how it should work and I just stuck to it. If I had a question I messaged the CROM team and they would tell me if I could do or not do what I was thinking about. I have tried to do things like this before on my own and after a few days it is easy to fall off, but I know it is time for a change and with my mind set and the CROM team behind me I am more than 100% sure I will succeed. Now I am looking forward to the new exercises that the plan calls for and this week upcoming week I am actually trying to get creative with meals.

I started by weighing in at 243.4 LBS on Monday 11-16-2015 and when I weight in Monday 11-23-2015 my weight was at 232.6 LBS. The CROM teamed prepared me by informing me that the first week weight loss would be fast, but as you start getting leaner as the program goes by it will get a little harder as your body starts adapting. I am definitely pumped for week 2 after those week 1 results.

SHREDbyCROM™ Goal Tracker:

FEELING: Great! First few days were tough, but now I am more focused and determined after seeing the results.

WEEK 1 STARTING WEIGHT: 243.4 LBS

WEEK 1 ENDING WEIGHT: 232.6 LBS

WEIGHT LOSS FOR WEEK 1: 10.8 LBS

You can get the SHREDbyCROM™: 10 Week Battle Ready Nutrition Program at http://chrisromulo.com/nutrition/

CROM’s Corner: Finding Your “CORE 8”

by Chris Romulo

The history of the kettle bell dates back to the 1700’s, primarily used by Russian farmers to weigh crops.  Those same farmers eventually evolved in to using them to show off their strength at local festivals.  Today, kettle bells are the ultimate tool for any combat/martial athlete, if used efficiently. 

I believe there are 8 key athletic attributes that every fighter has to some degree: agility, balance, endurance, flexibility, power, speed, stability and strength.  Every individual has different capacities with each attribute.  As fighters, our goal is to exploit as many weaknesses in as many of those attributes in our opposition as possible in hopes of dominating in a convincing fashion.  At the same time, we want to enhance our own “CORE 8” to increase our physical abilities. 

The kettle bell is one of the best ways to change the game in your training.

As I started my amateur Muay Thai journey in the mid 90’s I was only versed in minimal strength & conditioning methods that I picked up on my own as a kid.  Pull ups, pushups, benching, and biceps curls were my staples.  They were sufficient enough at the time I suppose, but as always “you don’t know what you don’t know”.

After years of dead end jobs after high school, at 27 years old, I ventured in to the world of personal training.  This opened up a whole new world of training and well being for me.  It wasn’t until 2006 when I turned PRO as a Muay Thai fighter that I understood the importance of having a complete team around to help prepare me for battle.  I sought out a strength & conditioning coach who specialized in athletic performance and as it turns out, was responsible for my love of this ancient tool.  I will never forget my “ah ha” moment when I realized that this was the way EVERY fighter should train.  It was after a 5 round scrap with an ultra tough dude from Nebraska.  I hit him with everything but the kitchen sink for 5 rounds.  I dropped him a couple of times for a standing 8 count and carefully placed a shin to the side of his head, but he still kept coming!  I stayed composed and won the fight, but after those 5 rounds I felt something I’d never felt in my previous 20+ fights…..swollen and aching fists for days. 

I believe through working with the kettle bell in a dynamic and ballistic manner, it kept my arsenal of weapons a huge threat in that fight.  I felt my opposition was off balance and kept at bay due to the quality of my attacks and counters.  Alongside power development, I was in better shape to deliver a heavier assault.

A great kettle bell complex that you can add in to your training regimen is a combination of 4 basic movements:

•    Dead Snatch

•    Windmill

•    Hang Snatch

•    Front Squat

Check out this instructional video of 4 movements and follow along at the end to enhance your “CORE 8”.   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S-Gh6E_PnJ8

 *****Be sure to comment on what movements you would like to see in next week’s article!

Visit Shred by CROM on YouTube to receive a complete breakdown of each movement along with the full length work out to follow along with.

Chris Romulo is a retired Muay Thai champion, Muay Thai & Strength & Conditioning Coach, owner of CROM Physical Culture and Creator of SHREDbyCROM™. After a total of 32 years of trial and error through fitness, conditioning, martial arts, sports, and “play” Chris has taken what works, sculpted away what doesn’t and painted a different way to engage in Physical Culture.

Visit www.crompc.com for more info.

FB: Chris Romulo AKA CROM, IG: SHREDbyCROM

CROM’s Corner: Inside the Mind of a Nak Muay

by Chris Romulo

Do you have the right mindset to excel in Muay Thai?

