Eatin n' Tusslin (Stranglehold Excerpt)

If there is one thing I would stress in this book, it would be the precedence you need to place on recovery. Food, Sleep, and Mobility are the three things that will keep you from becoming a dusty mummy fart beef jerky Dark Souls hollow. Lets cover nutrition first. Back when I was rolling 18 hours a week and lifting four plus sessions, I very stupidly tried intermittent fasting. Please do not do this. You will hate your life and burn out fast. I’m not gonna tell you how to eat, do what you like or what works for you. I will, however, tell you how I eat when I am training for a specific competition. I think you’d be shocked to know the amount of calories you just fucking sluff off when you're doing any kind of ground work, and you’re eating must reflect that. Your base level of caloric intake MUST be at least bodyweight (in pounds) multiplied by 10. This is just to exist on the planet and do normal human things, not including working out or rolling. So the formula for baseline calories is as follows:

BW (in LBS) × 10

OR

[BW (in KG) × 2.2] × 10

Now that we have a solid baseline we can begin to add calories based on total training sessions during the week. Depending on what you are trying to do you should be adding between 200-500 calories per training session PER DAY depending on what type of training you are doing. Here are a few basic additions:

• Weight Training: +300 cal per hour

• Cardio (LISS): +300 cal per 30 minutes

• Cardio (HIIT), +100 per 10 minutes

• Drilling: +100 cal per hour

• Sparring: +500 cal per 30 minutes

These aren’t end-all-be-all numbers, let your level of effort reflect in the calories. If you lazily weight train (resting 3+ minutes between sets, low volume) subtract 100 calories per hour, if you’re sparring with high level belts who are slaughtering you in a competition level class then maybe add 100 calories per 30 minutes. Remember this is just a primer. Now let’s look at weight gain and weight loss. A simple 500 surplus or deficit is what I like to use here. Clearly add 500 if you’re gaining and subtract 500 if you’re losing. So now we reach the final big brain mathematical equation:

(Baseline intake + training sessions) +/- 500 gain/loss if applicable = daily calories

And if you wanna get really in the weeds with nutrition, try a breakdown of 30/30/40 protein, carbs, fat. I’ve always been more partial to higher fat, it may be placebo but it makes my joints feel a little better. Along those same lines I recommend taking some type of joint and/or inflammation supplement, if you are into supplements. Turmeric with black pepper extract is a good choice along with a few fish oil pills and a nice multivitamin. Sodium is also very important for you, especially if you’re doing two-a-days. You all know that hydration is important but replacing your electrolytes is just as important. I like making my own pedialyte type drink by following this recipe:

• 1 pint of water

• ⅛ tsp of sea salt

• 2 tbsp of honey

• Squeeze of lemon

Put this in a shaker cup and sip on it during your second training session during the day, be it grappling or lifting.

Paleo folks lookin wild back in the day.