I wake up every day at exactly 5am. Then I go running from 5:30 to 6:30. Then I have punching bag training from 6:30 to 8am. I have been doing this for 3 years and it is a choice I still stand by. It not only has physical benefits such as better fitness and an athletic body. It also gives you a stronger mind and perseverance.
It also gave me a better understanding of how much you can do in a day and how much of a waste it is not to use the full 24 hours. After my morning workouts, my day continues like a regular student. So like everyone else, I have school from 8:30 until about 5. Then I have MMA training from 6 until 8 and BJJ training from 8:30 until 11.
The morning workout and punching bag training routine
Before I go running in the morning I drink at least a liter of water. Then I start with a small warm-up. Think of heels-buttocks, knees up, jumping and touching the ground. Nothing special yet! After this I go running in the forest and then I run straight to my gym. That is about 10 km further. I run this in an hour. When I get to the gym the punching bag training starts. This is mainly focused on fitness training and technique. We always start with shadow boxing and then shadow boxing with weights in our hands. Then we do relay rounds at the punching bags and poles. We do this for about 20 minutes. After this I always hit and kick the pads with my trainer for 40 minutes.
The MMA training
A day in the life of an MMA fighter also includes training. The MMA training from 6 to 8 consists of three parts. The first part is only grappling and ground fighting, the second is standing fighting and the third part is both. In the first part we mainly practice technique and strength does not play a role yet. Here we practice various takedowns, sweeps, clinches, strokes and chokes. We also learn how to get out of every hold and choke that we learn. So you practice both offensively and defensively. In the second part it comes down to technique and strength. Here we only spar stand-up. We do this in rounds of 5 minutes per person. We spar against everyone who is present at the training in a relay form. Then part 3 begins, the all-round fighting. Here we can fight both standing and on the ground. We then spar for 20 minutes until the end of the training at 8 o'clock.
The Brazilian JiuJitsu training
At half past eight the Brazilian JiuJitsu training starts, here we train ground fighting at a higher level. Because you are not allowed to hit or kick in BJJ, you do not have to adapt and you can focus 100% on grappling . So you also have a completely different fighting stance than in MMA. This BJJ lesson consists of 2 parts. The first part consists of different techniques to choke someone or break the bones. Think of chokes, armbars, leglocks and many other grips. In this part we are only practicing and we try to use the right techniques at the right time. In the second and last part we are going to spar for 3 tapouts. With each tapout you have to hang upside down on the punching bag for a minute as a punishment and the trainer is allowed to use your stomach as a punching bag.
What kind of martial arts gear do you need?
I use different martial arts gear for each training, for example, for punching bag training I use the Twins bag gloves because they are very comfortable and made of real leather. They also have a thick padding that offers me good protection in the long term. With these gloves I do not need inner gloves or bandages and I find that super nice.
During MMA training I use different gloves. When sparring I use 7 oz MMA gloves , because they have a very thick thumb and knuckle protection and that is very important to me. In addition, 7 oz MMA gloves reduce the chance of injuries due to the somewhat thicker padding. I also use the XPRT Boxing Gloves . These are made of real cow leather and have a one mold foam padding. Underneath I also wear the Bandages XPRT for extra protection. I also use the matching XPRT Pro Shin Guard . The shin guards are exactly the same quality as the gloves. But the most important of all are good mouthguards . And of course mouthguards that are CE approved . Mouthguards offer maximum protection to my teeth, but also protect against brain damage and many people do not know that.
