SEALGrinderPT Interviews MMA Athlete Desiree Bennett

Tell us about your background.
I play recreational ice hockey as a goaltender. As an avid athlete, I always wanted to try my hand at other sports to further challenge myself and because it was something I always wanted to do. So I started training in the art of Muay Thai. I immediately fell in love and was able to begin my amateur career as a fighter.

When training are you focused solely on fight performance, or training for life in general as well?
Definitely both. I like to feel like I could be ready to go at any time. I found that with this approach, other areas in my life have improved. I also became a much better athlete overall and proudly will be competing in national women’s travel hockey tournaments. Training gives me the necessary time to focus on myself and feel my best both mentally and physically.

When looking at your strength and conditioning program did you feel you were able to fill certain gaps, or meet certain needs with a particular program?
Coach Brandon’s (of Brandon Richey Fitness) approach to strength and condition absolutely helped me achieve so much by leaps and bounds! His approach to doing routines correctly and using simple body weight for the majority – showed me serious gains in flexibility, reflex, and performance output. The greatest take away however, is once I started his program, just how noticeably better I felt overall.

On a scale of 1 to 10 with 1 being very little and 10 being the max what would you rate the influence of your strength and conditioning on your overall performance when competing?

Totally a 10. Competing is about being able to dig deep and outlast your opponent when you’re exhausted. Feeling strong and having the power to muscle through, when your adrenaline is starting to wane, can only be influenced by how hard you trained your muscles to keep you moving.

How much emphasis do you place on strength and conditioning and building athleticism to be a better fighter, or to perform for you current life needs?
I would say I place it number one. It fuels the ability to perform well. In my honest opinion, it’s a disservice to oneself not to implement one. You can be great at technique, etc. But if you don’t have the conditioning and strength to put power behind it in a way that is maintainable for your body at a fast pace, you will gas out and you will not do as well as you could have.

Are you preparing for a fight now?
I am currently back in training after a year off from having my daughter. I hope to be in a cage or ring in the next few months or so and will be adding in grappling/BJJ to the repertoire so I can debut in MMA soon as well.
Do you have any product recommendations (supplements, equipment, etc.) that you prefer to use to help with performance?

Foam roller, yoga strap, and lacrosse ball. Because beating yourself up all day, you have to equally focus on healing and rehabbing!

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