 Our next caller is Jake from Ohio. Hey, what's up, Jake? How can we help you? Hey guys So I'll just get right into it I am a mixed martial artist That's a term pro here. I Fight at 145 Yet, I walk around about 180 pounds So it's a pretty big Pretty big cut My only issue is is so like During the, you know, off-season. There's never off-season, but when I'm not in fight camp I'm always trying to build up muscle and get stronger because that is When I have lost before I feel it's usually I'm getting Yeah, it's more on a physicality kind of standpoint So my question is is is how to gain You know, you know good strength Without gaining too much weight Which I know it's usually, you know, it's not about it's not about the weight But in my case I have to make a certain weight and then Once I do start fight camp not to lose that muscle So we had this body scanner thing at this gym I have or that I go to and my last fight camp from the day I started fight camp to The day before weigh-ins I lost nine pounds of muscle Right, so that's where I'm kind of at right now That's pretty that's actually pretty common and typical in your situation for sure. Who would you guys say the? George St. Pierre Conor McGregor who's pretty good at this as far as Maintaining their weight relatively close to their their fighting weight So this doesn't happen because this is very typical of a fighter who puts on 20 30 sometimes 40 pounds in the offseason and then when they go to cut for a show They lose a significant amount of money, but and by the way, that's inevitable if that if you if you put on that much weight In compared to what you fight at it's it would be impossible to lose 20 30 pounds and not lose some muscle along the way Yeah, so the strategy is this well first off Jake How much of that weight are you cutting right before? the fight in other words, you know, I know there's a certain amount of weight that you're probably cutting through You know water manipulation and and you know using the sauna So when you before you start doing that kind of a cut which typically has done the day before or two days before What is your weight at? so my goal if it's gonna be what I call an easy cut there's no such things an easy cut but If I can be 10 pounds Above weight the week of the fight so that Monday before the fight. I'm pretty happy Okay, so then we'll cut 10 pounds of water usually okay sometimes it ends up being more sometimes it's less So the key to this is so this is different for you than I would be, you know This is different advice. I'll give you then I would give someone else The key unless you you want to move up in a weight class the key is to stay as close to your fighting weight year-round as possible now I know what we think is we could bulk up and Then cut down and then end up with that more muscle But really what happens is that process of cutting is Really how you'll start to feel weaker if you are close to the weight I think you kind of already experienced that like you said if you can walk if you could be a week out and be 10 Pounds above then you feel best your best bet is to not let your weight go up to 180 pounds At all I wouldn't let my weight go up above 165 pounds, you know, this is common with bodybuilders to yes, so in the bodybuilding space This is a common mistake that I would see happen where guys in the offseason they put on so much weight Trying to you know add add muscle every show and it's like and then they would cut and then they end up Right back to where they started or maybe one pound of muscle more But they put on 30 pounds in the offseason to get there and that's such a dramatic shift just for one pound of muscle They would have been far better off Maintaining their body weight five ten pounds close to what their show weight is and the same thing I would I would say with like some fighters is they put on such an extreme amount of weight It actually ends up hurting them more than it ends up helping them Yeah, totally I would I would stay as close to your fighting weight as probably within 15 to 20 pounds is what I would do before you start to get ready for your fight or Decide to move up in a weight class now as far as training is concerned You know traditional resistance training explosive movements compound lifts That's all the same if I if I were to advise you versus, you know Somebody who wants to gain muscle or gain weight. It would be the same. It's really a function of your nutrition Now there is one thing you can focus on that Would that could improve the strength as it translates in the ring And that is to improve your functional mobility. So what that means is and I'm sure you've experienced this Jake where You know, you're trained with the guy in the gym You're lifting weights and they're just way stronger than you but then when you guys Get on the mat yours for whatever your strength just Yeah, okay, so so there's a couple ways a couple reasons for that one is technique and leverage which is your training I'm sure all the time with your jiu-jitsu and your you know, your Muay Thai and all that stuff But the other thing is this functional mobility, right? So do you have longer ranges of motion that you own? So somebody for example who could Lift, you know dead lift 300 pounds. They would be stronger Usually would be stronger on the mat than someone who could dead lift 300 pounds if they had better mobility and connection to longer ranges of motion because now they could express that strength in All the different weird awkward positions that end up in a fight Yes, obviously that goes right into what I was gonna bring up with in range strength and isometrics You know and something that you can you can definitely in prove The generation of force and you don't have to put on a lot of mass to do that. That's very central nervous system based So, you know, if you kind of gear your training a little bit more around what Sal's talking about But also then adding load to that. So some of these positions, you know If you can find kettle bells or you know something that's a little more versatile in terms of like loading these type of end range of You know in ranges then you're gonna be able to increase that strength. Oh, yeah Well, my question was if you I want to know if you had maps prime pro because I feel like That would be the perfect thing that you could utilize Yeah, so My so just to back up for a second. My coach is actually because I feel better At this like at like walk around like 175 to 180 like I feel obviously stronger. I feel healthier like I get injured less So my coach is actually