Here's the ten essential items you need to create the perfect MMA man cave.
If you’re among the warrior elite, you should consider your gym your home. Even so, every champion needs a place to retire – a sanctuary to cleanse their soul and heal their wounds after a brutal session in the sweatbox. It’s time to clear out the basement, rearrange the loft and dust down the garage so you can design the perfect space to relax, recuperate and recharge your man meter. Here are the essentials every fighter should have in their lair of testosterone…
1: Video games
(including: UFC 3, Super Smash Bros., and, going old school, UFC Personal Trainer)
They may be the principal reason why a large portion of the nation’s kids are festering away in their bedrooms rather than hauling their chubby rears to the gym and kicking some ass, but, in moderation, video games can not only do wonders for your downtime but also your fighting skills.
Studies by the University of Rochester, New York, showed that playing action-style video games sped up participants’ reaction times by as much as 25%, so there’s nothing wrong with a bit of ‘plug and play’ after a heavy bag session.
2: Massage Chair
Move aside, La-Z-Boys: Yes, recliners may be good for the common man who spends most of his hours resting Budweisers on his beer gut watching NFL, but this man cave is for serious contenders. A top quality massage chair will penetrate through the muscles to provide relief from stiffness and soreness. With some models you can even download your favorite tunes to its in-built sound system. So slam on some Stemm, pump it up to its highest setting and be ready to ‘Face the Pain.’
3: The essential supplements shelf
After dragging your war-torn body back to the man cave, it’s time to start the healing process. There are four supplements that every fighter should use: whey protein, glutamine, creatine and BCAAs. Whey protein is quickly absorbed by the body, meaning you’ll repair quicker. Glutamine and creatine have been proven to speed up muscle recovery, whilst BCAAs are the building blocks of muscle – imperative for rebuilding your physique and smashing through barriers.
4: VHS collection (featuring: Van Damme, Steven Seagal, Bruce Lee, Chuck Norris and Arnold Schwarzenegger)
If the unthinkable should happen, after a loss it’s time to retire to the cave and restore your predator instinct. Dusting the cobwebs off your old-school VHS collection and slammin’ on some of your favorite martial arts heroes can kickstart your comeback.
“Watching inspirational movies or personalized highlight videos of your performances can help you stay motivated for the grind of training as well as help set the stage for productive positive mental imagery,” says Brian Cain, sports psychologist to fighters including Georges St Pierre. “The fighters I work with will have custom highlight videos made with the entrance song they will use for their next fight. These get the fighter where they need to be mentally for a peak performance in the cage.”
5: Large water cooler with ionizer
Randy Couture is a firm stalwart of the water ionizer revolution, so no self-respecting fighter’s man cave would be complete without one. The theory is that the ionizer turns water more alkaline, therefore making your body’s pH less acidic and much healthier. So if you want to be swinging into your sixties like ‘The Natural,’ it’s time to invest in one.
6: Veg-packed fridge
Your man cave fridge should be stacked with veggies like cabbage, cauliflower and broccoli (cruciferous if you want to get technical).
As a fighter, you want as much testosterone as possible – it’s the stuff that makes you a man, and more importantly, a mean machine. Research in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute found that a compound found in cabbage, cauliflower and broccoli can help boost testosterone levels by getting rid of excess estrogen (the female hormone). So if you want to tear it up, eat this deadly trio.
7: Coconut water
A cornerstone of Krzysztof Soszynski’s K-Sos diet – which helped rocket Mark Munoz into the upper echelons of the UFC middleweight division – coconut water is a great way to rehydrate your body after a heavy session. It not only replaces fluid, but also essential electrolytes necessary for proper muscle function. Just make sure you don’t confuse it with coconut milk (which is a calorific bombshell) otherwise you’ll soon find yourself sporting a gut that would make Roy Nelson blush.
8: Salt bath
Need to make the cut the night before the fight but don’t have the luxury of a sauna? Try a roll-top bath and five tubs of salt as your man cave centerpiece. “Salt baths are a great way to cut weight quickly and cheaply,” says Sean Keefe, S&C coach to Michael Bisping. “Pour five tubs of salt into a bath full of hot water and stir it around. Lie down in it, keep adding hot water as hot as you can go and stay in it for 20 minutes.
"Afterwards, get into a sleeping bag or wrap yourself up in heavy towels that will make you sweat and repeat the process. The salt draws the water out of your body. Mike used it with his fighters on TUF and it worked wonders.”
9: Pumpin’ sound system
Not only can a sweet sound system provide extra kudos when your buddies pile into the cave to watch some UFC action, but it can also help when you’re solemnly recuperating from an intense sparring session. Studies in The Journal of Pain show that listening to music can help reduce pain by activating sensory pathways that compete with pain pathways, so throwing on some of your favorite tunes can actually numb that Mark Hominick-style hematoma and provide you with the chill-out time you need.
10: Freezer full of meat
Hardcore country boys like Matt Hughes and Brock Lesnar can often be found hauling large carcasses back to their cave, ready to chow down, primal style.
Fighters need protein to build muscle, so kitting out your cave with a freezer full of the finest meats is imperative. Meats loaded with protein include the beef round cut (also the lowest in fat) and moose. Add 10 man points if you’ve managed to hunt it yourself, add 20 if it was with your bare hands.
