SGPT Interviews MMA Fighter Rafid Haque

Tell us about your background, Rafid.

I’m from a really poor country called Bangladesh where big name worldwide athletes in any sport, let alone combat sports, really isn’t a thing. I always grew up playing basketball and other sports and knew from a young age I was going to become a world renowned athlete, but just didn’t know in what.

I am competing in Muay Thai and hopefully in the future will make the transition to MMA to become a dominant champion that’s recognized and known from one side of the world to the next so I can kind of be a role model to all those that want to achieve big things, but may happen to come from small places.

When training are you focused solely on fight performance, or training for life in general as well?

Fight performance only, but they go hand in hand. My interests, when it comes to physicality, exercise, and health, lie solely within the realm of Martial arts and expanding myself as a better fighter. Through developing myself as a fighter I want to also seek to better myself as a person.

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?

Of course. Prior to working with Brandon I combined very little strength work into my training routines. Surprisingly enough after combining my regular training camp workouts with Brandon’s strength and conditioning program I made huge leaps in my cardio performance during fights.

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?

Well we’re only as good as our last fight, and my last fight was when I first implemented Brandon’s training program. And I won that fight, and almost finished the poor guy so I’d say a nice fat 10.

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?

After reaping the huge benefits of strength and conditioning in my last fight and seeing the Improvement it had on my cardio, I have permanently Incorporated new routines into my daily workouts and training camps.

Are you preparing for a fight now?
Yup.

QUESTION:I pull my weight at work, but I’ve always been a kind of background person. I’d like to step forward more, but every time I think about it my gut clenches up. How can I get past that and do more? Thanks!

ANSWER: Check out this article–10 Tips to Increase Mental Toughness. Also, this one: Do One Thing Daily That Scares You.

QUESTION: My biggest problem is procrastination because every time I get started on a project, I start feeling like there’s other stuff I should be focusing on, but then I feel guilty when I switch projects. How can I stop this? Got some tips?