Do you understand or even have a “why” for training?

Do you have a vision in your mind of where you want to go in your journey?

My motto, which is written on the wall of my gym, and has been a concrete thought for me since 2003 is “All it takes is heart”.  I do my best to pass this on to anyone and everyone I come across in a conscious or subconscious way.  Not just for fighting or training but in a lifestyle sense.  Not only for living with courage but also for living with love, passion, and spirit.  As Nak Muays I believe that we can all relate on this level.  None of us got involved in this sport/art to become millionaires.  What helped us find Muay Thai was a deep seeded desire for something different in our lives, to feed the unknown craving for a real sense of being, your “why”.  Without your “why” you will be lost, similarly to not having a GPS in this day and age.  Whether you rely on a GPS, map, or your own instincts, along your Muay Thai journey you will come across setbacks, challenges, stumbles or flat out failures.  Are you equipped with the right mindset to keep you moving forward when you are under a relentless attack from all angles?  Do you acknowledge your lessons learned as a true warrior or do you result to placing blame on people who have no control over your own thoughts and emotions?  Are you a “keyboard killa” with experiences of watching fights and not actually earning your battle scars in the arena while telling other people how it should be done?  If you have time to talk it’s because you have time to talk, put in your work and let your actions speak! 

A key mindset that I attempt to live by that might apply to you as well is “my actions speak so loud you can’t hear what I’m saying”.  Believe, accept and understand as a fighter, enthusiast or coach that disappointment will be a part of the process.  To think otherwise will only make getting through difficulty a much harder process.  This mindset will be a major tool in your Muay Thai path.  Through all of my injuries, losses, and life’s unexpected surprises, I took the time to go back to my “why”.  I believe my version of physical culture has been the number one factor in getting me through all of the major obstacles in my life.  In turn, my “why” is to help others understand that whatever interpretation of physical culture that you choose, it can and will be your main weapon in this fight of life.

**My version of Physical Culture is a lifestyle of dynamic thinking, eating and moving.

What I see for myself is being a practitioner of Muay Thai until the very end.  I fell in love with this art 20+ years ago and it has given me the life I never could have dreamed of.  I met my wife, who helped me raise my 1^st son at the height of my fight career.  We started a Muay Thai gym together in an old school little town where some people still mistake us as the karate people 7 years later ;-).  We added to our family with another son who has been growing up in our gym since 6 weeks old, starting his physical culture early.  Outside the gym I have faced many challenges such as being homeless with my family for 6 months after Hurricane Sandy destroyed our home and gym here in Rockaway Beach in 2012.  What kept me on the path was again, my fighting spirit that I honed through my career in the ring.  There are many things to be learned through the trials and tribulations through combat sports that will directly make life seem like a stroll in the park.

3 years post Sandy, having taken some solid shots to the chin, backed up in a corner, fighting off of the ropes, and taking a few standing 8 counts we have been blessed to be able to recover in the championship 5th round with a facility triple the size of what we lost in the storm, a membership which has quadrupled, and a community inspired to change their lives.  I am not writing any of this to impress you, my goal is to impress upon you in hopes you will take the time to answer the 3 questions we started with….

Do you have the right mindset to excel in Muay Thai?

Do you understand or even a have a “why” for training?

Do you have a vision in your mind of where you want to go in your journey?

Chris Romulo is a retired Muay Thai champion, Muay Thai & Strength & Conditioning Coach, owner of CROM Physical Culture and Creator of SHREDbyCROM™. After a total of 32 years of trial and error through fitness, conditioning, martial arts, sports, and “play” Chris has taken what works, sculpted away what doesn’t and painted a different way to engage in Physical Culture. Visit Shred by CROM on YouTube for free workouts and instructionals! 

Visit www.crompc.com for more info

FB: Chris Romulo AKA CROM, IG: SHREDbyCROM

CROM’s Corner: Muay Thai For Life

by Chris Romulo

I fell in love with the art of Muay Thai 20 years ago.  The way I was able to find the art was as violently effective as the sport itself.  As a young, lost soul with very little direction and aspirations in my life, I found myself in a street scrap that left me with a broken nose, fractured eye socket and a crushed ego.  Till this day I am grateful to have the ability to talk about the experience since I could have easily lost my life.  With a new appreciation for breathing I set out on a path to make sure I never came close to that kind of situation ever again!

