MMA and UFC fighter Amanda Nunes is displaying the self-confidence that led her to a stellar fighting career. Nunes, 35, shared a picture of herself posing against a green screen in UFC shorts and a tank top, looking tough and ready to fight. “I can do anything!” she captioned the post. Nunes has earned her reputation as one of the most skilled fighters in MMA—here’s how she stays fit and strong for whatever is next.
Nunes’s training gym is an extension of her home. “I’m in a new place, too, so make everything easy,” she tells Laura Sanko on One on One. “Upstairs, I have a place to rest. I don’t need to go back home, drive home, and then go back to the gym. So when I’m done with my training in the morning, I stay in my studio upstairs. I have a very nice setup with the kitchen, and living room for rest. Reagan’s playground, too. So we have a pretty comfortable gym to stay right after training, get rest, and jump in the next class, you know.”
Nunes’ workout is heavily focused on weight training. “Before beginning strength training, consider warming up with brisk walking or another aerobic activity for five or 10 minutes,” the Mayo Clinic advises. “Cold muscles are more prone to injury than are warm muscles. Choose a weight or resistance level heavy enough to tire your muscles after about 12 to 15 repetitions. When you can easily do more repetitions of a certain exercise, gradually increase the weight or resistance.”
Nunes’ camp is different now she is no longer working with her old team at ATT [American Top Team]. “I’m grateful for everything I did with them, they helped me a lot,” she tells Sanko. “We did great things. But I want to do it on my own now. My training has been great… We’ve been walking. And the new [coach] is the jiu jitsu coach. He’s a fighter too. So that was an easy introduction to my camp too, and amazing. I pretty much keep the same kind of schedule that I used to have when I became a champion. When I become a double champion, of course, I just put in more things, new things, and change a couple of things, but no injuries at all.”
Nunes’ social media shows her frequently hitting the pool with her family. “As cardiovascular exercises go, swimming offers a little less wear and tear on the body than other options,” exercise physiologist Christopher Travers, MS, tells Cleveland Clinic Health Essentials. “It’s a good choice for just about anyone. When you swim, you’re getting better aerobic capacity, and you’re working your muscles because you’re working against the resistance of the water.”
Nunes enjoys horseback riding (she really is good at everything). “Recreational horseback riders report a significantly higher sense of physical and emotional well-being and happiness than people who don’t enjoy the companionship of animals,” says the American Heart Association. “More than 80% of riders claim that horseback riding created feelings of relaxation and happiness.”