TRAINING TALK MAX POWER

UNBEATEN MIXED MARTIAL ARTIST MAX NUNES TALKS ABOUT HILL SPRINTS AND MOVING TO LONDON BY JOHN PLUMMER PHOTO BY STEVE MITCHELL

Max Nunes is Sweden’s most ferocious export. The mixed martial artist, who has moved from Stockholm to London to pursue his career, has won all ten of his professional fights and eight didn’t last longer than a round. Light-heavyweight Nunes, 24, also has one of the best physiques on the British fight circuit. Standing 6’ 4” and 208 lbs he cuts an imposing figure. He will put his unbeaten record on the line at BAMMA 13 at the National Indoor Arena in Birmingham on September 14. MUSCLE&FITNESS: How long have you been fighting? MAX NUNES: Not long at all. When I was younger I played basketball and football— I did most sports but not martial arts. I only started MMA four years ago. M&F: Is your lack of experience a disadvantage? MN: Yes and no. I have less fighting experience so I have to compensate with my conditioning and by training a little harder. But the advantage is I’m not pre-programmed. For example if someone has been kickboxing for ten years and then switches to MMA he will be stuck  in a kickboxing mentality. M&F: What are your strengths and weaknesses? MN: My composure is my main strength.  I never tend to panic or get too concerned even if I get taken down. My weaknesses  are my inexperience and my wrestling  and striking. M&F: How do you manage to stop so many opponents in the first round? MN: It just happens. If I see a finish I go for it. I’m not in it to go the distance because if you rely on the judges you never know what will happen. M&F: How far can you go? MN: I want to keep fighting bigger names at bigger venues. I just want to get better and better. Every fight I aim to improve on the last one. M&F: Which country do you represent? MN: I was born in Sweden but fight out  of London so I would say both. I was 20 when I moved and all my fights have been in England. My dad is from England and my mum is from Sweden. M&F: What are the advantages of being based in the UK? MN: Better training and more opportunities. Four or five years ago when I was starting there weren’t so many MMA competitions in Sweden; it’s getting better, though. America is still the biggest place for MMA, but England is better than many places. M&F: How good is the standard of British MMA? MN: It’s pretty high. There are some top organisations and lots of good fighters.  It seems English people do well fighting internationally, except when they come across a good wrestler. Wrestling is not so popular in England but the fighters are improving at it. M&F: Do you do much weight training? MN: I do it about three times a week. I usually do about ten to 12 reps of four  sets of exercises like deadlifts, pull-ups  and squats—exercises that actually help me. I have always had naturally broad shoulders. I train maybe three times a week but I don’t know if I’m super-strong in the ring—you’d have to ask my opponents. M&F: How long do you prepare for  a fight? MN: I’m always training but I step it up maybe eight weeks out from a fight.  I hardly put on any weight in between fights so I don’t have to cut weight at all.  I fight at 205 lbs and weigh 208 lbs the rest of the time. It’s very hard for me to put on weight. If anything I lose it. M&F: Describe a typical week in fight camp. MN: Lately I have been going to Alliance Training Center in San Diego where a lot of top level guys train. I train there twice a day Monday to Thursday, once on Friday and Saturday and rest on Sunday. That seems to work for me. In the morning I do either jiu-jitsu, wrestling or sparring and in the evening I do drills or perhaps work on the training pads for striking. It depends on what I need to work on. M&F: Do you do any steady-state cardio or is it all high intensity? MN: It’s all high intensity. About twice  a week I do hill sprints on a treadmill  and closer to a fight—usually about three or four weeks out—this goes up  to three times a week. I do 30 seconds on, followed by 30 seconds off, and repeat that 15 times. Closer to a fight  I bring it down to maybe 15 seconds  on and 15 seconds off. I have never been able to jog. It hurts my hips and  I find it boring. I have seen some people  doing it but I don’t see how it would benefit me. M&F: What do you eat each day? MN: I try to be as healthy as possible during the day because you need a lot of energy for training, so I have a lot of rice, pasta, chicken and beef. However, almost every night I have junk. I don’t put weight on easily so I don’t get fat. M&F: What sports nutrition products do you use? MN: I have a massive amount of stuff.  I use protein drinks the most and fibre bars. M&F