I found Muay Thai in a Navy Seal hand-to-hand combat course on a full page ad in black belt magazine.  I scraped together some money, ordered the VHS box set and had it sent to my mom’s house, which is how my Muay Thai journey began over 20 years ago!

Through this entire journey what has kept me able to train and coach well after retiring from competition in 2011 has been my mobility/flexibility training.  This type of work is sometimes overlooked for various reasons.  For one, it may not be as exciting as landing a tricky round kick in sparring or making the heavy bag scream for mercy, however it is indeed necessary.  Throughout my career I diligently kept my recovery/stretching an important part of my fight camps.  Though I have dealt with some injuries and ailments my rehabilitation process was just as meticulous as my fight training.  The adage “Train hard, fight easy” sounds glorious and triumphant.  In my opinion “Train Smart” is a more desirable way to think.  I want to be able to train Muay Thai for a very long time and while ring fighting brought me lots of memories and accolades, I will always consider myself a “Muay Thai Lifer”.  I want to be known as a leader in the sport in one way or another and to accomplish that, it must be done by setting an example for our community.

One thing I learned that has always resonated with me is the concept “don’t train for a fight, train to fight”…on a daily basis that is.

I train my body in a variety of ways: skill training, strength & conditioning, and recovery.  This helps keep training exciting and prevents overuse injuries (IE: Baseball pitchers and shoulder issues) by keeping your body sharp in all ways.

One way I do this, and it will be beneficial for any Muay Thai practitioner is practical lower body mobility/strengthening exercises.  I developed what I call the “CROMwalk”.  It’s a combination of a lunge and a cossack squat performed while moving forward or in a stationary position.  Both these movements will enhance flexibility and strength in your hip flexors, hamstrings, quads, glutes and calves.  This is especially important for Muay Thai since these are most of your “kicking muscles”.

Perform the “CROMwalk” in a “pressure for time” manner to gain a cardiovascular benefit as well.  Balance all of your training between skill work, strength & conditioning, and recovery to make sure your Muay Thai journey lasts a lifetime.

#trainbecauseyourlifedependsonit

Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h2injVj4idI

Visit Shred by CROM on YouTube to receive a complete breakdown of each movement along with the full length work out to follow along with.

Chris Romulo is a retired Muay Thai champion, Muay Thai & Strength & Conditioning Coach, owner of CROM Physical Culture and Creator of SHREDbyCROM™. After a total of 32 years of trial and error through fitness, conditioning, martial arts, sports, and “play” Chris has taken what works, sculpted away what doesn’t and painted a different way to engage in Physical Culture.

Visit www.crompc.com for more info

FB: Chris Romulo AKA CROM, IG: SHREDbyCROM

CROM’s Corner: Developing One Shot Knock Out Power

by Chris Romulo

As we all know, the “one shot” knock out is the final word of a Muay Thai bout.  It is the pinnacle of any exchange where you render the opposition unable to continue their campaign.  As a newbie you watched highlight clips over and over again so you could analyze and cringe on the impact.When you first started training, whether you were hitting the bag, pads, or your fellow training partner, you were thinking“that what would have been a knock out in a fight”.  With the 8 weapons we have as Nak Muay’s, we can all imagine even one of those tools being able to stop our opponent dead in his/her tracks and not having your win or loss being decided by 3 people with differences of opinions.

So how do we ensure that you don’t leave the fight in the hands of the judges? In my 20 years of training, fighting and coaching, there is no sure fire way to stop your rival every time.  No matter how good you think your set-ups are, your feints that make every one flinch, or your look low/go high round kick that works like a charm in the gym… you need something else.  You want to have a few more tools in your bag to increase your chances of landing the “one-hitter quitter”.  These tools can be sharpened, not just on the heavy bags, pads and drills/sparring, but honed-in on with some extra-curricular work off of the mats.

Remember, “The harder you work, the luckier you get”!

Just like the 8 Limbs of Muay Thai, there are 8 attributes you want in order to enhance the possibility of landing that night ender!  Agility, balance, flexibility, endurance, power, speed, strength, and stability are going to get you where you want to be.  If you possess and sharpen all 8 of these attributes not only does it increase your ability to land the knock out shot, but it will increase your longevity in the sport.

Even though I don’t actively fight anymore, the preservation of my attributes over the last 20 years keeps enable me to train and learn on a daily basis.  As I turn 41 next month, I can safely say that I am a better athlete presently than I was when I first started training Muay Thai.  Back then I had age on my side, but now I train smarter and harder than the old me ever did.

