MMA & BJJ
CherryActive is a natural, antioxidant-rich Montmorency cherry juice concentrate used by Mixed Martial Artists and Brazilian Jiu Jitsuists, including those at professional and elite levels, to help maximise recovery from training and competition, to help maintain healthy body functioning, and to help naturally enhance physical performance.
Ross Pearson, Total Combat MMA International Lightweight Champion and Strike & Submit British Lightweight Champion, says:
"Without CherryActive I would not be able to train for as long and as hard as I do! The juice is great to prevent muscle soreness after hard sessions and it is a natural great tasting drink! I can train twice a day and feel great the next day with no aches or pains. I also find taking the capsules before I go to bed helps me get a fantastic night’s sleep and I wake up feeling great and ready to train. I will not train for a fight again without using CherryActive - it helps me get to my peak of fitness!"
CherryActive – The Best of Nature & Science
In MMA, every percent counts!
Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) and Brazilian Jiu Jitsu (BJJ) are highly physical sports which place huge demands on both the body’s skeletal muscles and joints. CherryActive’s unique methods harness the natural antioxidant compounds of the Montmorency Cherry that help to minimise damage done to worked muscles and stressed joints, and reduce total recovery times. Shorter recovery times means you are fresher for your next intense training session, and allows you to train harder, for longer, more frequently, increasing your preparedness for hard hitting fights giving you those extra percent in performance.
100% Natural & Great for All Ages Groups
CherryActive products are perfect for martial artists of all age groups. Our products are 100% natural, therefore are totally free from harmful artificial preservatives, colourings, sweeteners, and added sugar. The natural sugar present in CherryActive Concentrate is called ‘xylose’. Xylose is a large sugar molecule which has a low glycemic load and does not impact heavily on blood sugar levels. This ensures a steady release of energy and helps to prevent energy highs and lows, as well as prevent rapid weight gain.
Nick Osipczak, MMA Total Combat British Middleweight Champion & FX3 Fighter, says:
"I take a CherryActive Capsule every morning and night, and CherryActive Concentrate straight after training to assist my muscle recovery. I have found it has greatly improved meaning I can train harder for longer. The juice tastes great as well!”
CherryActive provides your body with essential natural antioxidants and flavonoids which can aid your physical performance!
CherryActive MMA & BJJ Benefits
ANTHOCYANINS. CherryActive’s high levels of Anthocyanins work to help reduce the body’s inflammatory response to exercise. Anthocyanins are a group of powerful antioxidant compounds, which are known to have powerful anti-inflammatory properties. By inhibiting the body's inflammatory response to strenuous physical activity less damage is done to the worked muscles, less muscle soreness results, leading to shorter recovery periods.
PERFORMANCE MAINTENANCE. CherryActive products help to protect your body from oxidative stress. Oxidative stress occurs when the body’s antioxidant defence system cannot cope with the level of free radicals present in the body and damage occurs. A body suffering from oxidative stress can suffer cell damage, catabolism (muscle breakdown) and burnout (fatigue). Free radicals are produced naturally, their levels increasing during bouts of exercise, and also come from external sources such as environmental pollution, smoking, alcohol, and various synthetic chemicals that are added to our food and water. The unrivalled antioxidant capacity of CherryActive ensures your body’s maximum protection from oxidative stress.
RESTFUL SLEEP. CherryActive products are a rich source of natural melatonin, containing levels higher than normally found in human blood. Melatonin has been shown to improve the body’s circadian rhythms and aid restoration of natural sleep patterns, helping you to get a good night sleep, contributing to improved physical recovery. Quality sleep is one of the crucial pillars in sound MMA training and recovery regime.
Jeff Lawson, Top British MMA Lightweight Fighter, says:
"As a pro MMA fighter, training to high intensity on a daily basis is required to reach optimum performance! CherryActive is one of the most important parts of my diet... I could not place such high demands on my body without it. CherryActive will remain a stable and imperative part of my training for years to come".
What CherryActive Will Mean For You
MMA training and competition utilises all of the body’s energy systems – aerobic, anaerobic, and phosphocreatine systems. Studies have shown that free radicals are generated to varying degrees within each energy system during bouts of exercise. Free radical production is significantly increased during exercise and may lead to oxidative stress within the body. Oxidative stress can lead to cell damage and muscle loss, resulting in fatigue and therefore a reduction in performance.
MMA training and competition can also lead to Delayed Onset of Muscle Soreness (DOMS) which results in muscle swelling, stiffness, strength loss and pain. DOMS can leave individuals unable to train or fight at their maximum level until the symptoms disappear (typically 3-5 days). Severe DOMS can seriously hinder progression.
CherryActive is high in powerful antioxidants and flavonoids which can help to counteract and reduce these training and fight induced symptoms. CherryActive allows you to train harder and for longer, improving your progression and helping you to gain that competitive-edge come fight day.
A single 30ml dose of the CherryActive Concentrate provides an antioxidant capacity EQUIVALENT TO 11 OF YOUR RECOMMENDED 5-A-DAY fruit and vegetables. This is about 8 times greater than the 250ml Innocent Blackberries/Blueberries Smoothie, a product held in high regard for its health-promoting qualities. The antioxidant capacity for the CherryActive Concentrate is one of the highest tested at Knight Scientific for a food supplement product. See the test results.
