How to Make it Through Your First 30 Days of Training MMA, BJJ or Muay Thai.
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How to Make it Through Your First 30 Days of Training MMA, BJJ or Muay Thai.
Article by pro MMA Fighter and expert instructor, Alan Belcher.
Many people fail when they first try MMA, Muay Thai, or BJJ. But the solution to this problem is easier than you may think.
Have you ever started a diet and the first couple days go great… then suddenly you completely give up because you’re starving, and craving every bad food under the sun?
Or worse, you start your first day of the diet strong. So strong in fact that you eat half the calories you’re used to, only to find yourself rippin’ apart the pantry looking for those Oreo cookies.
The similarities in this scenario and starting a new training regimen is not that you begin to cheat… but that you start at a pace that is impossible to continue. This level of training, or eating, may take months or even years to achieve.
See, training, like eating healthy, shouldn’t be thought of as a full speed crash diet. It’s a lifestyle.
I’m guessing you want to train either Mma, Bjj/grappling, or kickboxing forever. Am
I right?
The only way to do tthis is to pace yourself and make it your lifestyle.
Start off with 2 days a week, at minimum, for your first week or two. Giving yourself more rest will allow your body and mind to progress much faster. Even with only one day of training your first week, you will still be very sore. Many new tendons and areas of your core are working!
MMA style training is a total core, strength, and power workout. And of corse the endurance and cardio vascular benefits are like no other workout.
Later you can work up to 3 days a week or more. Even as a high level competitor I only do 3 hard MMA training sessions a week and take the weekend off. The rest of my training is strength training and light technique drilling.
Also, stretch!! Make sure you finish your workout with a nice stretch. This will prevent some soreness and tightness in the muscles.
To make it through your first 30 days you will also need to eat for recovery. I’m going to keep it very simple:
- Junk food and drinks will only prolong your soreness. So throw out the soda and sweets.
- Drink plenty of water to help flush out the lactic acid in your muscles.
- Make sure you eat plenty of lean protein to rebuild the muscles you have broke down.
- Carbs not sugar also help to recover and rebuild. Stick with fruits and veggies and you can’t go wrong. We know fruits have carbs but some veggies like sweet potatoes, broccoli and carrots are packed with carbs and nutrients that will help you recover.
- Fat will be the third and equally important ingredient. Not fat from grease, and cheeseburgers but foods high in good fat like avocados and almonds.
Bonus Tip:
One final way to help combat soreness is massage. But before you scream ” too expensive” take a look at these simple cheap ways you can get the soreness out.
1. Hot shower with self massage on sore areas.
2. Use a foam roller to roll out those tender spots.
3. Laying and rolling on A tennis ball can help get in those hard to reach places.
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3 Responses to “How to Make it Through Your First 30 Days of Training MMA, BJJ or Muay Thai.”
mat on October 4, 2012
great stuff. basic and important.
don’t overdo things!!!!!!!!!!
Cody Pierce on October 4, 2012
A tennis ball? Never would have thought about that. Do you still offer the first month free and $100 after that if someone brings in a ticket from one of the atlas cage fights?
AresDomination on October 4, 2012
I think you meant 2 days a week *maximum* not minimum.
People may be surprised by your training regimen. But Cardio can be a facet of every workout depending on the pace and how much weight you’re moving. So even if you’re justing moving you’re body weight, it can be a cardio workout. I wonder why some people think you have to do heavy pure cardio 5-6 times a week?
Foam roller is a great idea. Alot of people use it for warming up but I prefer using it post-workout.