Though there are multitudes of ways to enhance your 8 athletic attributes to make you a better Muay Thai fighter, I developed a movement that hitall 8like a sledgehammer!  Best of all you need no equipment as this move relies solely on bodyweight. I call it the CROMplex.  Whether you are a seasoned vet or a green newbie, the CROMplex will challenge any level of athleticism.  It consists of 4 dynamic bodyweight exercises performed one right after the other.  The CROMplex is best used as a burn out drill after a proper warm up and/or skill training.

-Knees to feet

-Reverse burpee (deck squat)

-Burpee

-Tuck jump

Start with 2 minutes on the clock, then repeat as many as you can with explosiveness, grace, and most of all controlled breathing.

Check out this video for a step by step CROMplex tutorial: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fgOZOuciEfc

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FOEYimu-SGQ

Visit Shred by CROM on YouTube to receive a complete breakdown of each movement along with the full length work out to follow along with.

Chris Romulo is a retired Muay Thai champion, Muay Thai & Strength & Conditioning Coach, owner of CROM Physical Culture and Creator of SHREDbyCROM™. After a total of 32 years of trial and error through fitness, conditioning, martial arts, sports, and “play” Chris has taken what works, sculpted away what doesn’t and painted a different way to engage in Physical Culture.

Visit www.crompc.com for more info

FB: Chris Romulo AKA CROM, IG: SHREDbyCROM

Essential Weight Cutting Tips For Muay Thai Athletes

by James Bee

A big mistake athletes make when going into a weight cut is over complicating things. 

They get so much advice from different people and end up being lost with no real starting point. Most of them end up with information overload. Coaches do it too. They pile on so much information people get overwhelmed and confused. I know I've been guilty of doing that in the past. 

I used to be so excited to talk about nutrition and cutting I didn’t realize there is stuff I need to know as a coach and stuff they need to know as the client. Although science talk and reciting your technical jargon may sound impressive, it wont actually help them cut weight. 

Over time I realized the more direct and simplified a client’s instructions are, the higher the success rate will be. So nowadays, when I talk to an athlete/client about where to start I just stick to these essentials:

Clean out your fridge

First thing's first. Do yourself a favor and clean out any junk foods from your fridge. This will reduce the temptation to snack on rubbish. Fill your fridge with fruits, unprocessed meats and vegetables. You can use this athlete’s grocery list as a good place to start. You don’t need to have everything on the list but get the things you like or haven’t tried before.

Drink more water

How much water are you drinking? This is a good sign of where your priorities lay. Each day you should aim to be drinking around 3-4ltr no matter what weight you are. When it comes time to cut water weight having a higher water intake will increase your water losses. Use a drink bottle so you can keep track. This is a big one.

Reduce calories (but not too much)

Lets not get too stuck on this point, but it's good to know about calories. What you need to know is this: it's important to drop calories early in the cut to start burning fat. For most it's a fine balance between eating enough to make it through training while having calories low enough to lose weight. Remembering there are adverse effects dropping your calories too low. For example; Drop your calories too much and your likely to also lose muscle and strength. I recommend lowering your calories to 10-12 x body weight in lbs. For most who are training hard this will be a safe way to lose weight. Every athlete needs to test this out for themselves to see what works for them.

Increase vegetable intake.

Even though this is one of the most effective steps, people still don't like to hear it. Increasing veggies will help keep you feeling full for longer and give you essential fiber which all helps with cutting weight. Another point to raise is when burning fat, the body releases toxins stored in fat. This is why it's important to load the body with plenty of free radical absorbing antioxidants.

Take fish oil 

If your someone who doesn't get much fish in your diet (like me), one of the best things you can do while cutting weight is taking a liquid fish oil. Evidence tells us the omega 3's in fish oil can slow fat production and improve insulin sensitivity. This creates a far better environment for the body to lose fat. There are so many other benefits to fish oil like reducing inflammation its silly not to take it. You need higher dosage for it to be effective so that’s why I always recommend liquid fish oil because it's concentrated. Take 1tbsp. per day is better than downing 20 capsules each day.

Eat nutrient dense foods you actually like

Finding foods you actually like which are still healthy is the secret to diet adherence. Find healthy foods that work for you and your taste buds, you gotta enjoy the food journey or it won’t last. To eat healthy, don’t be always thinking you NEED to eat kale and coconut oil just because it’s popular or "supposed" to be healthy. Trust me there’s so much out there to choose from. Not sure where to start? Download a free list here. 

