Tag: fighter diet

Fit Tip Friday: Five Foods to Tighten Your Tummy

The UFC fighter diet!

While everyone else was laughing when Melissa McCarthy suggested a “Female Fight Club” Bachelorette Party in Bridesmaids, we were actually inspired! (Because, hello! Have you seen those UFC guys’ bodies?!)

Clearly mixed martial arts does a body good. But it’s not the only thing that fighters do to keep their bods in peak condition. Mike Dolce is the co-creator of the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s new at-home fitness and nutrition program, UFCFIT! We chatted with Mike to get the lowdown on the foods to munch for a tight and taut tummy!
He said that no matter our health and fitness goals, the best types of foods are the ones that pack the most power per calorie (especially during bikini season), such as:
Asparagus (When the voice in your head is screaming for salty and crunchy, a few Coconut Grilled Asparagus stalks sprinkled in Himalayan sea salt will do the trick!)
Salmon
Quinoa
Blueberries (When you’re craving something sweet, drop that chocolate and reach for these blue bad boys)
Almonds
To look and feel our absolute best, we must remember to keep our metabolism high, our blood sugar stable and our meal choices plentiful. By eating two or three handful sized portions of the above nutrients (or similar) every couple hours we replace empty calories with the most power packed calories on the planet!
Eating small meals every two to three hours is much better than eating once or twice per day (when you might end up gorging yourself). Not eating at all is even worse!
With these tricks and more from UFCFIT, not only will you look better — you’ll be filled with energy and excited for your next meal!”
xx, The FabFitFun Team
Original post here

Listen here
Mike answers your questions and talks about his UFC Fan Expo experience, the Anderson Silva vs Chris Weidman fight, and more!
The founder of The Dolce Diet & creator of UFC FIT, Mike Dolce is known the world over for his work managing the weight cuts of UFC athletes like Johny Hendricks, Vitor Belfort, Thiago Alves, Chael Sonnen, Quinton Jackson, Nik Lentz, Jake Ellenberger and more! His #1 international best-selling books include The Dolce Diet: 3 Weeks to Shredded, The Dolce Diet: Living Lean, & The Dolce Diet: Living Lean Cookbook.
For more information on Mike’s books, MMA weight cuts, weight management, gaining muscle, weight loss, overall healthy living, UFC FIT and so much more, visit TheDolceDiet.com & TheMikeDolceShow.com & UFCFIT.com.

RECIPE: OUR DOLCE DIET SUMMER WATERMELON & AVOCADO SALAD
Ingredients
-2 avocados, peeled and cut into 1/2 inch cubes
-2 limes, juiced
-1/2 red onion, minced
-1 small watermelon, seeded and cut into 1-inch cubes
-2 Tbs of extra virgin olive oil
-1/2 cup cilantro, chopped
Dash of Pink Himalayan Sea Salt & pepper
Put avocado cubes in large bowl. Squeeze lime juice over avocado. Add in watermelon, cilantro and onion. Drizzle with olive oil. Add salt and pepper and carefully toss. Refrigerate about 30 minutes and serve!

WATCH THE VIDEO!

STUDIO CITY (CBSLA.com) — Get fit like a UFC fighter!
Mike Dolce, a renowned mixed martial arts coach, stopped by the KCAL9 studios Thursday to talk about the new Ultimate Fighting Championship’s at-home fitness and nutrition program, UFC FIT!
Dolce shared a few moves from the UFC FIT program that can be used to attain that “Knockout Summer Body!” All of the moves Mike demonstrated can be done in your living room!
• Overhead Squat with Dumbbells: A full-body exercise that focuses on glutes, thighs, shoulders and core.
o Head up with feet slightly wider than shoulder width; raise one arm straight up in the air, with the other arm hanging at your waist
o Slowly sit back into a full squat position while simultaneously lowering your raised arm, under full control.
o At the lowest point of your squat, you should be sitting back onto your heels to really activate those glutes.
o Now, reverse motion, standing back up while simultaneously raising the opposite arm.
o Complete 10 reps on each side.
• Drop Squat: Thigh and Glute specific
o Standing in a natural stance with your hands at eye level and elbows tucked in to your torso, keep your head up while looking straight forward.
o Focusing on one leg at a time, begin the motion, similar to a rear lunge by squatting onto your lead leg and bringing your rear leg behind your body. (Note: If you are standing on a typical analog clock, your lead foot points to the 12 o’clock position, while your rear leg reaches to the 4 or 6 o’clock position.
o Pause at the bottom and really sit into that glute before reversing motion.
o Complete 10 reps on each side.
• Push-up with Alternating Arm Raise: Focuses on the shapely muscles of the shoulders and arms as well as core.
o Starting in a traditional push-up position, lower yourself as you would normally, being sure to keep your tummy tight.
o Pressing yourself back up to the top position, extend one arm in front of you, knuckles to the ceiling, until your body is one straight line.
o Lower that arm and continue your next push-up, alternating the opposite arm raise on each rep.
o NOTE: To really kick this up a notch, grab a light dumbbell in each hand but make sure your knuckles clear the floor at the bottom.
o Complete 5 reps on each side for a total of 10 reps per set
• Bow & Arrow: Full body focus with an emphasis on glutes, hamstrings, lower back, core and shoulders.
o Starting on the floor, on your hands and knees, grab your left with your right hand and gently pull it as close to your chin as you can, increasing flexibility and range of motion.
o Next, extend your left leg straight behind you trying to press your heel into the wall directly behind you while also extending your right arm straight ahead.
o Your body should form a straight line, just like an archer, pulling back her bowstring.
o Pause and squeeze each rep to really activate those core muscles.
o NOTE: Be sure to keep your tummy tight throughout this exercise.
o Complete 10 reps on each side.
For more on the program, visit UFCFIT.COM

