Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) has exploded into a massive, multi-billion dollar global industry, captivating audiences worldwide with its high-octane action. However, a dangerous secret lurks behind the scenes: the extreme weight-cutting practices employed by many fighters before their bouts. This article will explore the perils of weight cutting in MMA, the story of Kendell Graham and also touch on Nick Searcy.
The Perilous Practice of Weight Cutting in MMA
Many MMA athletes resort to drastic measures to meet the weight requirements for their respective divisions. This dangerous practice, known as weight cutting, involves shedding a significant amount of weight in a short period, often in the days or even hours leading up to the official weigh-in.
One common method involves severe dehydration through "nil-by-mouth" periods combined with frequent saunas and hot baths to induce excessive sweating. This rapid dehydration can lead to serious health consequences, and in some tragic cases, even death. The pursuit of a competitive advantage through weight cutting has already claimed lives within the sport, even before athletes step into the cage.
Kendell Graham: A Positive Transformation Story
In contrast to the dangerous methods employed in weight cutting, Kendell Graham's story offers an inspiring example of achieving fat loss and muscle gain through a sustainable and positive approach. Kendell, a 25-year-old software engineer from California, participated in a 100-day transformation challenge and achieved remarkable results.
Using the MacroFactor app, Kendell lost over 40 pounds, reached new personal records, and established a system he can maintain long-term. His success highlights the importance of minimizing friction and enjoying life while working towards fitness goals, rather than relying on rigid restrictions.
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Kendell's commitment to his fitness journey also had a positive impact on those around him. He and his girlfriend supported each other throughout the challenge, and he inspired family and friends to adopt the app and experience similar results. Kendell even plans to use some of his prize money to help his father, who was affected by the California wildfires.
Art Mullen
Art Mullen is the Chief Deputy of Lexington US Marshals Field Office in Lexington, Kentucky. In "Where's Waldo?", he is seen talking to a US Marshal named Patrick Massett, who is interested in succeeding Art when he retires. Art, realizing the man's true interest, gives him a quick analysis of Tim, Rachel, and Raylan. Art excuses himself, saying that he has to inform Raylan that his father, who killed a cop has now killed a prison inmate. Art informs Raylan, who mentions that the murder probably had something to do with the bag he found in the wall, and confides the information to Art. In the house, they learn that the man posing as Waldo Truth is really an imposter named Harold Shawn, who has posed as Waldo for 15 years to provide the Truth family with disability checks. Mother Truth mentions that Waldo left with a pilot named Drew Thompson, but never returned. Art suddenly wants to leave after hearing Drew's name. Art explains to Raylan and Tim how Drew, the pilot, once parachuted into a local neighborhood and brought cocaine with him. Yet new evidence-a scar on the body consistent with one that Waldo received from his loving wife-points to the body found in the neighborhood as belonging to Waldo. So all these years Drew has been presumed dead, but it was Waldo all along. So where's Drew? In "Kin", he is seen standing along with David Vasquez when FBI Agent Jerry Barkley enters, angered at the Marshals for taking over the Drew Thompson case. In "Money Trap", he talks to Raylan and tells him to offer Arlo a deal to find Drew Thompson, much to Raylan's chagrin. In "Outlaw", he informs Raylan of Arlo's stabbing. Later, upon learning of Arlo's death from Raylan, tries to give Raylan a week off. In "Get Drew", Art shows up at the roadblock and objects to Raylan wanting to inform the state troopers after they realize that Ellen May is with Shelby. Art would rather the Marshals catch someone who is a huge badass like Shelby than allow the state troopers to do so. In "Decoy", Art and Tim (along with Nelson Dunlop--masquerading as Raylan Givens--and the KSP Officers) drive to the meeting place along the highway. Tim, who notices two abandoned cars parked too closely to one another and soon a third, becomes suspicious of a set up and stops the cruiser. Tim then drives around, parking besides the KSP truck to avoid moving around the bombs. In "Peace of Mind", Art and Raylan learn that Shelby refuses to go through with his deal for WitSec until he knows for sure that Ellen May will be safe and protected as well. Art still shows interest in suspending Raylan, but Raylan argues that he wants to finish what he started and wants to look for Ellen May. In "Ghosts" Art shows up at Raylan's house after the shooting and tells Raylan that he can't work the case because it is too personal for him, and warns Raylan not to bother coming back to the Marshals office if he goes over to Nick Augustine himself. In "Good Intentions", Art calls Raylan to let him know that Charles Monroe is likely to be released from jail and may