Eat the majority of daily carbs at night

People always ask me when is the best time to eat carbs. I know most of you have been told if you want to lose weight avoid carbs after 3pm, but let me tell you this is a myth. A 2011 study published on PubMed indicates that eating carbs at night can increase metabolic response and greater hormonal change actually helping with weight loss. Consuming carbohydrates during and around training (before or after) will also help cut weight. 

Mentally prepare yourself for water cutting

It’s probably the most underrated secret in cutting weight and life period is being positive. If you have even a crumb of doubt and negativity in your mind going into a cut it will fester. If you have a mindset like "Oh this is going to suck" then it will every time. Next time you’re going into a cut, remember that being in a positive state of mind will take you a long way. And IMO this is a BIG secret to cutting weight.

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James Bee is a writer, a consultant and nutrition coach to professional combat athletes. If you would like to learn tips, tricks, and awesome information for fighters and like-minded athletes, check out his Facebook page. You can also download his brand new 8 week cutting guide Here.

3 Things Muay Thai Athletes Should Do Every Day To Reduce Stress

by James Bee

For the fighter, there are many aspects to consider when it comes to maximizing your training efforts such as diet and supplements. But if I had to talk about 1 subject most Muay Thai athletes overlook it would be the effects stress can be having on their performance and general well being. 

When you first get into Muay Thai training it can relieve stress. But when you begin to fight it can become stressful. Dealing with training 5-6 days per week while working a full time job, running a household and whatever else life throws at you adds a lot of pressure to your game. Add cutting weight or injuries on top of all this and it’s pretty damn intense. So that’s why stress levels are something that needs to be minimised. 

In this post I’ve listed 3 important things I feel Muay Thai athletes should be practicing each day in order to combat stress…

Which of these things will you start doing?

What type of athletes are you? Do you leave no stone unturned? In my experience, the athletes who are more proactive about their health and wellbeing are headed for great things. Take some interest in these 3 areas and it will pay dividends to your stress levels, essentially resulting in better performance. 

Meditation - Diaphragmatic breathing 

One thing fighters should be doing each day is meditation or diaphragmatic breathing to reduce stress and increase wellbeing. Dysfunctional breathing patterns can really affect your performance. It can mess with your sleeping patterns, increase stress and affect important systems in the body like hormone production and immune function. This can also impact negatively on fat loss. There is evidence showing diaphragmatic breathing reduces stress, depression and anxiety. Diaphragmatic breathing helps the athlete by decreasing cortisol and increasing melatonin which helps your sleep and wake cycles. Watch this video and give it a try, you will instantly feel the difference. 

Preparing food ahead of time

What has preparing food got to do with stress? Well for people trying to lose weight, diet alone can be stressful if you’re not organised. We all know how it feels to come home from training and you then need to cook a meal, the hunger its self can be stressful. Studies tell us that consuming a meal without the burden of choosing has potential to reduce that stress. Food prepping won’t only reduce stress; it will save you money and improve your health. If you’re not sure how to start prepping food, this post is a good start. And if you’re still not sure exactly which meats, vegetables, fruits, fats and carbohydrate sources are best to optimize your martial arts training, Download your FREE Muay Thai athletes grocery list HERE.

Get a good night sleep

There is plenty of evidence that tells us that sleep deprivation and performance don’t mix well. Whether it’s a busy lifestyle, kids, or competition on the brain keeping you awake at night, science tells us that sleep deprivation can affect your stress levels and impact on performance. There is also evidence that suggests sleep deprivation can slow or stall fat loss, affect hormone production, and promote immune system dysfunction. So it’s in athlete’s best interest to ensure adequate sleep. How much sleep is enough? This recent research review suggests between 7-8 hours each night is a must. To get a better sleep, I picked up a helpful tip from author Tim Ferriss. It’s called the half military crawl position. Tim says this is a technique which the Inuits and other cultures have used is to prevent infants from moving, which calms them – resulting in a better sleep. 

Stress reduction summary: 

1. Practice diaphragmatic breathing

2. Get organised by prepping food

3. Get a good night’s sleep 

James Bee is an Aussie fitness and nutrition coach who specializes in weight cut management for pro Muay Thai fighters. If you would like to learn tips, tricks, and awesome information for fighters and like-minded athletes, check out his website JB Fitness Systems and follow his Facebook page. You can also download his brand new 8 week cutting guide Here.

