Mike Sloan Doesn’t Train

Oh, Mike Sloan.  Why do you say such silly things? In yesterday's "Monday Morning Reverie" column, Sherdog's Mike Sloan makes a statement about training…

By: Luke Thomas | 16 years ago
Mike Sloan Doesn’t Train
Bloody Elbow 2.0 | Anton Tabuena

Oh, Mike Sloan.  Why do you say such silly things?

In yesterday’s “Monday Morning Reverie” column, Sherdog‘s Mike Sloan makes a statement about training that reveals he’s likely never…well…trained.  Notable quote:

Couture knows more about MMA than almost anybody in the sport. But he said during the Ortiz-Evans fight that Ortiz had finally stopped overtraining. I’m not a professional fighter by any means, but I’ve never bought into the whole excuse of “overtraining.” I’m sorry, but that just can’t happen. A fighter might train a bit too hard and suffer an injury, but overtrain? That’s like saying a legendary guitar player practiced his fretboard warm-ups too much and forgot how to play his songs …

Oh, dear God.  Are you kidding me?  

Contrary to Gold Medalist’s Sloan’s opining, overtraining is very real thing.  You can actually exercise too much, thereby not giving your body enough rest to grow.

When you have sore muscles after a workout, it’s generally because you’ve actually torn part of the muscle fibers.  That has to happen for growth as new tissue is created to repair and replace the existing damaged/exercised tissue.  This is why rest is so important.  When strength and conditioning coaches tell you to ice up, stretch out and get rest, that’s not a talking point.  That’s real advice.  For Sloan to argue that the idea of “overtraining” seems absurd on the face is indicative of someone who likely spends very little time in the gym.  That’s not a knock per se until you realize he’s challenging Randy Couture and has a job where he talks about fighting.

For more information on this mythical nonsense known as “overtraining,” go here, here, here, here, and here.

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Luke Thomas
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