This week had a major upside to it. A phone call interview with Chael Sonnen. You can hear it as part of our podcast for TSN 1290s The Weigh In. Before the interview we talked about this project, encouraging fight fans to try aspects of the training. We talked briefly about his hilarious commercials for Nexersys (more on that later) and getting people fit. During the podcast interview we talked his picks for UFC Fight Night, and about his ability to always be ready for any fight any time. His answer was simple. It goes back to his wrestling days, and you never know whos going to be your opponent. You simply have to be ready and be your best. Chael isnt as big on strength training, and in fact sees it the same as some of the "old school" guys do. Its more to break up training than to add to it. Its a mental break, something new. It got me thinking about my week of training. I spend a lot of my time doing the work I have my pros do in the strength room. I also make time for kickboxing. Unfortunately, finding time to get to a jujitsu or wrestling class never matches my schedule, but I can always hit a heavy bag. Which led me to take a look around the internet, my hope was to find a few things MMA fans could try that could match their schedule if they wanted to try striking. The fitness you need for 20-30 minutes of striking is actually incredible. It truly is one of the top cardiovascular workouts. If you want your body to lose fat, cardio burns it off. Especially if that cardio is done in intervals, and high intensity training (HIT). I checked out a brand new franchise to the market, its called 9 Round Fitness. Basically a new class starts every 30 minutes. You are involved in a circuit of 9 x 3 minute rounds of activity. So if you are a fan of MMA or Kickboxing, but are not quite ready to enter a full fight gym, this is the perfect start. Trust me when I say, fight gyms can be intimidating. Go at the wrong time and you can see blood on the mats, and sweat flying everywhere. Its not the best starting point for a lot of people. Something with the basics of kickboxing, and people there simply to get a workout and try the sport they love is perfect. If you dont want to leave your home, you need to try a Nexersys. Its a stand-alone piece of workout equipment. It comes with software to ensure you are progressing, learning and increasing your fitness. The targets have accelerometers to insure your safety when striking. For a beginner in kickboxing its great, and it can advance you as you get better at your striking game. Again, anytime you can work in high intensity intervals into your training, its a great thing. I would love to see fight fans try something like this, just to get introduced to the sport they love. Building an understanding of what goes into training, builds more passion for the sport. It also builds sponsorship opportunities for athletes. Meaning, they get paid to train and the fans see more complete fighters. My week was capped off by a meeting with my trainer; its time to buckle down. Im looking to be able to hit 205 by the end of this 10 weeks. Currently my weight is sitting at 221 pounds. That means its time to tighten up on diet. This is the worst part of training. Its also why fighters hire trainers. Im using Jeff Fisher at Elite Performance in Winnipeg; hes helped athletes in all sports cut weight to be their best. Im using a trainer because I would not do what it takes if it was up to me. You need someone to reinforce the necessity of being strict on the diet. If a pro misses weight, it ruins his reputation and costs him a portion of his winnings. So to test how I can do with training and cutting calories my diet this week has a lot more focus. No sugar at all, increasing my good fats, using select supplements to ensure my vitamins and minerals are up even though my calories are being cut. I will eat 5 times in a day, 3 meals and two smaller snacks. Im also taking care to remove carbohydrates that have gluten, and extra dairy products. A lot of pro fighters are avoiding dairy as their fights approach. Dairy can in some people increase the production mucus, which affects breathing through the nose. Last week I started running with my SISU Mouth guard. Even though it has significant improvements in how well it fits, you still shouldnt be breathing with an open mouth. So dairy is reduced. Im on track, it feels good and I cant wait to hear from fans of the sport of MMA as they turn their health around, and develop some healthy habits thanks to their passion for MMA. Lots to learn and a lot of fun to be had while getting active. Jake Lamb Jersey . Hoffman, the former star closer, will evaluate and help co-ordinate all pitchers at Double-A, Triple-A and the big league team. Byrnes says Hoffman "will be a key part of finishing the development of our younger pitchers. 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Lyon, Valencia and AZ Alkmaar will also be in Fridays draw in Nyon, Switzerland, where the team to avoid will be Juventus -- even though the Italian champions made heavy work of their all-Italian last-16 match against Fiorentina. Custom Arizona Diamondbacks Jerseys . Braves reliever David Carpenter was also fined for throwing at Rockies outfielder Corey Dickerson in the same game, which featured several ejections, including Colorado manager Walt Weiss.ABBOTSFORD, B.C. -- Matt Climie made 28 saves as the Chicago Wolves defeated the Abbotsford Heat 4-1 Sunday in American Hockey League action. Giving AHL All-Star Jake Allen a night off, Climie stopped all 12 shots in the third period to help the Wolves hang on to the win, and extending his personal streak to 4-0-2. Alexandre Bolduc, Cody Beach, Dmitrij Jaskin and Tyler Shattock each scored for Chicago (35-18-6), who is on a 12-2-1 run that has them within three points of Grand Rapids for the Midwest Division lead. Cade Fairchild, Taylor Chorney, and Pat Cannone, fresh off his first career hat trick against the Heat Saturday, picked up two assists apiece. Brady Lamb, a defenceman turned forward, scored the only goal for Abbotsford (33-21-7), who is now winless in eight games. Head coach Troy Ward was forced to dress nine defencemen Sunday, with three of them playing as forwards, as his already depleted roster was dealt two more injuries in Saturday nights loss. Olivier Roy stopped just two of four shots before ggetting the hook in favour of Aaron Dell, who mopped up with 14 saves.dddddddddddd The Wolves opened the scoring seconds after Climie made a huge save, robbing Evan Trupp after he one-timed a centring feed from Blair Jones. The play went the other way and Bolduc redirected Fairchilds shot from the left circle. Beach made it 2-0 at the 14-minute mark, deflecting Eric Sellecks point shot and sending Roy to the bench. Jaskin scored on the first shot Dell faced just a couple minutes later, taking a cross-ice pass from Cannone and roofing it for his 15th of the year. The Heat began to show life past the halfway mark of the second as Ben Street had a partial breakaway stymied by Climie. Trupp chipped the puck off the boards right to Lamb in full stride. He split the two defenders and beat Climie glove side at 15:45. The Wolves squashed any comeback hopes with a power-play goal at 8:38 of the third. Cannone drew Dell far enough out of his net and quickly passed it over to Shattock for a wide open net. ' ' '