Do you want to know what is, hands down, the single most important physical attribute you need as a mixed martial artist? Frank Shamrock summed it up nicely when he said “Conditioning is your best submission hold.” When it comes to MMA, conditioning is definitely king. So if you’ve been looking for detailed MMA workout tips that boost your conditioning, then look no further.

There’s no question that strength, flexibility, power, and explosiveness are all important for mixed martial artists. However, they all take the back seat when it comes to conditioning. Your MMA workout must have a heavy emphasis on conditioning because once your gas tank is empty, your strength, flexibility, and power don’t mean a whole lot.

Unfortunately, many MMA enthausiasts want to bypass conditioning in exchange for getting bigger and stronger. Most fighters want more size and strength. And they want more power. They want to be able to pick up their opponent and slam them to the mat with ease like Matt Hughes and Quinton ‘Rampage’ Jackson.

Power and explosiveness are definitely great attributes to have. In fact, today’s MMA rules make them even more important. Short rounds, weight classes, and referee standups all benefit the stronger, more athletic fighter. Nonetheless, being explosive, powerful, and athletic won’t help you very much if they are build on top of poor conditioning. More and more we see the outcome of MMA fights being determined by one factor – conditioning.

Fortunately, you don’t have to choose between strength and conditioning.You can have both.In fact, proper conditioning is really about having power, strength and explosiveness, but having them for extended periods of time.

But take away the conditioning, and your explosiveness doesn’t mean much. Sure, if you can end a fight early, then great. But you’ll be much more confident and you’ll win more often if you can maintain a super high level of intensity for as long as you need to.

Look at Sean Sherk for example. That guy can come out and fight as hard as he wants to for an entire five round championship fight. After watching him go all out for five rounds, you get the impression that he could go another five without any problems. He is the perfect example of a fighter that is both explosive and well conditioned.

Randy Couture is another example. He has no problem going five rounds, but he is intense and in your face the entire time. He doesn’t slow down one bit. That is a testament to his conditioning. It doesn’t mean he doesn’t have explosiveness and power. It just means that he spends a lot of time on his conditioning as well.

How to Make Sure your MMA Workout Focuses on Conditioning

So what can you do to focus on and improve your conditioning? Let’s look at a few of the most important training options.

First, you’ll want to incorporate some form of running into your weekly training schedule. Hill sprints should be at the very top of your list.

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Hill sprints are very important because they train your heart, your lungs, and your muscular system at a very high level of intensity. By sprinting up the hill and then walking back down, you’ll teach your body to recover very quickly after super intense bouts of explosiveness. Do you think that will come in handy in a fight or grappling match? Of course it will.

Regular sprints are important as well. There are two main ways that you can make your sprint workout more intense. First, you can pull a tire behind you. This is an old school method that NFL superstar Herschal Walker used. Rich Franklin has also incorporated tire pulling sprints into his routine.

Once pulling the tire becomes easier, you can add weights to the inside of the tire to make it even heavier.

The second option besides pulling a tire, is to wear a weight vest while you’re sprinting.

You need to be careful when using sprints through. You have to make sure your body is properly conditioned before you do them. Here’s a good rule of thumb. If you can’t walk up a hill, don’t run up it. If you can’t run up it, don’t sprint up it.

So start by walking or lightly running up the hill of your choice. You can do this several days per week since it is fairly low intensity. As it becomes easier, shorten the distance, increase your speed, and do them less often. It is really important once you work up to full speed sprinting that you don’t overdo them.

Do not run sprints on consecutive days. And if your sprinting workouts become really intense, only do them one to two times per week.

So now you understand why conditioning is so important, plus you have a variety of tools for improving yours. Let’s quickly review the MMA conditioning methods we just discussed.

You can perform regular sprints. You can sprint while pulling a tire behind you. You can fill the tire with additional weight. You can wear a weight vest while sprinting. And you can also run hill sprints. Each of these drills will crank up your conditioning in different ways.

Now you have a new dimension to add to your MMA workouts. Apply the techniques written in this article and you will have tremendous explosive conditioning as your ally every time you step into the ring or on the mat. And remember, running sprints is just one of the many MMA workouts you want to do. Sprints are only one piece of your overall MMA training puzzle.

More MMA Workout pages:

MMA Home Workouts
MMA Workout Routines
A Unique MMA Conditioning Workout
MMA Circuit Training Workout – No Equipment Required
Quick Mixed Martial Arts Workout
MMA Workouts and Agility Drills
A Mixed Martial Arts Conditioning Workout
MMA Circuit Workout Routines
Explosive Workouts, Sprints and other Training for Mixed Martial Artists
MMA Circuit Training Workouts
How Much Running for MMA – Hills and Sprint Training