Try a circuit workout and a delicious, healthy recipe that will have you in fighting fit shape in no time
Recently, UFC heavyweight Ben Rothwell has been talking about how he got in the best shape of his life. By his own admission, he was always a man who was used to eating what he wanted and training hard to burn it off, but that has meant that he was in a constant struggle to make weight for fights.
In the last two years, he’s been taking a lot more consideration of his diet and his exercise regime, and the results are there for everyone to see.
As he told UFC.com it has become part of his lifestyle to eat well and train better, which has meant taking on a lot more natural foods and cutting out anything with artifical colours or sweeteners.
It takes the body longer and it’s a more difficult process to break down these foods than it is natural, whole foods, and pretty much the man to consult on this front is Mike Dolce and his Dolce Diet books. They detail full meal plans for breakfast, lunch and dinner as well as snacks and sides.
As a sample meal, try his delicious chicken burgers, which work just as well with turkey. What you’ll need is:
- 500g of ground chicken/turkey
- 1 clove of garlic
- 1/2 sweet pepper
- 1 small onions
- 5-6 mushrooms
- 1 egg (beaten)
- 1/2 cup oat bran
- a pinch of salt and pepper
Mince the garlic, and chop up the onion and pepper into small pieces. Heat them in a pan with grapeseed or olive oil, just until they soften. Chop up the mushrooms and add them to the mix, and cook the whole thing until the mushrooms soften up. Let that cool.
Once that’s done, add the mixture to the ground chicken/turkey in a large bowl, and add the egg and oat bran gradually. If you find the consistency you’re looking for before you use all the egg or oat bran, then you can stop adding and get ready to cook. You can also add a handful of chopped coriander, which also tastes great.
JOE made this recipe ourselves on the weekend, and not only is it absolutely delicious, but it makes five or six burgers, so you’ll have plenty for lunch. We grilled the burgers, and to serve them, put them on wholeweat or wholegrain rolls (or a wrap), add some greens like lettuce or spinach, and half an avocado chopped up. You can throw on ketchup and mustard to taste.
His circuit training is also intense, and he detailed it for everyone to try. A few pointers, firstly, you do ten reps of each exercise and do the circuits three times. Between each circuit take however long you need to rest, attack each station and it might take you anywhere from 25-30 minutes to complete.
Circuit #1 (sets of 10, three times through)
* Pull-ups
* Box jumps
* Dips
* Curl and press (a movement that mimics an underhook and shrugging someone off of you)
Circuit #2 (sets of 10, three times through)
* Pull-up variations
* Single-leg straddling box jumps
* Standing shoulder press with kettlebells
* Medicine ball side-to-side push-ups (place one hand on a medicine ball, descend, explode up, and switch sides)
Circuit #3 (sets of 10, three times through)
* Inverted Rows (back to the floor, heels on a Swiss ball, grab a 45-pound bar, pull yourself up)
* Kettlebell swings
* Single-leg box squats (knee thrust when you squat)
* Feet elevated on a Swiss ball, push-up, and put your chest to the floor on the descent
Hat-tip to MMA junkie for the pic and UFC.com for the workout
LISTEN: You Must Be Jokin’ with Aideen McQueen – Faith healers, Coolock craic and Gigging as Gaeilge
