Issue 183

October 2019

Bellator’s Hawaiian star on how she’s raised the stakes in training by going under water. 

You have taken your training into the water and the deep end of the pool in recent camps. What has the water work done for you in the lead up to your recent fights?

Oh gosh, so the water work is definitely a game changer. I can’t say that enough. I started implementing underwater training, and I’m not just talking swimming laps at the pool, I’m talking about hardcore military water survival training. I started doing that in preparation for Bellator Hawaii. Instantly, I saw the benefits, not just the physical benefits, which is mainly CO₂ tolerance and VO₂ max. What that addresses is your lung capacity, how much air you can get in and that’s important because you need to oxygenate your muscles. CO₂ tolerance means that you are working your muscles and CO₂ is what builds up. That’s what makes your muscles burn and it’s what makes them tired. 

When we train underwater we are training our bodies and our muscles to work using less oxygen. That’s what CO₂ tolerance is. When you watch fights and fighters gas out its not necessarily their cardio, it’s actually their muscles that are going out. Especially fighters that are super muscular. They need more oxygen for their muscles and when they aren’t getting that oxygen that’s when they start gassing. Training underwater and being cut off from your air source just builds up that tolerance and makes your body work more efficiently using less oxygen. That is just the physical side.

That’s just the physical side. What are the other benefits?

The biggest benefits I see is in the mental training we do. People freak out when they are underwater holding their breath. It’s just like training your mind to stay calm and stay relaxed. They give us these challenges to do and you think the person is crazy. You feel like you can’t do that! Then when you focus and you complete the task you get that swimmer’s high. Again, it’s a game changer for me. I get hit up daily by other fighters and high-level athletes that want to know how to get into it. Definitely keep an eye out for more Deep End Fitness and Underwater Torpedo Leagues.

We have seen the pyramids, you lifting heavy objects underwater and even slapping on armbars underwater. What has been the most memorable underwater moment from your most recent fight camp?

I would say it was the shark tanks. It’s really funny because I didn’t realize that a nickname for the SAP Center in San Jose is the Shark Tank. It’s funny because people call me a baby shark because all of my underwater training. We also do a shark tank in our MMA practices where one person is rotating in on me every few minutes, a fresh body every few minutes, to basically try to break me. My Shark Tanks for this camp were really brutal but they were really fun. I had a really good time with them. I usually hate them but I was pumping myself up for them this past camp. I thought it was funny and ironic how people told me I was fighting at the Shark Tank in San Jose and I had no idea. 

You had a birthday recently and I saw that one of the coolest presents you got was some gym time with Canelo Alvarez. How cool was that?

It was extremely unexpected. I was kind of embarrassed. I was wondering where we were and what we were doing there. Then when they finally told me it was Canelo’s gym, I was like ‘Holy Shit!’ Then they started wrapping my hands. I asked what they were doing. They said they were wrapping my hands and I was going to train. I had just got done with conditioning and I was tired. They did a few rounds of mitts with me and then I turn around and Canelo is freaking watching. There is a language barrier but I kept telling him over and over I wasn’t a boxer, that I was a luchador. Don’t mind me. It was really cool. He was really down to earth. It partially inspired me to go learn some Spanish, so I am enrolling in Spanish courses this summer because of my experience with Canelo. So, thank you, Canelo.