LISTEN HERE
Mike Dolce answers your questions! Topics include how to hydrate after a wild night of partying, how to time your meals for optimal weightloss, workouts for obese folks, what food to bring while backpacking, weightlifting belts & straps and more!
The founder of The Dolce Diet & creator of UFC FIT, Mike Dolce is known the world over for his work managing the weight cuts of UFC athletes like Johny Hendricks, Vitor Belfort, Thiago Alves, Chael Sonnen, Quinton Jackson, Nik Lentz, Jake Ellenberger and more! His #1 international best-selling books include The Dolce Diet: 3 Weeks to Shredded, The Dolce Diet: Living Lean, & The Dolce Diet: Living Lean Cookbook.
For more information on Mike’s books, MMA weight cuts, weight management, gaining muscle, weight loss, overall healthy living, UFC FIT and so much more, visit TheDolceDiet.com & TheMikeDolceShow.com & UFCFIT.com.

UFC’s leading fitness and nutrition authority talks about his in-home fitness and nutrition program, fighters and more

By Case Keefer
Thu, Jun 20, 2013

Mike Dolce is one of the most sought-after men in all of mixed martial arts.
The sport’s pre-eminent mind on nutrition, fitness and weight cutting grew his profile over the past five years by working with top fighters such as Quinton “Rampage” Jackson, Chael Sonnen and Gray Maynard.
Dolce is so busy that he can no longer take on any new clients. So how did the 37-year-old former “Ultimate Fighter” contestant carve out enough time to develop the promotion’s first in-home fitness and nutrition program that features 12 workout DVDs and a 132-page nutrition manual?
The Sun caught up with Dolce at a luncheon with reporters to ask him about the recently released “UFC Fit,” his fighters and more.
It supposedly took three years to get “UFC Fit” to the point where it was ready for a release. What was the process of putting it all together like for you?
It was a whole different system with different coaches at first, called UFC Training Camp. They brought me in while that was still running and asked me to write the nutrition book. I said, “Absolutely,” and wrote the book probably the same day and sent it back immediately. They were surprised because it had been a year and they didn’t have the strength program done yet. A couple weeks went by, I came in for a meeting and nothing had happened with it. Then they said, “Listen, can you write the strength program also?” I was like, “I can, but I don’t want to get too involved and make any issues because you’ve got other guys.” They said it wasn’t going to work out with them, and they also wanted to get me involved on camera. I said, “I’m not the guy, I don’t want to be that guy.” But Dana (White) and Lorenzo (Fertitta) looked at me and said, “You are the guy.” So how do I say no to that?
You’ve expressed some disdain for other in-home fitness programs. What makes this one different?
I’d been aware of a lot of the in-home fitness systems and even diet books out there, and unfortunately, it’s mostly all garbage. It’s all fads, marketing ploys to get people to spend $99.99 and keep them in the same situation they’re in. It’s all crash diets that are unsustainable. What I’ve done is keep the same sustainable system of eating, living, training and changing your lifestyle that yields consistent results. No one else is doing this. The P90X, Insanity, they are selling the quick and sexy. That’s it. With me, I want to change people’s lives.
When did you discover your knack for nutrition and fitness?
It’s something I was born to do. As a freshman in high school, I was the captain of the varsity wrestling team and was running the strength and conditioning portions of those practices. I was overseeing the weight cuts. We had 17- or 18-year-old men on the team and I was telling them what to do. It just came naturally. I was always a science and mathematics guy. I was a municipal tax assessor for years, which is very heavy math. It’s just the way my mind works, but my passion has always been applying it to physical things.
Which fighters are you working with currently?
I try to work with less than 10 athletes full time at this point, but I have a few career athletes. My career athletes would be Thiago Alves, Nik Lentz, Chael Sonnen, Vitor Belfort and Johny Hendricks. Those are the five guys who, as long as they are fighting, I will be with them. I’m also working with Jake Ellenberger, Mike Pyle, probably working with Stefan Struve and Daniel Cormier their next fights, Kelvin Gastelum dropping to welterweight right now and Luke Barnatt.
What was the toughest weight cut or training camp you’ve ever had to oversee?
Chael was 233 pounds six weeks before the Michael Bisping fight. To go from 233 to 185 in six weeks is insane. The hardest issue — I would have to say Rampage is the hardest I’ve ever had to deal with. Not because he was the biggest or heaviest because he wasn’t. I helped Duane Ludwig lose 42 pounds in 13 days to fight Jim Miller on short notice here in Las Vegas. He went from 198 to 156 in 13 days with my coaching. It took eight weeks to do the same with Quinton. Now it was so much easier with Duane because Duane is a professional; he’s a good guy with a big heart. He just got down to the business of working with no complaints, no objections, no obstacles. Some of these other guys, Rampage being one of them, everything was a challenge. He’s shown that not just with myself but with every business deal he’s ever been in.
What’s the story about your time with Rampage before the 2010 fight against Rashad Evans?
He had taken 14 months off to film “The A-Team” and “The Ultimate Fighter.” He came into camp 51 pounds overweight before the fight — seven weeks and six days before the fight.
We weren’t behind schedule, but we weren’t ahead of schedule. But I worry. I wasn’t satisfied with it. I talked to Quinton and he said, “I’m not cheating. I’m not doing anything wrong.”
A day does by and we go to train. It’s a three-story house and Quinton lives on the top floor. He forgets his gym bag, so I say I’ll go up there and get his gym bag. I go up and look and I see something that doesn’t look right inside his pillow — a purple box, or a square. I say, “What the hell is that?” I walk over and see it’s a candy bar, a Cadbury fruit and nut candy bar. There were four of them. Under the bed there were more wrappers. So what he was doing was, we would go and get gas before the gym. We’d sit in the car and fill it up. He’d go in to pay for the gas and the window would be right there, right below window level was the candy rack. He’d buy a bunch of these candy bars and put them in his pocket and go home and eat them.
I caught it and he turned it into a joke. So I say, “What we’re going to do is compromise: You’ve got a chocolate thing. I get it. I understand it. Therefore, I’ve got a healthy alternative to it.” In that area in England, the healthiest thing I could find was Nutella, which is really not that bad considering the alternative. It’s a mental thing, not a physical thing, so I start making him Nutella sandwiches, telling him, “It’s the best thing in the world — toasted, warm, crunchy and with banana slices. It’s delicious. That’s what we’ll have if you train your (butt) off. You’ll get those as a reward system.” We started to do that and the weight dropped immediately.
A lot of your guys have fights coming up. Anything you’re particularly excited for?
Nik Lentz is a story I keep pushing. He’s 3-0 since dropping to featherweight. I’m very excited about this kid. When he reached out to me, I was so busy that I was not taking new clients. I only took Nik Lentz because I believe he’s going to be a world champion at 145. I have all those superstars, too — Chael, Vitor, Hendricks — but Nik is one of the most exciting guys I’m working with right now. He has so much upside.
What about Daniel Cormier? He said he would like drop from heavyweight to light heavyweight before the end of the year. Is that going to happen?

