Khabib Nurmagomedov – The Eagle
If you are an MMA fan you must have heard the name Khabib Nurmagomedov, known as ‘The Eagle’. Khabib is a Russian professional mixed martial artist who currently signed up by ultimate fighting championship (UFC) and has the title of the longest undefeated winning streak of 28-0 along with two times combat sambo championship. He has a prominent skillset over judo sambo and professional fighting.
Here are the three reasons why Khabib Nurmagomedov is an undisputed MMA fighter:
- His consistency over heavy training
- Being recognized for perseverance
- A healthy diet develops endurance
Khabib’s Background
He was born in 1988 in the city of Sidli and moved to Kirovaul later. Khabib is second among the 3 siblings and always had a fascination with martial arts as his father, who owned a gym. He is popularly known for his training with no boundaries, to even train with a bear to maximize his physical potential.
The Russian based fighter was approached by UFC in 2011 and since he’s been one of the most followed fighters with 21 million followers on Instagram, making Khabib a popular and well respected among his sports. Khabib has a basic principle of having a well-managed diet with effective training in order to strive for one of the most competitive sports.
Why is Khabib Still Undefeatable?
Khabib is not an ordinary guy, his passion, attitude towards MMA and more importantly his healthy routine makes it possible to stay ahead of others.
1. Healthy Diet: Eating well and performing well
Khabib doesn’t compromise on his health and like many other athletes, he prefers lean protein, fresh fruits, and whole grains while avoiding processed food. His daily diet is 5 meals enriched with a sufficient amount of nutrition he needs and to process his diet. The workout is well managed with a combination of low tech and high power training
Diet Routine
- Khabib doesn’t compromise on his diet routine and considers food as a major part of his peak shape.
- He starts the day with a pre-workout smoothie of green vegetables and a banana, whey protein, or pea protein with brown rice and water.
- His lunch consists of vegetable salad with spinach, cabbage, cucumbers, mushrooms, and baby romaine all one cup measured or sometimes 1 can of Tuna with celery, onions, and mustard.
- A healthful type of macronutrients (carbohydrates, protein, and fat) is a part of his daily meals which include boiled eggs with grilled chicken and pepper, olive oil, and sometimes beans.
- Along with his tight meal routine, he occasionally has cheat days when he craves fast food and put on 20lbs once.
2. Workout Routine: Speed and technicalities
Khabib’s fitness routine comprises of basic elements like bodyweight training and low weight lifting with a higher density of reps along with his training on technicalities.
Workout Routine
- Khabib likes to have his workout routine simple now, he doesn’t fight with bears anymore nor does he shadowbox or lift the rock he focuses on simple bodyweight exercises and partner drills.
- He does have a grip over sambo (a military training for hand to hand combat) used in the 1920s. And he has been training for it from the very beginning of his career.
- His training also includes visiting the sauna once a week to remove all the excess water weight.
- His regular sprinting comprises 90 minutes run but as any fight approaches he doubles up the distance.
- Along with his run in the morning, he spars in after lunch and performs an alternative between sparring and grappling in the evening.
- He lifts only 3 days a week for his strength and performance but does not get overworked out.
- His phenomenal techniques of grappling and choking had always given him the advantage over his opponents which have made his fighting style unique.
3. Discipline doesn’t come out of anywhere
Khabib’s routine isn’t about healthy food only, it’s his discipline that makes him do more. Khabib’s life shows that keeping a balance between training well and a healthy diet sure makes a fighter undisputed and his consistency on strict routine makes him able to achieve what’s never been achieved. Now if we look at the benefits of his daily routine we see:
Morning Run
Khabib has a routine of 90 minutes of running in the morning with a pre-workout vegetable smoothie that helps him keep getting in shape and not compromising his performance. Morning runs tend to increase the overall productivity of the day and boost up metabolic activities of the body which helps him maintain consistent performance.
Bodyweight Exercises
Bodyweight exercises build up endurance from higher repetition to slow yet intensified workout. This gives Khabib additional muscular stability and it enables him to workout without much equipment and gives a variability of workouts.
3 days of Weight-Lifting
Weight lifting 3 days a week gives him more concentrated energy to pull off the next session better without being overworked out, and if required, can increase more weights.
No processed food
Processed food and beverages tend to provide an additional amount of sugar and are packed with highly unrecognizable substances with artificial coloring and chemical flavoring and he treats his body the way it is meant to be. He’s always been cautious about his health. If we look back to 2009, he had to pull out of UFC due to the consumption of processed food and had liver pain as he told.
Why train like Khabib?
Khabib Nurmagomedov training is perfectly balanced between two pillars: his diet and lightweight training but the adaptation of his routine would be a challenge for others, so following a complete routine might be difficult for others but slight amendments can make a huge difference for a perfectly balanced lifestyle. Khabib’s way of training comprises running and Crossfit giving the general idea of body endurance which everyone can easily adopt.
For more athlete workouts check out the Rookee app!
Apple download: HERE
Android download: HERE