MMA and MP

[mcforan23]

Hey everyone, this is my first post here, looks like a great site and source of info. Just to quickly explain my background: Soon to be a sophomore at the Naval Academy in Maryland and I train Jiu Jitsu with our team and then MMA on the side on my own.

With that in mind I have a few questions about MP. I noticed it first when I've been watching so many UFC fights where MP is a major sponsor. How do most of the UFC athletes use MP to build muscle without gaining a lot of weight? In my case I'm looking to get stronger and gain muscle yet remain flexible and keep my weight low to avoid a higher weight class. Really any info on what to try or look into I appreciate it. Thanks

P.S. Any chance of military discount on MP??

 

[pmiller383]

First off Welcome to AM!

Our fight team members ( http://musclepharm.com/Team-MP.html?subnav=2 ) all use the products a little differently but I know that most of them use Assault before their training sessions and I think most are using Recon right now. We have had some of them try different things such as taking extra servings of Recon pre-training in addition to their post training Recon. We have also had some of them use Battle Fuel to help with endurance and strength during their training. I'm not sure if any of them have done this recently but Shred Matrix can be used to help keep fighters weight down. Combat can be used to give them a little extra protein in their diets to help with recovery. Finally Bullet Proof can be used at night to help with recovery and reduce some of the fatigue that comes along with a fight camp.

Now if your looking to gain strength without gaining a lot of weight then I would recommend Assault before training and Recon post training. If you have extra money then I would also throw in Battle Fuel or Bullet Proof but those are something you can worry about down the line once you have a couple months of Assault and Recon under your belt. Your training and diet is really going to be important for achieving your goal though, you'll want to keep your calories slightly above maintenance and focus your training on strength rather than hypertrophy. For training I would suggest keeping your weights high and your reps low for your main movements and focusing your accessory lifts on any weaknesses you may have. It may also be a good ideal to throw in strongman type training a couple days a week to help with brute strength and endurance. A good training split may be something like this:

Lower body Heavy:
Squat or Deadlift variation for 3-5 reps
Glute/Hip exercise
Back Exercise
Ab Exercise

Upper Body Heavy
Standing Military Press, Push Press, or Bench Press variation - 3-5 rep max
Upper Back
Lats
Neck

Strength Conditioning Day
Plyometric Jumps, Depth Jumps , Kneeling Jumps, etc
Farmers Walks, Sandbag Carry, any other odd object carry
Sled Dragging or pushing for time, Hip Swings for time, sledgehammer for time, ropes
Weighted Abs

Recovery Day:
Neck
Pull Ups body weight only
Push Ups Body weight only

Make sure to start each training with a proper dynamic warmup and mobility drills. With our sparring classes you may have to cut back the volume a little bit but by focusing on heavy hitting exercise you will not only strengthen your muscle but it will also help with your CNS and muscle recruitment.

 

[mcforan23]

Definitely going to try this out. I've lifted in the past but was just for general health so having a more focused goal will help. So as far as the supplements go should I follow the recommended dosage and just watch what I eat? And with regards to sprint workouts, should it be short bursts of full intensity or intervals? Once again thanks for any info

 

[pmiller383]

Definitely going to try this out. I've lifted in the past but was just for general health so having a more focused goal will help. So as far as the supplements go should I follow the recommended dosage and just watch what I eat? And with regards to sprint workouts, should it be short bursts of full intensity or intervals? Once again thanks for any info

I would think intervals would have more of a carry over to your sport but Im not 100% on that.

 

[mcforan23]

So as far as maintaining/building strength without gaining weight should I just lift as normal or do I need to alter my diet? I'm concerned with the diet aspect cause here at school the cafeteria loads the food up with a lot of calories since they are feeding the Navy football team. I think I'm going to purchase Assault, Recon, and Bullet Proof and see how that stack plays out.

 

[pmiller383]

What class do you want to fight in and what is your weight right now?

For building strength while maintaining weight you are going to want to do lower reps with heavier weights. This is going to reinforce proper nuero-mechanical signals that will allow your current muscle to work in a much more effective way. With your diet just watch your weight weekly and kind of play it by ear. If you start gaining then scale your diet back, if you feel like your not recovering then up your calories a bit.

 

[mcforan23]

Right now my weight varies between 160 and 170 but always shoot to compete at 155 or 159 depending on if its a jiu jitsu competition or something else.

I never got to scientific with ingredients with previous lifting supplements, would you be able to explain how exactly assault and recon work? I always understood it as you need protein to feed the muscles once they are broken down yet when I glanced at the ingredients both were lacking in the protein.

 

[pmiller383]

Both have various Amino Acids which are the building blocks of protein. Here is some of the key ingredients for Assault:
SUMA ROOT: Has also been called "the Russian secret," as it has been taken by Russian Olympic athletes for many years and has been reported to increase muscle-building and endurance.

BETA ALANINE: is a non-essential amino acid and is the only naturally occurring beta-amino acid with benefits of: Increased Muscle Mass, Increased anaerobic and aerobic endurance, and increased Muscular Strength.

CITRULINE MELATE: Citrulline Malate provides muscle energy that allows individuals of all walks to train harder and longer while speeding recuperation from exercise.

L-ARGININE: Arginine is a semi-essential amino acid. It is a building block of protein that performs a myriad of physiolgical functions. It is a known precursor of the gas nitric oxide (N02)

KRE-ALKALYN: is Creatine which is 100% stable and will not break down into Creatinine. This allows the Creatine to be absorbed more efficiently into the boodstream. Kre-Alkalyn® allows athletes to use smaller serving sizes while experiencing even more explosive results.

CREATINE ETHYL ESTER (CEE): CEE does a superior work to gain muscle mass and muscle power in all athletes.

PYRU GLUTAMIC ACID: It increases the brain's ability to use glucose, meaning your brain cells have more energy available for their everyday needs, and feelings of tiredness and low mood are also improved.


And here is a link to the write up on Recon which will help explain it to you:
http://musclepharm.com/Recon-sp-21.html

read through these and let me know if you still need more information on understanding why the products work.