wanting me to drop to or go up to 155 for my fights But that's what I've I've maps. I bought that bundle was it was anabolic maps prime pro and maps prime and I've been using that because there's only so much time in the day To you know, do my skill training do my strength training and obviously and I work as well in law enforcement. So Like being able to lift, you know, two sometimes three times a week has been a lot More beneficial and I've gained a ton of strength. I'm about to start my second phase now. This next call in week Awesome. Yeah, you're your best exercises are dead lifts presses rows and then like windmills Turkish get-ups and then I would do maps prime pro stuff Every single day because like I said, you could not gain any strength on your compound lifts just gain Functional mobility and connection to longer ranges of motion and better control like Justin said isometrics. That's your best friend I really is. I mean if you can, you know, there's of course explosive strength and strength that you can You know apply with lots of force, but then there's the kind of strength that just lasts, you know If you've ever grappled with a really good Jiu-jitsu guy or Greco guy, and you know if they get a hold of you It's like an anaconda. Yes so I would do maps prime pro like just do that often and Improve on that and you don't have to gain any muscle to get Stronger in the ring if you get better functional mobility and the calories To support that you don't have to go. I mean in this back to kind of comparing this to the bodybuilders You don't have to eat in that much of a surplus to to get stronger in these It's like I mean you're literally just a little bit above maintenance. In fact My goal for you would be to you know, can I slowly? Increase calories and not actually put that much weight on the scale So I'd actually kind of try and maintain my weight so long as I'm getting stronger, right? If I if I'm getting stronger in the gym More than likely you're either one you're you're training the isometrics and you're and that strength is going up or you? You are building muscle, you know, even just because the scale isn't going up 5 10 15 20 pounds Doesn't necessarily mean that we are not getting stronger. We're not building muscle in the gym Yeah Unrelated but yeah, my wife is she just came off a bikini show. So that's what she's They do like they're just like slowly adding calories back to into her nutrition. Nice right now Yeah, well, I appreciate it guys. Yeah, good deal. And you know, are you in our forum? I? I don't think so. I don't know I might be all right. Well, if you're not Jake, we'll get you in there for free because there's some other MMA you know fighters in there and people that have some experience and it's cool to share experiences and get some insight So you might get some advice in the forum that would help. So we'll get you a free access in there Appreciate it. Thank you guys. Go keep some ass man Yeah, thanks What a challenge right like Justin you're you're a football guy and oftentimes in football you want size You want oh, you're always trying to gain. Yeah, you're trying to gain more mass because it's it's very It's very much like how much ground can you acquire? So, you know mass has been official in that arena But in wrestling and MMA, you know, these weight cuts are really challenging because you lose that weight And then you're trying to gain it back, you know after your weigh-ins and you just feel fatigued and weak Yeah, have you guys ever well? I know Adam because of your shows you've had to cut real lean and come down I mean, are you like you're probably your weakest? Oh, yeah No, I mean they call them they call them walking dead men at that point I'd so but I mean this it's this is common man This is really calm this and I think we fell into this even as just young lifters this idea of like You have to put on this a bunch of mass in order to add a few pounds of muscle And you you really do not have to and he's gonna feel better the closer he can stay to his fighting weight It's possible. So, you know, that's more athletic. Yeah, and and you know But I get it though because it can get in your head Like I mean if you if you fight at a 145 or 150 and you're only 160 you probably feel like oh my god I'm not putting on very much but honestly You're probably gonna perform a lot better when you go in there because it's not that dramatic of a cut versus someone who's got to go 20 30 pounds down you're just exhausted after yeah, because the theory is you you walk around heavy Then you hit the mat or the ring and you're you're a bigger small guy, right? So now you're stronger, but sometimes it doesn't work that way because you cut so much weight You actually show up to the fight and if you like garbage, you know one of my cousins was a wrestler and His coach kept having him cut so much and he would feel dizzy and tired And I'm like dude Wrestle at a higher weight and he says no, I'll be weaker at a higher weight because everyone's gonna be bigger I said no, you won't I said you're weaker now and he did he actually Competed a higher weight and he's like bro night and day. I feel so much better Yeah, and I get it because the coach is one to win and have the best, you know chance Maybe going at a lower weight class, but you know your natural fit a lot of times You're kind of fighting your body just to get you know down in that low of a weight You know, there is a there is a massive Individual variance here, too And that you have to kind of know your body type because there are some people You know, I had an ex that was like this where I mean she could Dramatically cut calories and cut a ton away just keep muscle and keep muscle and her body just and you and I were just Talking about this after having COVID and stuff like that. It's like man I have the body type where you know, I lost 10 pounds and guarantee six of it was muscle That's just my body type now. There's I have pluses, too My body will respond and add really quick and so, you know, I it's it's not all negative because it happens But you do you do want to know your body type You may not be the type or you might have a of someone who's in your fight camp or one of your Companions that they are able to drop 30 pounds and hang on to all their muscle and you can't compare Them to you because that's where the genetic and variances Even if they have similar diets similar routines, but yet when they cut they hang on to all their muscle mass You're the type that maybe loses a significant amount when you dramatically cut like that