Aaron Chalmers on fitness, nutrition and training for his next fight

JOE spoke to Aaron Chalmers as he prepares for Bellator Newcastle

The former Geordie Shore star is keen to extend his winning record in front of a hometown crowd on February 9th. With weight cuts a hot topic of contention, Chalmers has enlisted expert help to do it the healthy way. He said:

"With my first couple of fights as an MMA athlete, I didn't take my diet as serious as I am now. I was eating out a lot ahead of the fight and It was difficult to get my weight where it needed to be.

On weight cuts and nutrition:

"Now I have a nutritionist I have set meal plans and weigh all my food. My advice to anyone cutting weight would be to do it properly for a 12-week period rather than trying to do it all at the end."

Chalmers' nutritionist has also made general adjustments to his diet in preparation for Bellator Newcastle.

"My nutritionist just ensures that every single week I'm taking something new out of my diet. But I still have snacks so it means I never go hungry. I think it's the best thing I've ever done for my career."

With the nutritionist calculating the exact number of calories and macronutrients Chalmers needs, all that's left to do is the cooking.

On preparing for his second Bellator fight:

This is just one example of the professionalism needed since signing with Bellator. Chalmers is treating it as a full-time job.

"Bellator has been a huge step up. My career went from being a part-time job to a full-time job.

"I'm in Birmingham six days a week and training around two or three times a day. If you want to fight for a promotion like Bellator it has to be a full-time job and I'm 100% committed."

The Newcastle native has also added elements of other combat sports into his general conditioning.

"I've started training at a Jiu-Jitsu gym and every morning I'm wrestling or training Jiu-Jitsu.

"Everyone expects me to come and stand in a fight but now, if it goes to the floor, people are going to be shocked because I've been practising my ground game."

On strength and conditioning:

In addition to the jiu-jitsu work, Chalmers is also using a range of resistance training.

"My strength and conditioning tends to focus on both weight training and on body weight training.

"I tend to do that in three-week stages, so every three weeks we change the phase as we get closer to the fight. So we'll go from lifting heavy weights to more explosive weight training, but then also training to improve pure speed and power."

As the legs are responsible for generating most power, particular attention is paid to lower body lifts. Some of the best leg exercises for building the quads, glutes and hamstrings include:

• Barbell Back Squat
• Front Squat
• Leg Press
• Trap Bar Deadlift

On cheat meals:

Chalmers also spoke about his preferred cheat meal, which he will hope to indulge in on February 9th.

"It's not even a meal. All I think about on the week of the fight is cheesecake.

"Ahead of my last fight I ordered two special cheesecakes from two local shops in Newcastle so that as soon as I had finished the fight, I could enjoy them.

"It was also around the time of my birthday, so friends and family bought me cheesecake. So for a few days after the fight I was just eating cheesecake for every single meal. It was unbelievable, I was honestly in heaven."

Tickets for Bellator Newcastle: Pitbull vs. Scope are on sale now from Ticketmaster.co.uk and Bellator.com, as well as the Metro Radio Arena box office.