4 Super Foods to Increase Your Training Performance

Super foods get their name from being some of the most nutrient dense foods on the planet. That means the nutrient to calorie ratio is well in favour of nutrients. As a result of consuming more of these foods you’ll be getting more nutrients with fewer calories, which in turn means a leaner body, better training performance and optimal recovery. 

In this article I’m going to list 4 top superfood types to increase your training performance.

High Quality Organic, Grass Fed Beef 

You don’t HAVE to eat meat to be a better athlete – but if you do, I’m a true believer in quality matters. That’s why when I buy beef it’s organic and grass fed. Unlike its farmed grain fed counterparts who are stuck in feed lots all day eating grains, getting fat, being injected with hormones and anti-biotics, organic grass fed beef means the animal spent most of its life roaming free grazing on pesticide free grass and shrubs and is in its natural state. Because of this, organic grass fed beef is lower in total fat, higher in vitamins and minerals, higher in healthy fats, CLA, and lower in the saturated fats linked with heart disease. 

Cruciferous Vegetables 

Your Mom was dead right when she told you to eat your veggies. But here’s what your Mom never told you: Studies tell us that eating more cruciferous vegetables helps protect cells from DNA damage, helps inactivate carcinogens, has an anti-bacterial effects, anti-inflammation effects and that’s just the beginning. Veggies like Cauliflower, Broccoli, Kale, and Bok Choi are an incredible superfood but if you hate eating vegetables, a good way to get your daily dose is just by adding in a little bit here in there. For example; add some small bits of Kale into your omelette – you’ll hardly notice it. 

Berries 

When I eat them I instantly feel awesome. There is a growing body of data supporting positive effects of berry consumption in humans. Research tells us consuming things like chokeberries, cranberries, blueberries, raspberries and strawberries (either fresh, or as juice, or freeze-dried) showcases significant improvements in human health such as cardio vascular disease and also dramatically reducing inflammation. For these reasons (plus many others) they are labelled a superfood and should be an essential fruit group for hard working athletes. There are loads of ways you can get more berries in your diet like throwing a handful in your post workout shake, or my favourite; adding mixed berries on my morning oatmeal. 

Healthy Fats

When I think about what are the best healthy fats, first things that come to mind are Wild Salmon, Grass fed beef, whole eggs, olive oil (extra virgin), coconut oil, nuts, avocados, and nut butters. But the list doesn’t end there. What do fatty acids do? Well they have certain key roles in the body. They provide the structure of our plasma membranes, they help regulate hormone function, reduce inflammation and they help transport certain vitamins and minerals in the body. 

In plain English: They help you produce energy better, think clearer, recover faster and keep your body from making fat. There’s a few simple ways to get more healthy fats in your diet:

1. Add a tbsp. of peanut butter or coconut oil to your protein shakes

2. Consume fatty fish like Salmon or take a fish oil supplement. 

3. Drizzle some extra virgin olive oil on salads or over veggies. 

4. Eat whole eggs instead of just egg whites. 

5. Eat grass fed beef 

If you’re not sure exactly which meats, vegetables, fruits, fats and carbohydrate sources are best to optimize your martial arts training, Download my FREE Muay Thai athletes grocery list HERE.

Until next time,

JB

James Bee is an Aussie fitness and nutrition coach who specializes in weight cut management for pro Muay Thai fighters. If you would like to learn tips, tricks, and awesome information for fighters and like-minded athletes, check out his website JB Fitness Systems and follow his Facebook page. You can also download his brand new 8 week cutting guide Here.

Health and Nutrition: Supplements for Fighters

By Roxy Richardson FDN, CMTA

We all want to maximize our time in the gym. It doesn’t matter if you are a fighter or a weekend warrior; training for optimum performance and desired body composition is always a top priority. We also know that Muay Thai and martial arts training is some of the most intense demanding exercise you can do, so treating your body right means you can train longer, workout harder and hopefully get better results. I’ve been training in Muay Thai and MMA gyms for almost 10 years now and I see plenty of people, even non-fighters putting in some serious time training time, 10-15 hours a week sometimes. Is it possible for your body to recover and perform well while meeting goals with that intensity and volume without supplementation? How much does supplementation help and what are the long-term effects, if any? In this article I will address some of the main issues surrounding supplementation and also give guidelines for smart supplementation.