Liddell, Penn On Training And Diet
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- Nathalie Walker photo nwalker@midweek.com
UFC Hall of Famer Chuck Liddell was in Hawaii to help celebrate the grand opening of UFC Gym BJ Penn in Kakaako Aug. 18.
Liddell, who retired from the sport two years ago, maintains an active lifestyle by lifting weights four days a week (deadlifts are his favorite) and going to the gym near his home in Calabasas, Calif. He also trains other MMA fighters, including Glover Teixeira. While in Hawaii, he enjoys surfing and hiking.
As for his diet, Liddell says it’s not as strict as it was when he was fighting.
Standing 6 feet 2 inches tall, his current weight is 230 pounds, compared to about 215 pounds before.
“My biggest struggle a lot of times is I love good food,” says Liddell (pictured at right with Penn). “(Now that I’m retired), there’s not a set time where I have to get back to this weight or a reason to not eat too much, especially when I travel as much as I do for work.”
He admits his weakness is dessert, specifically rich chocolate and ice cream, and when he’s in Hawaii he enjoys eating Spam musubi and loco moco.
He also likes to barbecue a lot of his food, and likes to eat sushi, chicken, vegetables and broccoli. For supplements, he takes glu- cosamine for his joints.
“It’s one of the few I can actually tell the difference when I’m taking it,” he says.
Of course, BJ Penn was at the grand opening and confirmed he’ll be back in the octagon Dec. 8 to face Rory MacDonald.
“I didn’t have any plans of fighting,” says Penn. “I was happy teaching, but the opponent who I’m fighting put out the challenge to me, and I accepted.”
Penn says he trains every day, and his workouts consist of a lot of cardiovascular conditioning, including on the treadmill and Stairmaster. He also lifts weights to put on size, and does a lot of martial arts, including grappling, Brazilian jiu jitsu and kickboxing.
“I try to eat a lot of healthy foods; I haven’t cheated for a month,” he adds. “What did I win my first world championship on? Combo No. 3, but now I cannot do it anymore. I’d go to McDonald’s and order a double cheeseburger with Big Mac sauce, but I cannot do it anymore like I used to.
“Now, it’s no sodium, no fat and no sugar, so whatever that leaves me left with. And I do want to make it my lifestyle (not just during training). It’s going to go up and down, and you got to balance, but I want try to eat as good as I can.”