come looking for him. In "Over the Mountain", Art assigns Tim and Raylan to look for Wade Messer, who was a confidential informant for Boyd Crowder's ongoings. Ed Kirkland calls Art and says that he has more than a tidbit of information on Sammy's whereabouts and they set up a meet in Detroit that night. Art talks to the arrested Al Sura, an associate of Sammy's. In "Shot All to Hell", Art waits outside of a diner that Ethan Picker, Wynn Duffy and Mike are inside of and notices that Elias Marcos is also waiting. After a brief standoff between the two men, Marcos leaves and Art enters the diner. Just as Art is ready to detain Picker and take him back to the Marshals office, Marcos enters the diner, saying that he is there to give Picker a ride. Art tells Marcos to leave in 10 seconds or he will shoot him. At the Marshals office, Raylan coerces Picker into giving up Marcos's location, where they track him down to a shipping warehouse. Marcos ambushes them with an AA-12 Automatic Shotgun, and as he is reloading, Raylan sneaks behind crates and shoots Marcos in the chest, killing him. Art is bummed that their only connection to Theo is dead, but Art, Raylan and the Marshals find Theo hiding out in a shipping container, with a gunshot wound in his abdomen. Art is praised at the Marshals office for capturing Theo, and Vasquez congratulates him. Before departing, Vasquez tells Art and Raylan the story about the Kentucky lawman being present at the time of Augustine's murder, and tells them that Picker revealed the lawman was corrupt FBI agent Jerry Barkley. Raylan tells Art for a fact that Barkley was not the one present when Augustine was killed, leaving it open ended as to whether or not Raylan is confessing. In "Kill the Messenger", Art is seen drinking in a bar when Raylan shows up. In "Raw Deal", Raylan talks to Art in his office as he is tired of Art treating him like shit ever since the situation of Augustine's murder and wants to be treated like a US Marshal. In "Weight", Raylan talks to Art about Alison Brander, worried that the Crowes might be coming after her. In "The Toll", Art is seen with Alison, who is packing up clothing as she is leaving because of the possibility of the Crowes coming after her. An unknown assailant shoots at them and Art tackles Alison to the ground for protection. In "Restitution", Raylan, Rachel and Tim visit Art at the hospital. Marshal Art Mullen, recuperating at home from his near fatal gunshot wound. The problem child has brought Art a fine bottle of aged bourbon, but the man cannot partake. The wise old Chief knows this isn't really a social call about Raylan's daughter being baptized a Catholic, and with no prodding, in general terms Raylan explains his dilemma. Art reaches for the bottle, pours a short glass and refines the problem, pointing out that if Raylan kills Boyd in a confrontation, while that would take care of the Boyd problem, Raylan would lose both his badge and his liberty, and would only see Willa through the glass of a prison visiting room window. In "The Trash and the Snake", Raylan visits Art to find out more information about Avery Markham after learning that he had previously threatened Ava and Boyd for going into his place of business and after Boyd robbed him. In "Alive Day", he visits the Marshals office and talks to Rachel, discussing the old Hale case and bringing up the possibility that Markham could have really been the snitch against Hale. In "Burned", Art is seen with Raylan, Rachel, Tim and Vasquez as they discuss the possibility of the RICO case being compromised due to Raylan's suspicions that Ava blabbed to Boyd. Art tells them he has an idea of who could be their second CI, revealed to be Duffy who turned out to be the one responsible for snitching on Grady. In "Fugitive Number One", Art arrives at the Marshals office and exclaims to Rachel that he tried to take the heat for Ava's escape but that Rachel had already called the director and took responsibility but says that he won't suspend Rachel because she managed to catch Boyd. David rants to Art and Rachel his belief that Raylan and Ava conspired together to steal the $10 million together right under the Marshals noses as Raylan, who normally loves to shoot his gun, did not draw on either Boyd or Ava and that if that is the case, it could be a career-ending move for him and Rachel. David even suggests that Raylan promised a cut of the money to Art, which angers the latter. Art calls Raylan during the manhunt and says he has to come back to the office now because of Vasquez's belief. Raylan calls Art and says that he won't be back until he has found Boyd, Ava, the money or all three. In "Collateral", Art and Tim find Raylan's abandoned car with his badge and ID in the driver's seat and Earl still handcuffed in the back. In "The Promise", Art takes Raylan into his custody at the station. Raylan manages to convince Art to let him hunt for Ava and Boyd as Boyd is at large too, and they both know the claims by Vasquez are BS. Raylan and Art head to a bar to talk to Deputy Stiles, who was released from the hospital after being assaulted by Carl. Raylan takes advantage of Stiles' sound sensitivity from the assault by slamming a bat onto the bar counter and forcing him to reveal that Markham is holding Ava captive at the Bennett drying shed.