What we’re doing with Daniel is just getting him healthy. My job is to get him down to 10 percent body fat with as much muscle mass as we can pack on his body. Once he’s there, we can decide whatever weight class he wants to go to. My job is to keep him healthy, fit, teach him how to eat and take care of himself. Whether he fights at 205 or not, I mean we could do it this Friday. That’s just what I do. I’ve gotten phone calls where guys are 30 pounds overweight a few days beforehand and we can do it. So we could do 205 or we could stay at heavyweight and go out and destroy everyone at that weight, too. It’s up to Daniel. I’m just happy to be involved because he’s a stud.
Case Keefer can be reached at 948-2790 or case.keefer@lasvegassun.com. Follow Case on Twitter at twitter.com/casekeefer.

LISTEN HERE
Mike Dolce welcomes Leonard “Bad Boy” Garcia and Duane “BANG” Ludwig to a show packed with determination and oceans of mental fortitude. Released from the UFC in May, Garcia has reformed his outlook on his career with one single thought – persistance! With the help of his longtime friend and coach Duane Ludwig, the two speak about training, family and how to find that return to winning ways. If you’ve ever had to pick yourself up by the bootstraps and redefine life as you know it in order to accomplish your dreams, than this is the must-listen-to Mike Dolce Show for you!
The founder of The Dolce Diet & creator of UFC FIT, Mike Dolce is known the world over for his work managing the weight cuts of UFC athletes like Johny Hendricks, Vitor Belfort, Thiago Alves, Chael Sonnen, Quinton Jackson, Nik Lentz, Jake Ellenberger and more! His #1 international best-selling books include The Dolce Diet: 3 Weeks to Shredded, The Dolce Diet: Living Lean, & The Dolce Diet: Living Lean Cookbook.
For more information on Mike’s books, MMA weight cuts, weight management, gaining muscle, weight loss, overall healthy living, UFC FIT and so much more, visit TheDolceDiet.com & TheMikeDolceShow.com & UFCFIT.com.

Heather Morton
@HeatherMorton12
Can’t believe the difference of one week on the @TheDolceDiet I feel amazing. #unbelievable #healthy

---

NAME: Christopher Thompson
AGE: 41
DOLCE DIET BOOKS: 3 Weeks to Shredded & Living Lean

My goal was to improve my overall diet and obtain the lean look I had before breaking my hand in a kickboxing match at 145 lbs. I got instant results in 3 days which made me want to complete the three weeks. I went from 169 to 159 in just 8 days, the pic included is my results of 8 days, not bad for a lightweight.

---