"Their motivation is completely gone" - Kade Ruotolo stresses the dangers of overtraining

It is possible to overlook the fact that Kade Ruotolo is a veteran of the game despite being just 21 years old. Both he and his brother have been competing at the highest level that was available to them from a young age.

These years of priceless experience will have taught both Kade and Tye a lot of lessons that many don't learn until much later life.

One thing that they are very wary of is overtraining, which involves being too focused on being in the gym as much as possible.

Like trying to cram research in before a big test, it's only natural for an athlete to want to spend as much time training as they can but that isn't the best way to spend a camp.

Kade spoke about this during a recent podcast interview with the ONE flyweight world champion, Demetrious Johnson.

He said on the MightyCast that whilst overtraining can lead to injuries, it's the mental side of the game where it has the biggest impact:

"My brother and I are huge believers of not overtraining. I see it happening all the time in the gym with guys who are in there three times a day. You just see their motivation is completely gone. There's no will to win, there's no will to be there. That's a dangerous feeling. Once you feel that, your progression is just shot."

Watch the full interview below:

Kade Ruotolo is switching up his approaches

Another way to stay motivated is to find new goals and challenges to aim for, and Kade Ruotolo is most certainly doing that.

At ONE 167, he made his MMA debut and submitted Blake Cooper to complete the first step of what could be a very exciting journey for him.

For the time being, he will return to submission grappling for a huge superfight in Denver.

Kade will be defending his lightweight title against the flyweight champ, Mikey Musumeci when the two elite grapplers meet at ONE 168 on September 6.

The entire event is set to air live from the Ball Arena in Denver at US prime time.