The routine of a professional fighter is wholly different from that of other athletes because, not only is there a daunting physical challenge on the horizon but there is also the fact that you’re going to be putting your skills on the line against another trained killer.
Managing energy levels to peak on fight night, cutting weight intelligently while making sure not to neglect the process of honing technique. It’s a balancing act that many aren’t cut out for.
One mixed martial artist who is very much cut out for this lifestyle is Dublin’s Paul Redmond who is preparing for his second UFC fight this weekend against Scotland’s Rob Whiteford.
We got the chance to catch up with Redser while the featherweight was in the midst of his training camp and he let us know how the process works.
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It’s like anything in life. You can only focus on the task ahead of you. The way that office workers might be worrying about spreadsheets or whatever when they wake up, I think about what’s on the cards in the gym.
In the mornings I won’t eat too much, especially when you’ve got the weight cut playing on your mind. I might have 1/2 or even 1/4 of a banana and a black coffee but that’s pretty much it.
But if it’s earlier in the camp and I’m not too worried about the lbs then I’ll treat myself to 1/2 bowl of porridge with some raspberries and might even have an egg or two with it for protein.
As a fighter, there are certain things that you need to take supplements for and the lads at Powerful.ie look after me in that capacity.
I’ll always do an early workout which, for example, on Monday might involve sprints and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.
After that early workout, I’ll normally go back to bed for 90 minutes or so just to get my energy levels back up.
If we’re using Monday for an example, we’d normally focus on striking and Thai boxing in the evening so before the evening workout I try to eat as clean as possible while getting some smart carbs and protein in so will have sweet potato with chicken or fish.
We do quite an extensive warm-up for the striking classes which would involve three rounds of shadow boxing with our coach John Donnelly shouting out sprawls, kicks, etc throughout and stretch in between those rounds.
I can’t over-emphasise the importance of stretching enough. When I first started training, I would have come in and jumped straight into the action and I’d be going home with pulled muscles all over the shop. It’s just not smart.
When the workout gets properly underway it would normally involve 10/15 minutes of John working technique with us before we do a little bit of pad work and we’d normally finish it off with a bit of sparring.
We’re very careful, but effective, when sparring at Team Ryano. It’s all about technique but we’re still going pretty damn hard up until the last week of camp. That’s not saying we’re trying to take each other’s heads off but it’s imperative to put in the work if you’re going to cut that weight. At the same time I need to make sure I don’t lose all my teeth before I step into the cage. Thankfully I’ve got an excellent gumshield provider in Impact.
Hydration is key when you’re training as hard as professional fighters should be and I like to keep two litres of water with me and sip away at coconut water too which is provided to me by one of my sponsors, Vita Coco, because if you’re down on fluids you’re just going to cramp up.
Away from the gym, I like to get a bit of roadwork in as well which helps with both the weight cut and your cardio for fight night. I actually used to overrun when I was younger, doing 70 kilometres a week, but now I’ve eased that down to about 20 kilometres each week. I might do two 5k runs and a longer 10k.
The training is like a full-time job in reality so we have certain days that are like “taper down” days.
Wednesday is one where we don’t exhaust our bodies and Saturday is another when we start off with a bit of yoga in the morning and then I’ll go to Packie Collins’ gym in Blanchardstown where I can get some boxing in with Danny O’Connor and Stephen Ormond.
Sunday then is a recovery day which every fighter needs. You can’t punish your body for seven days straight without taking 24 hours off. It doesn’t matter how many nutrients you take in, seven days of training will wear you out.
In reality, recovery is just as important as the training itself and we have an in-house physiotherapist at Team Ryano who can look after any aches or pains.
Mixed martial arts has truly changed my life. Just a few years ago I was on the other end of the scales, literally. I was your typical jack-the-lad plumber who would slog away Monday to Friday and then go out for my good few pints on the weekend but now that I’m pretty much in the gym full-time, I don’t get the chance to go out boozing and eat shitty food which is a good thing.
Some advice I’d give to youngsters who want to get into the sport is to shop around. Find a good club, there’s plenty of them.
And try every class. If wrestling’s not for you then you might be more drawn to boxing or Jiu-Jitsu. You will not find a better workout on the planet and it’ll give you that bit of self-confidence in life as well.
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Paul next takes to the octagon at UFC Glasgow and you can follow his fight, as well as the action from the entire fight card, with SportsJOE.