Graham Yost
"Do you dumb ass peckerwoods understand english? On the ground hillbillies! It's a good time to be Graham Yost. The creator of Justified finished shooting the last episode of the FX series only days ago. He's still got to finish editing the last couple of episodes, and then his work on one of the most stylish and entertaining shows on television is done. Season 6 of the series has gotten back to basics. Harking back to its roots as an Elmore Leonard short story, the show has a renewed focus on the conflict between Marshall Raylan Givens, played by Timothy Olyphant, and eloquent criminal Boyd Crowder, played by Walton Goggins, the boyhood friends who ended up on opposite sides of the law. Add in some iconic villains, played by Sam Elliott and Garret Dillahunt, to add a few extra angles and you've got the makings of a classic conclusion to a classic series. I interviewed the man behind that story, the always articulate and amusing Yost last week only hours before the show's wrap party. Are you done with the finale? Do you know how Justified is going to end? We wrapped a week ago. We turned in our 11th episode to the network yesterday and the 12th will go in a week and a half. Was it everything you hoped for and more? We haven’t seen the last two episodes so you never know for sure. We feel good about what we were trying to do, but you never entirely know how stuff is going to play. We have a certain confidence. We started to plan for the terrain when we were breaking season five, we were thinking about what we wanted to do in season six. Focus it down to Raylan, Boyd and Ava, get back to that triangle. We probably didn’t really land on certain particulars until September, October of last year. How was it filming that last episode? My nickname given to me when I was working on Boomtown was Weepy McWeepster. A week ago Wednesday, we wrapped a bunch of actors, including Walton. And on the Thursday we wrapped Tim. And on Friday we wrapped the final scene, final shot, wrapping Joelle and some other characters. It was very emotional. The final wrap was weird. We’ve been talking about Sam Elliot since the beginning. We will call characters by the name of the actor we want to play them. We came up with a character called Garret Dillahunt. On the white boards, it’s Dillahunt does this, Dillahunt shoots this person. I noticed in another interview that you talked not only about Garret's Deadwood connection, but his role in Winter’s Bone. What’s the connection with that film? We took a couple of runs trying to get [director Debra] Granik to do an episode but he’s just too busy. And there was even a character at one point we were trying to get John Hawkes for. Yes. He’s a bad guy. Because he kills people. He’s charming. He’s eloquent. He’s romantic. He’s got a lot of zest. But he murders people. It’s generally people who have chosen a life of crime so they know what they might expect. And he steals. We can admire him and understand him. Did you feel any need to remind us this season that he’s a bad guy? At the beginning of last season, there’s a scene on a bridge, he’s trying to get this dope shipment from Detroit, and these guys hold him up and he just kills three people. Bang. Bang. But the audience doesn’t care. Unless he was to kill a puppy I don’t think that they would lose affection for him. I think there’s a distinction between being a bad guy and being a bad man. I don’t think Boyd is evil. He doesn’t have malevolent reasons for doing things. All his reasons are considered and understandable. But he crosses that line. I thought in the first couple episodes we saw the dark side of Boyd, even to the point of him walking around without a shirt, showing those swastika tattoos. And he kills a guy just because. Killing Dewey? That was to remind the audience that Boyd was in a position where he’d do anything to survive. I don’t think that makes you like him less because Walton is such a captivating performer. And the character is so colorful. It reminds you that the stakes are very high. That meeting with Winona in Episode 7, that really sums up Raylan. At the beginning of the season his stated goal is to get to Florida to be with his ex-wife and particularly his daughter. He does want that. Then he gets sidetracked by the arrival of Markham. But Winona says that it doesn’t have to be Florida. There’s a part of Raylan that wants to stay. He doesn’t want to leave. He wants to move to the next phase of his life but it’s hard for him to let go. That’s what we wanted to do in this seventh episode, to remind him that this is what’s at stake. He has a shot at having a life with Winona. And just to make it clear, he could pretty much go right now, and he wouldn’t be endangering his career. This is an internal drive not some