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Feb 23

Sydney mothers are joining MMA gyms to lose weight and shake up their workout regimes – 7NEWS.com.au

Lose Weight Comments Off on Sydney mothers are joining MMA gyms to lose weight and shake up their workout regimes – 7NEWS.com.au

Sick of the boring fad diets and monotonous training programs, some Aussie mums are turning to mixed martial arts (MMA) to keep fit and challenge themselves.

Yoga classes or group fitness sessions might be where youd expect to find most mothers seeking to keep fit, clad in activewear.

In the video above: What is Wimp 2 Warrior?

But for some Aussie mums, this full-contact combat sport (also known as cage fighting) is exactly what they need to re-energise their life and lose some serious weight.

Eight months ago, Sydney mother-of-two, Gillian Cox was looking for a challenge to shake up her fitness regime, when a friend from her mothers group suggested she take part in a mixed martial arts challenge Wimp 2 Warrior (W2W).

The Wimp 2 Warrior program takes a group of novices and trains them in mixed martial arts culminating in competing in an amateur fight.

With no background in MMA, the 40-year old was understandably reluctant at first.

I would never have done something like that, it looked really intense, she said.

But Gillian decided to take the plunge and, after undertaking the Wimp 2 Warrior program in 2019, she felt she grew as a person.

In June 2019, Gillian and 30 other competitors began their fitness journey.

Five days a week for 20 weeks the group would train in wrestling, striking, strength and conditioning along with sparring (light fighting).

As the weeks progressed training started to become more intense.

On December 6 last year, after almost five months of training, Gillian fought her first MMA bout.

Although she lost, she says the challenge was a life-changing moment that will stay with her forever.

Its hard to put into words, but you do feel pretty bloody empowered. That youve done something that is so full on and you got through it, she said.

Its quite fulfilling to know that you can do something like that even though it is so scary.

It makes me really proud it sounds so cheesy, but I feel like I can do anything.

Violet Biddlecombe is another young mum who has become a big convert to mixed martial arts.

The 36-year-old single mother of three, from Sydneys Northern Beaches, has trained in MMA for just over four years and says it has taught her resilience and perseverance in life.

Like with MMA training, I just need to keep turning up, and I throw that (principle) into everything in life I do now, Violet said.

As a single mum, training is also vital to her wellbeing, she says.

Its time for me where I dont think about food shopping, I dont think about bathing the kids or dinner, she said.

And the support system I have built through MMA is very much like a family now.

Violet has also seen tremendous physical results.

After having her first baby, she put on 28kg, with her weight peaking at 88 kilograms.

It wasnt until she began training MMA that Violet started to seriously shed the excess weight.

These days, she weighs in at around 60 kilograms.

I lost a bit of weight before training MMA, but these last four years of training Ive got a lot leaner, she said.

Violet believes if more women could get past the violent stigma surrounding the sport, more could follow in her footsteps and embrace MMA.

Made famous by the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) competition, mixed martial arts is often seen as a violent and brutal sport.

Even Gillian and Violet admit they had that view before they started training in the sport.

Now, they have come to the realisation that its all about the fulfilment of learning something and challenging yourself.

The attitude externally when you dont understand the sport is youre going to get beaten up, youre going to get hurt but thats not what its about at all, Gillian said.

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For most of the people who do it, its for the challenge.

Violet agrees. I think when people understand and see how it isnt about violence, they get quite fascinated, she said.

Mick McSevney is the head coach at Wimp 2 Warrior Northern Beaches and has also trained both Gillian and Violet.

He believes that there is a steady increase in mothers training MMA as it becomes more mainstream.

I see more and more mums joining MMA as it becomes better understood, He said

There are safer platforms to start from like W2W

McSevney also says they arent to be taken lightly in a fight either.

The mums have something in them that isnt matched by other women, he said

When they go out to a fight they are often thinking about their kids. Its this motherly instinct that makes them much more intense fighters

So, should more mums try MMA?

Well, both Gillian and Violet think so.

Absolutely, I dont think they (mums) understand what they could get out of it, Violet said

Im the happiest Ive ever been in my whole entire life

I totally recommend it to everyone. If you commit to it for at least a month, more than likely youre going to be addicted.

And, they say, most importantly, their kids couldnt be prouder of them.

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Sydney mothers are joining MMA gyms to lose weight and shake up their workout regimes - 7NEWS.com.au

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