Whether you're new to mixed martial arts or you're already training for MMA, the first thing you should learn is how to properly strengthen and condition your body in a way that is realistic to your combat training. And there's a lot more to it than just building muscle.
But with all the other aspects of training that go into preparing you for MMA, how important of a role does your strength and conditioning actually play?
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The fighters and trainers who sit at the top of the sport have all learned the same thing. Muscular conditioning is a crucial part of success for mixed martial arts. So educating yourself on how to make your body stronger and how to train for strength endurance is an absolute must.
In fact, several of the top MMA schools require that your physical performance be at a certain level before you can begin training and leanring techniques there.
According to one source, the Lion's Den, home to many professional fighters we've all seen compete in the UFC, used to require their athletes to perform 500 bodyweight squats every day for the first week of training. Other grappling schools also had similar physical requirements prior to allowing anyone to train or to participate in classes.
Steve Maxwell, Brazilian Jiu Jitsu black belt, personal trainer and kettlebell instructor, believed every person should be able to perform a certain number of Hindu pushups and Hindu squats before being allowed on the mat. Hindu pushups are also one of the conditioning drills Rickson Gracie teaches at his grappling school prior to training.
Mixed Martial Arts Conditioning and Strength Training Tips
Training for MMA, namely the fitness portion of it, is unlike any other sport in the world. Mixed martial arts and grappling are so raw, dynamic and totally integrating that most fitness routines just don't do the job.
But when you setup your workouts the right way, you start reaping the rewards very quickly. Increased strength, strength endurance, and performance are just a few of the many benefits. Better cardio during your training and sparing never hurt anyone either.
With the right programs and routines, you'll see your performance on the mat or in the ring increase by leaps and bounds.
So are you ready for a course in combat strength training and conditioning?
Consider This Part One of your MMA Training Education - Strength and Conditioning 101
I'm a firm believer in modeling successful people. And my approach to conditioning, strength training and nutrition for mixed martial arts, grappling and other combat sports is no different.
It makes a lot of sense to look at what training methods professional fighters are successfully using today or have successfully used in the past.
When you do this, I think you'll find that the training that works very well for MMA is not what most people believe it is.
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How to Make Your Body Stronger for MMA
To understand some basic concepts about how you too can train, let's look at how a martial artist or grappler uses things like strength, conditioning, stamina, flexibility, etc. It doesn't matter whether you're training at your local MMA school, or competing in a grappling match, sparring, or actually fighting in a Mixed Martial Arts fight.
The first major key to the training is to realize that in a fight, flexibility, strength, endurance, balance, coordination and breathing are all used simultaneously.
However, most strength training and conditioning coaches have you training each one separately. They have you run for stamina, lift weights for to get stronger, do some other exercises for balance and coordination and then probably finish with some stretching for flexibility. Most would also make the mistake of neglecting to train you in proper breathing as well.
But for MMA, a fighter needs to train for all of the above attributes at the same time, not in isolation, whenever possible.
Top MMA fighters like Fedor Emelianenko and world class grappler Rickson Gracie, have already discovered the power of realistic workouts that combine all the necessary elements for combat. This style of conditioning training not only saves you time, but prepares your body and your muscles in a way that is very specific to mixed martial arts, grappling or any other combat sport.
Not only is this approach more effective, it also makes each workout less dull and boring. Let's face it, if you are going to train on a daily basis, the workouts better be somewhat fun.
So how can you train for strength, conditioning, balance and coordination all together in one training session? Let's look at some of the methods that Rickson and Fedor use.
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It's probably worthwhile to note right from the beginning that Rickson Gracie does not lift weights. And here's what Fedor's trainer had to say about weight training:
The basic equipment, barbells dumbbells and other weights: we sometimes use those also. But we tend to rely on other types of techniques.
So neither Rickson nor Fedor Emelianenko have opted for much weight lifting in their strength training routines. Most people, on the other hand, believe weight training is the only means of strength training for MMA. It's just simply not true.
I'm not bad mouthing weights. In fact, they work very well for many athletes. But they are not the end-all-be-all of training for MMA.
Back to Rickson Gracie and Fedor. Both of these highly advanced and very strong athletes use a combination of bodyweight exercises, resistance band training and other sport specific conditioning drills.
Some of the basic bodyweight exercises they use include pullups, pushups, V-ups. These are a great exercises to start with. From there you can move to more advanced bodyweight exercises and many other drills that are very mixed martial arts training specific. You will find plenty of information throughout my website that gets into more specific details.
If you want even more info about bodyweight strength training and other training tips, you should sign up for my daily email below.
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