Issue 121

Aside from pumping iron at the famed Gold's Gym, a short drive away from his California home, Fabricio Werdum likes himself a bit of a paddle now and then, too.

Not only is he smart on the ground, he's smart with his strength and conditioning because swimming, aside from being one of the best calorie-killing exercises you can find (frying a gut-busting 818 per hour, compared to 765 on a treadmill), taxes larger and smaller muscles a typical evening in the sweat box can't touch.

If you want to take a dip and swim lengths like Fabricio in an effort to build those hard-to-reach stabilizers, try using the grannies' favorite: the breast stroke.

If you forgo some of the pumping with your arms, you'll be forced to use your core more. And a stronger core will not only give you more ability to explode on the mats, it'll help you to deliver those crushing Thai knees with the same horse power 'Vai Cavalo' puts out.

And it's not just Werdum. Current UFC light heavyweight champ and pound-for-pound numero uno Jon Jones espouses the benefits, too.

Indeed, swimming skills can also save lives - not least your own, of course. In January 2019, Werdum made local headlines when he and a lifeguard rescued drowning teenagers at a beach near his home in Torrance, California.