Issue 016
August 2006
Fighter fitness profile
Brad Pickett is the Cage Rage British featherweight champion and one of the UK’s most entertaining fighters. Known for his high energy fighting style as much as he is his cheeky ring entrances, Brad has been attracting plenty of fans with his unique scrapping style.
A former amateur boxer and semi-professional soccer player, Brad’s fitness levels are very high. His fight with Hiroyuki Abe at Cage Rage 16 saw him push the pace for a full fifteen minutes against the well-respected Shooto and PRIDE veteran, even though he was fighting with a broken wrist.
When in the UK Brad divides his training among a number of gyms, notably Eddie Kone’s BJJ academy and the Elite Fighting Systems. He has supplemented this by travelling to the USA to train with the well-respected American Top Team, and below he details his weekly training schedule when visiting Florida.
Brad’s training plan while at ATT in Miami.
Monday
30 mins cycle to the gym
AM: 2 hours heavy sparring, stand up and MMA
PM: 45 mins weights, 2 hours submission grappling.
Tuesday
30 mins cycle to the gym
AM: 2 hours boxing
Mid afternoon: 30 min run
PM: Tactical training with head coach.
Wednesday
30 mins cycle to the gym
AM: 2 hours physical conditioning
PM: Submission grappling.
Thursday
30 mins cycle to the gym
AM: 2 hours heavy sparring, stand up and MMA.
Mid afternoon: 30 min run.
PM: 45 min weight training.
Friday
30 min cycle to the gym
AM: 2 hours boxing training and sparring.
PM: 2 hours submission grappling.
Saturday
30 mins cycle to the gym
AM: 2 hours physical conditioning.
PM: rest
Sunday
Rest, but maybe a light run.
Diet
Being a featherweight fighter, Brad fights at 65.8kg (145lbs). He admits to cutting a little weight, but is lucky enough that he doesn’t have to try too hard to watch his diet. “To be honest with you, I don’t really have any strict regime with what I eat. I do eat a lot of proteins and meats and cut out all the fast food just before a fight. I cant really lie to you about it!”
Cutting weight is something every top fighter has to do, and Brad is no exception. “I have to cut about six to eight pounds before a fight. I do this quite easily by not drinking or eating anything 24 hrs before the weigh in. If I’m still overweight, it comes off in no time in the sauna. My way of thinking is, I much prefer to cut weight than to lose weight.”
