UFC, WSOF, Bellator fighters offer health and 2015 fitness tips for us schlubs

Ronda Rousey

Turning the calendar for a new year brings countless resolutions and new motivations for people to change their lives. Whether it’s eating healthier, exercising more or other kinds of adjustments to improve quality of life, major or minor tweaks can always be made.

Most high-level MMA fighters don’t have to worry about such matters, though. Not on the same level as an average person, at least. They typically stay as close to fight shape as possible year-round, and that provides them with keen insight on personal health.

Now that 2015 has arrived, some of the world’s top fighters provide tips to help keep us everyday schlubs healthy.

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Ronda Rousey, UFC women’s bantamweight champion

Ronda Rousey

“Drink a copious amount of water all day long. It’s really simple, and people don’t do it. Even I’m guilty of not doing it. Drink more water – all day, all the time. Constantly have a water bottle next to you, and chug out of it even when you’re not thirsty.”

Benson Henderson, UFC lightweight

Benson Henderson

“Find something you like, whether you’re dieting or it’s a workout. If you don’t like the workout, then guess what: You’re probably not going to enjoy it, and you’re not going to do it. Whether it’s diet or exercise or whatever, find something you like, something you enjoy. If you like it, the chances are you’ll succeed with it a lot better. If you try a diet and food you don’t like, you don’t do it. But there are other options out there. Find something you enjoy. That’s the biggest thing right there.”

Colton Smith

“Drink water, and don’t eat carbs after 6 p.m. Complex carbs in the morning, eat frequently and feed your body. Don’t starve yourself ever – no matter if you’re cutting weight for a fight or if you’re a horse jockey. Treat your body like it’s a race car. You’re not going to give a race car bad fuel. You’re going to give it the best race fuel. Your body is no different.”

Johnny Bedford

“Diet is everything. I think nutrition is a huge part. In America it’s easier and cheaper to eat dirty than clean. If you’re trying to reach goals, that’s not the way to do it. You’ve got to eat clean and be strict and solid with the diet.”

Travis Browne

“I believe it’s one step at a time. Maybe instead of drinking a soda at lunch, you drink a bottle of water. When you’re thinking about going to Taco Bell or Burger King or something like that, instead of buying tacos from Taco Bell, go make them at home. Make turkey tacos instead. Instead of Burger King, pick up a steak or a bison burger or something like that. Those small things go a long way, and you’ll really start to see the difference.”

Jake Shields

“A fitness tip is just to stay consistent with your workouts. That’s probably the biggest thing. You can’t go work out of a week or two and expect results right away. You have to be consistent and make it a lifestyle thing. Keep working at it.”

Pat Barry

“Drink more water, period. If you think you’re drinking a lot of water, drink more. Double it. Water is one of the best things in the world you can drink. A lot of people want to get in shape but they don’t want to quit eating McDonald’s or stop drinking alcohol. Well, if you don’t want to stop doing that, then you need to up your water intake to wash it all out.”

Robbie Lawler, UFC welterweight champion

Robbie Lawler

“I would say when you work out, when you start working out, start off really light and just every week build a little but so that you’re not being too sore every time. Just start light and add a little bit every week so you continue to progress.”

Chris Beal

“Running. If I can tell you one thing, it’s just to run. It helps with cardio, it helps burn fat, and it’s just one of the best things you can do.”

Pat Curran, Bellator featherweight

Pat Curran

“Make sure you wake up, eat a healthy breakfast, make sure you get your eggs, whole wheat toast, beans, brown rice, and make sure you have a healthy breakfast to start the day. Once you’ve established that, then you can move on to lunch and then move on to dinner. So start with eating clean one meal, and then just kind of ease into it. That’s one trick that I’ve learned. You can’t just jump in and start cold turkey. You’ve got to slowly ease into a healthy diet.”

Emanuel Newton, Bellator light heavyweight champion

Emanuel Newton

“Cardio, cardio, cardio. Make sure your cardio is good. It’s not about lifting weights anymore. When you lift weights, you put on all this body mass. We were all born to get to a certain size. We were designed to be a certain height or a certain size, so when you get to the gym and all you’re doing is pumping weights, you’re putting too much pressure on your heart. That makes for more health issues, and that makes for a shorter life. So just do pull-ups and pushups. If you’re going to lift weights, make it really, really light weights. Explosive stuff. Keep running, and keep on your cardio. Don’t try to become some big meathead.”

Johny Hendricks

“I shoot my own stuff. I shoot my own deer. I harvest my own meat. That’s one of the greatest tips I can give to anybody. If you can go out there and shoot your animals and produce your own mean, that’s as organic as you can get. The deer we shoot, they’re eating native grass, water that’s running through creeks and stuff like that. There are no chemicals whatsoever put in my meat. That’s what I would like to show a person – that kind of life. You don’t have to worry about nothing.”

Joseph Benavidez

“The biggest thing I can say is a lot of people work out and expect to lose weight, but then they work out and almost treat themselves by eating something bad. The trick to losing weight and staying fit is the diet and the exercise – the exercise and the diet together. Just because you go to the gym doesn’t mean you can go eat whatever, unless you want to say the same. The diet is where it’s really at. You’ve got to have a good balance between diet and exercise. That’s just a basic tip.”

Georgi Karakhanyan

“You need to stop eating McDonald’s, stop drinking soda. Eat clean. I’m a vegetarian, and I’m not going to convince everyone to be a vegetarian, but try to eat your veggies and drink at least a half gallon of water every day. I used to eat fast food every day, and when I made the change, it was rough. I had cravings and all that. I just needed to turn around my life, and now I’m always going to be vegetarian.”

Cain Velasquez

“As far as diet goes, just eat clean. Eat legit meats and proteins with not a lot of fat in it and, of course, good vegetables.”

Mike Rhodes

“Cut out the sodas, cut out the fast food, cook for yourself, shop organic, replace your bread with Ezekiel grain, which is a multi-grain without yeast, and stuff like that. Just any small changes you can make with the way you’re eating. Drink a lot of water, and obviously, exercise. Be active. Even if it’s walking around, jogging. Walk a mile, jog a mile – do whatever. If you’re active, it speeds up your metabolism, and that’s something that can help you lose weight.”

James Vick

“Stay away from dairy. If you’re going to get your carbs, get it from fruit. Get it from sweet potatoes and stuff like that. For someone regular, avoid dairy and bread and even red meat and stuff like that. Don’t drink soda and stuff like that. Try to eat chicken or turkey or fish. I will eat red meat every now and then, but only three or four times a year.”

Chris Cariaso

“My No. 1 diet tip would be to eat a lot of vegetables and to work out. It’s pretty simple. Eat fresh vegetables and clean proteins.”

Urijah Faber

“Don’t go too far in one direction. There’s general health, and there’s weight loss. General health is about how you’re going to feel when you’re an old fart and you’re going to be sick and things like that. Being healthy is going to help you have your best chance to live a good life when you’re older. Weight loss is really simple: how many calories are you bringing in, and how many calories are you putting out? Understand that weight loss and health is different. Stay active and try to eat as close to natural as possible – foods in their most normal state.”

Tyron Woodley

“You get there by being persistent; you stay there by being consistent. Exercise and diet is the way to do it. There’s no light switch. Everybody wants a quick fix or some special, miraculous diet. Exercise five days a week, minimum. And eat healthy and drink a lot of water, and really that’s the only way you’re going to lose calories and pounds.”