Lorraine Cullen, leading British Sports Nutritionist, Nutritionist to Scottish Rugby and other top contact sports professionals, says:
"Working as a sports nutritionist to many top athletes and sports professionals I recommend CherryActive to help improve recovery and maximise sleep quality. I used CherryActive as part of my nutritional strategy for the Scottish Rugby Team’s World Cup 2007 preparations and campaign as well as the 2008 Six Nations competition, and it played a vital role in the recovery and physical performance of the team. I will continue to recommend CherryActive products to the athletes I work with."
How CherryActive can help to Maximise your MMA Performance
The cherry we use is in our products is called a Montmorency cherry which contains powerful health and recovery promoting antioxidant compounds in quantities and variety not found in many foods, e.g. high levels of anthocyanins, and melatonin. CherryActive has a unique growing and manufacturing process which works to harness and optimise the powerful compounds present in our carefully selected cherries.
The antioxidant capacity of Montmorency cherry compounds is up to 4 times more powerful than vitamins C & E combined. Our products have a host of other health benefits besides helping to improve recovery – they help to strengthen joints, maintain a healthy cardiovascular system, preserve brain health etc.
How CherryActive can help improve your recovery:
The high levels of natural anthocyanin compounds present in CherryActive products help to inhibit the body's inflammatory response to exercise leading to less muscle soreness following training and fights, so whether you have been doing a hard sparring session, intense sprints and fitness, heavy weight training, or the fight itself, the inflammatory inhibiting effect of CherryActive helps to reduce the amount of damage done to your body, meaning shorter recovery times. You can liken it to being hit in the face – your body’s reaction is to swell up and swelling means more damage. The way we counteract this is to ice the injury to help reduce the swelling. The same principle applies here – the CherryActive compounds effectively ‘ice’ your muscles internally thereby reducing the swelling and lessening the damage leading to a shorter recovery period.
When you can train with the confidence that your body will be protected after each session you can push yourself even harder knowing that you will not risk over-training or burn out. You can find yourself training and fighting with a new intensity.
The unrivalled antioxidant power of CherryActive products also helps to 'mop-up' damaging free radicals produced by intense exercise, pollution, chemicals in food & water, and other sources which can lead to cell damage, muscle breakdown and fatigue. Free radical damage can limit physical performance and contribute to degeneration of the brain and organs. CherryActive was recently tested for antioxidant levels against 5 leading “Super Juices”; Acai, Goji, Noni, Pomegranate, & Black Cherry. CherryActive blew away all 5 juices and is significantly higher in antioxidant compounds. A full review of this study will be available soon. These results confirm the free radical fighting effect CherryActive consumption has, which can help preserve your muscle mass and maintain your strength and stamina – both highly important for any Mixed Martial Artist.
The best way to take the products is to use the Concentrate after training (as the natural sugars are perfect as a post workout carb source [See bottom for ingo on the type of sugar]) and the Capsules before bed (as some people avoid carbs late in the evening). If you are cutting carbs out of your diet (for example the last week leading into a fight and your cutting) then use the caps during the day instead of juice as they are zero carb but have very high doses of the anti-inflammatory and antioxidant compounds which help you to recovery quicker.
CherryActive Concentrate: Take 30-90ml of Concentrate (3-6 squirts of the pump) 0-45 min after each training session, whether the session is weights, cardio or fight training. Take higher amounts according to how much work the session has put on your muscles – i.e. if you are doing a really light cardio session like a medium intensity bike where you don’t get any burn in your legs or any muscles you could even take 10ml only, but if you do hard intensity grappling / weights / circuits for an hour and a half or even longer and your muscles feel extremely tired and achy straight away then take 60ml (you can take more if you think you need to but 60ml should be enough for an athlete with a bodyweight between 70-80kgs). You can add this to your usual protein shake or take it on its own. The juice is not a replacement for protein so you still need to make sure you keep protein intake high, it is simply a powerful anti-inflammatory antioxidant product that helps to inhibit the body’s inflammatory response to exercise, and counteract free radical damage.
In the evening of a hard training day you can wash your dinner down with a glass of CherryActive on-top of what you had post training – again the amount depending on how much stress your muscles have been put under. If you don’t think you’ll be too sore the next day then you don’t need to have it. I say this because when you’re watching your weight you obviously keep an eye on carb intake so if you do have it with diner you may want to reduce the carb portion of your meal in order to keep your total carb intake the same when having the juice... just a thought.
CherryActive Capsules: Take 1-2 capsules an hour before bed. If you want a really solid sleep take 2, otherwise take one. On rest days you can take these and not the juice if you want to keep your carbs down and still get the antioxidant compounds into your system, which still provides you with health promoting antioxidant compounds.
The melatonin in the products won’t make you sleepy during the day it simply helps to regulate your sleep-wake cycle and help you achieve a deeper and higher quality sleep when you do go to bed – again this is important when you’re training.
CherryActive Cherries: Work as an antioxidant packed healthy snack food and are good for carbing up or as a post training snack. They are infused with apple juice concentrate so do have an impact on blood sugar levels. Don’t eat too many at once or you may get the runs!
Extra Information:
Each 30ml of CherryActive Concentrate counts as one of your “5-a-Day” for fruit and veg.
A 32g portion of CherryActive Cherries counts as one of your “5-a-Day”.
All our products are 100% natural and contain no artificial colours, flavouring, sweeteners, preservatives or added sugars.
The natural sugar in the juice is “xylose” and has a low glycemic load (low GI) so has a low impact on blood sugar levels.
Any unanswered questions can be email to info@cherryactive.co.uk
Add CherryActive Concentrate and Capsules to your daily nutritional strategy and maximise your physical recovery from MMA and BJJ training and competition!
