Today I wanted to share with you an interview I did with Bodybuilding Prep Coach, Shelby Starnes for Your MMA.
Shelby is a great guy with loads of great info and it's well worth a re post!
YourMMA.tv: Most (not all) amateur MMA fighters seem to fall between the lines of having zero nutritional knowledge or using the guidelines and principles of a body building diet. With such an overwhelming amount of information out there at the moment, where should a fighter start with their nutrition, providing they aren’t in camp for a fight?
Shelby Starnes: Anyone, regardless of sport or endeavour, will benefit from a properly structured diet plan. If your opponents are eating a shitty diet, that’s an opportunity for you to get an upper hand. It will pay off in the long run, guaranteed. A fighter has a high energy demand so not only do they need a good amount of quality protein in their diet to support muscle recovery, they also need a good amount of high quality carbohydrates as well as healthy fats. The numbers will vary between individuals based on their metabolism and size, and if they are trying to move down a weight class, stay in one, or even move up one.
YourMMA.tv: With the amateur scene growing all the time in the UK, lots of fighters are taking bouts very close together. Many believe (myself included) that a fighter should have an ‘off season’ to focus on technique and getting stronger within their weight class. Without the option of considerable weight gain, what nutritional guidelines would you give to fighters who were looking to improve their strength?
Shelby Starnes: Again this will vary greatly based on individual hormonal profile, metabolism, etc. A good starting point would be 1 gram of protein per pound of bodyweight, 2 to 3 grams of carbohydrate, and 1 gram of fat. Spreading this out over four to six smaller meals per day will help with sustained energy and metabolism.
YourMMA.tv: When it comes to carbs, how would you advise spreading them out i.e. breakfast and peri-workout or certain amounts in each meal? Why would this be beneficial for a fighter?
Shelby Starnes: Assuming the fighter is lean and has a good metabolism, I would keep carbs in all meals for a steady, consistent insulin release. There’s no need for them to go no or low carbs unless they need to drop weight.
YourMMA.tv: Come fight time many fighters start to add in long, steady state cardio to help them make weight. While many experts advise to adjust macronutrients instead, many fighters get confused and end up with generalized advice such as ’drop carbs’. Obviously without the right knowledge this could be detrimental to training. Where would you start someone who was looking to drop weight while retaining strength (I realize this is very general and would be different to each individual)?
Shelby Starnes: Never make drastic changes – always take “baby steps”. Try reducing carbs by 25% at the most (to start with) – run that for a few days and see how things go. Add in cardio gradually (you’re probably doing some already – just increase it by 10-20% or so). Small changes allow you to keep as much strength and muscle as possible, and also leave you a lot of room to manipulate things when you hit the inevitable plateau.
YourMMA.tv: You mentioned adding in a small amount of cardio. With fighters already doing quite a high volume of work already, would you prescribe a low impact method for fighters who are looking to shed fat?
Shelby Starnes: It really varies on the individual and their metabolism… but most fights are short and explosive. I think a cardio that fits that bill would be more applicable than longer, slower steady state stuff. At least include both in your training (something like high intensity intervals, as well as moderate intensity work).
YourMMA.tv: Peri-workout nutrition seems to be the hot topic at the moment for a lot of people, with MMA using so many different energy systems. Would it be possible for you give an outline for peri-workout nutrition in and out of camp?
Shelby Starnes: There’s no need to get too complex. Here’s a good basic peri-workout protocol for an average 160-pound fighter.
Pre-training: 25g whey protein isolate, 5-10g BCAAs, 25-35g carbs (for a fighter I think a complex, whole food carb is best here – like oats, sweet potato, brown rice, etc.)
During training: An electrolyte drink like Gatorade mixed with more BCAAs (5-10g)
Immediately after training: 25g whey protein isolate, 30-50g quickly digesting carbs – like waxy maize, or maltodextrin. If you’re using creatine, this would be a good opportunity to take it (creatine timing isn’t really important though – as long as you take it daily, you’ll be fine. I personally take mine in meal 2 everyday).
YourMMA.tv: Regarding peri-workout nutrition, a lot of people are saying that it is beneficial to spike insulin and get aminos acids in the blood stream before and during a workout. Would you say that this is beneficial when doing technique work as well as strength/power sessions?
Shelby Starnes: Both types of training can deplete muscle glycogen so peri-workout nutrition can be used with both but, depending on the calorific needs and restrictions of the fighter, if they had to choose just one to include it with, I would go with around weight training.
YourMMA.tv: Foods with a detox benefit (particularly Acai berries) are very popular amongst fighters at the moment. Where do you stand on these foods and what (if any) would you consider the most beneficial?
Shelby Starnes: I’m not big into detoxes. I’m not saying they don’t have any benefit, but I’ve never delved too deeply into their use - I don’t consider them a “must have” by any means.
YourMMA.tv: Thanks again for your time Shelby.
Shelby Starnes is a nutritional coach to everyone from athletes to house wives. He is also a competitive bodybuilder competing (and winning) since 2005. He writes great articles for many sites including T-Nation and Elite FTS. He can be contacted through his site at www.shelbystarnes.com for all of your nutritional needs. Visit hisYoutube channel for more training videos.
I'm going to be talking again with Shelby very soon on a whole range of new topics so make sure to keep checking back!
Stay healthy,
Mike
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