How Do MMA (UFC) Fighters Recover From Training?

According to studies, MMA includes the highest injury rate out of all other combat sports, both when it comes to competition and training in the gym. Thus, each athlete, whether an amateur or professional, must take care of their body and pay extra attention to recovery.

You may wonder, what methods and tools MMA athletes use to recover their minds and bodies in the most efficient way possible. Well, let’s find out.

In this article, we will discuss different methods MMA fighters use to speed up the recovery process as well as to prevent injuries.

How do MMA Fighters Recover From Training?

MMA fighters recover from training through passive and active recovery regimes.

• Passive recovery includes:
• Taking sports massages
• Using various equipment such as compression boots
• Cold laser therapy to target soft tissue

All of these methods reduce the tightness in the muscles, inflammation, and pain. This enables the athlete to get enough sleep at night, which is the most important segment of the recovery process. But more about that later.

Active recovery includes getting off the couch or massage table and engaging in a low-impact activity. This will increase the blood flow through the muscles to keep them warm, which helps the healing process. They also do mobility and stretching exercises to increase flexibility, the strength of the muscles, and range of motion. Some of the most popular low-impact activities are:

• Swimming
• Jogging at the aerobic pace
• Cycling
• Rope skipping

Planning the recovery days right is quite challenging in MMA. Pro fighters, for example, train up to three times a day, six days a week while in a training camp. As you would assume, this puts massive stress on the mind and body.

In order to avoid injuries and prevent overtraining, each athlete must have a strict recovery plan and stick to it.

Following is a list of passive and active ways MMA (UFC) fighters recover from training, and adopting some of the methods below might help you too.

Stretching and mobility work

MMA is a grueling full-body workout that pushes each muscle group in your body to absolute limits. One of the best ways to lessen the tension and cramps in the muscles after such an intense activity is by doing static stretches.

Stretching increases the blood flow through the muscles and decreases the risk of injuries. In the long run, adopting a stretching routine also improves:

• Mobility
• Range of motion
• Balance
• Muscle strength.

Apart from healing the muscles, stretching also calms the mind down and promotes mindfulness. As a result, many MMA fighters, including the top-rated UFC athletes, regularly attend Yoga classes to learn how to control breathing and reach a meditative state of mind. Over time, doing yoga helps you release accumulated stress from training, and improve your quality of life.

Doing dynamic and static stretches also has a big impact on the way fighters perform. Throwing kicks, grappling, and fighting on the ground require a high level of flexibility. You can’t expect to do well or execute techniques the right way without a high level of mobility. This is notably true if we focus on the grappling aspect where flexibility plays a big role.

Low-Impact Workouts

Remember, laying in bed the entire day is not the way athletes recover from training. In fact, sitting on the sofa, watching TV, and not doing anything else might even slow down the process.

As a result, most MMA fighters choose to stay active on their feet and do some low-impact workouts. A type of workout where the goal is not to enhance performance but to keep the muscles warm and the mind cooled down.

Each fighter has their own individual routine and things they like to do during the rest days. Most commonly, they would go for a light jog around the neighborhood for a few miles. The others might jump on the bike and go cycling, skip rope, or maybe go for a swimming session. Swimming, in particular, is very beneficial and is considered the best activity for recovery.

Whatever you choose to do, make sure to do it at low intensity and keep the heart rate in the aerobic zone (70%-80% of your maximum heart rate). Again, the goal is to maintain the blood flow through the muscles needed for cell repair.

For example, we all feel broken when we wake up in the morning, right? It doesn’t matter if you are an MMA athlete or a regular person, you feel stiff. However, as you start moving and by the time you reach work, the pain and stiffness will go away. Why? It’s simple, the muscles have warmed up.

Passive recovery methods

Again, being passive doesn’t mean you should lay in bed the entire day. No, this segment of recovery for MMA athletes includes various methods such as:

• Massages
• Sauna
• Ice baths
• Cryotherapy
• Using a foam roller or compression boots, and many other methods and tools.

Massages are among the most popular choices, and it’s easy to see why. First, it promotes relaxation. As studies have shown, massage triggers the brain to release serotonin, a hormone that makes us feel happy. Next, a nice massage reduces muscle inflammation, elasticity, tightness, and pain. Depending on the type of massage, some help flushes metabolic waste, while others might target deep muscle layers to reduce tightness and help relax the central nervous system.

Sauna, on the other hand, has similar benefits. It increases the heart rate and blood circulation through the muscles, which helps in muscle tissue repair after an intense workout. In contrast, ice baths are not as popular as you would assume, but also come with huge benefits. Just a few minutes in cold water right after a workout significantly reduces inflammation, swelling, and breakdown of the muscle tissues. It also improves the immune system in the long run.

Passive recovery focuses more on reducing inflammation, pain, tightness, and built cramps in the muscles. It reduces pain, and the risk of injuries and enables you to train more.

Sleeping and rest

Doing all of the activities listed above will do nothing if you don’t give your mind and body enough sleep at night. You can stretch as much as you want and attend two massage sessions a day, but if you are running on two or three hours of sleep, it’s just a matter of time before your body will fail you.

Active MMA fighters, both amateurs and pros, should not sleep less than 7 or 9 hours a night. This is optimal when it comes to body and mind recovery. Although the muscles are relaxed during REM sleep, the body remains active in repairing tissues.

Nutrition and diet

MMA is a high-intensity activity and it burns just about every nutrient in your body to the last reserves. In order to recover the right way and keep the body healthy, each athlete must adopt a healthy eating diet. We can’t stress enough how important this is. The body needs the right nutrients as fuel before a workout, and to ensure faster recovery afterward.

Thus, each meal should be well-balanced between healthy fats, carbs, protein, and of course, vegetables and fruits. When it comes to recovery, the crucial nutrient is protein, which is repairing and building muscle tissue. Your daily protein intake should be around 1–1.5 grams per kilogram of body weight.

Primarily, the food rich in protein comes from animal products, but there are also a couple of good vegan options:

• Beef, chicken, lamb, pork, fish
• Milk, yogurt, cheese
• Soya, tofu cheese, quinoa, nuts, beans

Healthy fat foods:

• Avocados
• Whole eggs
• nuts
• Fatty Fish
• Olive oil

Healthy carbs:

• Whole grains
• Fruits and vegetables
• Potatoes
• Rice

Further, there are many foods that directly fight inflammation that you should eat after a workout to lessen pain and soreness such as:

• Olive oil
• Spinach
• Tomatoes
• Almonds and walnuts
• Fatty fish like tuna

Final Thoughts on MMA Recovery

MMA carries a high risk of injuries and one of the key methods to reduce the risk of training is to pay extra attention to recovery. Regardless if you are an amateur looking to develop self-defense skills or a pro-fighter, all practitioners must focus on recovery as much as they do on training. 

With MMA, it’s not about whether you are going to get hurt, it’s about when and how badly. So instead of pushing yourself all the time and at all costs, train smart and with longevity in mind.