kind of ultimatum from his bosses. So he’d have two of his friends pissed off at him, but he really does have a choice. Joelle has been pretty amazing this season. We’ve got a great actress playing the character Ava who’s a pretty bad actress. Or at least a pretty bad liar and constantly freaking out about getting found out. In any case, it’s a very interesting and nuanced performance.That is true. I showed up on set one day and I said to her, “My God Joelle you’re doing such amazing work this season” and she looked at me with the same look you get when you tell someone you lost a lot of weight. "What are you saying? The reality is as much as we gave her to play Ava in the past, we’ve given her that times two or three this season. We knew she’d be great and she’s great. Did anything happen between Ava and Raylan in Episode 5 and 6? A few reviewers focused on what happened between the kiss between Ava and Raylan in Episode 5 and Boyd showing up at the beginning of Episode 6. Boyd shows up two minutes later. So there wasn’t enough time? In short, they didn’t do it. I apologize if there was any indication that anything had happened. I think if you look at Tim’s performance when she’s kissing him, he’s not really kissing back. The look on his face, it’s Raylan’s work face. Interesting choice to have Boyd find out about Ava’s working for Raylan so relatively early in the season? That was one of the signposts we plotted early on. Right around episode 7 is where Boyd finds out. It’s kind of the pivot point in the season. What does he do? What does she do? We’ve talked about the three points of the triangle, but Harlan’s almost the fourth main character in Justified. Harlan has been the secret sauce from the beginning. We built our Harlan just from reading articles and talking to a few people but our real research began between the first two seasons as groups of writers would visit. One of the big things they came back with after the trip last June was the dire straits of Harlan. It’s never been an exceedingly prosperous community, but these are hard times. There has been a certain amount of flight. People just left. In the show we’ve got characters who have choices, from Raylan to Avery Markham, who want to stay in Harlan. Those hills are their home. What’s next for you? I gather you’re working with Noah Wylie on a WWII project. I’m always reticent to have any announcement of a development deal because there are so many things that have to happen for anything to become real. So I wish that hadn’t been announced. That’s the next thing I have to work on. We have some of the groundwork we laid, but we have to write a couple of scripts. We’ll take it from there. Nothing is guaranteed. It’s pretty unusual to have a show that’s run as long as Justified and gotten the kind of acclaim it’s gotten. I think you’re right to call it a gig search because there’s so little stability in this business. You’re always looking. What’s the next thing I can sink my teeth into? Something I can do a good job with. What six years of Justified does is give you a certain, um, respect, I suppose. People are interested in what I have to say. That’ll last a couple of years. It doesn’t last forever. I’ve had such a fortunate career. Since about 1991, I’ve really been lucky enough to work on things I really wanted to work on. Justified has been good to me and to a lot of people on the show it helped them get attention. Joelle. And Nick Searcy. Tim, I think was going to be big star anyway, Walton as well. For the writers, it gives them a certain cachet going in to meet on something. It's interesting talking to a business magazine because it really is a business. What’s the business plan? How do I plan for the future? My retirement. The kids’ school. I think I’m a competent writer. But the things I’ve done best are the stories I think about when I wake up in the morning. In the shower. When I’m driving. When I’m driving in the shower. Whether it’s Justified or Boomtown or Speed or Band of Brothers or Pacific. These are things that have taken over. You can take it to, who is it, Robert Bly? I’m a long-winded writer so I want to spin it out. I’m like Boyd.
Nick Searcy's Core Strengthening Drills
Coach and former gymnast Nick Searcy demonstrates his top favorite core drills using furniture sliders. These drills will help to strengthen your core and stabilize your shoulders. These exercises can also be done with socks on hardwood flooring. Check out the video for the whole series. Rep Scheme: Walk 25ft forward/back x 3 rounds. Rep Scheme: Walk 25ft forward/back x 3 rounds. Start in L-Sit Position. Arms fully extended overhead. Knees remain straight. Body must remain in solid hollow throughout all ranges.
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