Can You Use These Bodyweight Training Drills to Boost Your Conditioning?
First let’s clear up any doubt you have about using bodyweight training to improve your performance and conditioning for mixed martial arts, grappling, judo, boxing or any other combat sport.
All you need to do is look at the number of highly successful combatants who have used bodyweight exercises in their training. Some of these athletes fighters use bodyweight training almost exclusively. Others, use lots of bodyweight exercises coupled with some weight training or resistance band training. Either way, you will see that learning bodyweight exercises is a must when designing your workouts and training.
Let’s first get it straight that nearly every successful combat athlete you can think of uses bodyweight drills in one way or another. There is no way of getting around it.
But for now, I’ll just share a few of the fighters who stand out in my mind for understanding the power of bodyweight drills. You will notice that all of these athletes have got in incredible shape from their workouts.
Here are a few:
The greatest jiu jitsu practitioner on the planet, Rickson Gracie. Probably the biggest legend in the sport of boxing, Muhammad Ali. The greatest heavyweight mixed martial artist in the world right now, Fedor Emelianenko. The Judo legend, Kimura. The list also includes the Hindu wrestlers, who practically invents combat conditioning as we know it. And then there are of course too many mixed martial artists to name including Frank Shamrock, BJ Penn, Josh Koscheck.
And let’s not forget that Bruce Lee was known for his incredible bodyweight strength. He even took up weight lifting for some time during his career and was able to bulk up quite a bit. But eventually, Mr. Lee decided that weight training wasn’t the way he wanted to train.
Why the Best Mixed Martial Artists Use Bodyweight Workout And Conditioning Routines
As you can see, bodyweight training drills have been used to improve the performance and conditioning of several combat athletes who all specialize in different sports. For example, boxers like Muhammad Ali and Mike Tyson used them. Mixed martial artists like Fedor Emelianenko and the rest of the Red Devil team are utilizing bodyweight training in their conditioning routines. Other fighters like John Koscheck use bodyweight conditioning as well.
Then there are grapplers like Rickson Gracie and possibly the greatest Judoka to ever live, Kimura. They both used bodyweight training almost exclusively.
And let’s not forget about the Hindu Wrestlers who created a lot of the bodyweight exercises that we know them today. They were the first to use two of the popular calisthenics that are now referred to as the Hindu Squat and the Hindu Pushup. They also recognized the important of gymnastic exercises, especially bridging exercises for wrestlers.
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Almost every combat athlete you can name is training with bodyweight exercises. Some of use bodyweight workouts exclusively. Others, use bodyweight exercises in conjunction with weight training routines. And others use them with resistance bands for building strength.
Here’s What’s So Special About Learning Bodyweight Training Workouts
One of the first things you will notice about MMA, grappling, judo, boxing and other combat sports is that a grappling match or a fight is a series of hundreds and hundreds of small movements. Of course mixed into that are explosive bursts of power. So you need to train your body to make small movements over and over again without ever getting tired. Also, during your MMA training or a mixed martial arts fight, you don’t use muscles in isolation. Even the most basic moves like throwing a punch, requires power from your whole body, especially your core. So training with exercises that utilize your body as a whole unit is important.
The strength endurance you need is very important. And bodyweight training is the greatest way build this strength endurance. The technical aspects of combat sports make them fit together nicely with bodyweight routines as well.
For example, the more technical you are, the less strength and power you use during competition. Instead of trying to muscle your way through the opponent, you do so with technical movements. Not to say you don’t want power behind your punches, strength for take downs and explosive power. Of course you do. But how much power do you need to apply an armbar or to transition from the mount position to your opponent’s back. And how much power training is required to pass your opponents guard and take side control. Not very much.
Actually, the fighters who do these things with explosive power and less technique get exhausted faster. So while building butt loads of strength is useful, it is better to add it as an additional weapon instead of trying to make it your base. Instead, you build a solid base by conditioning your body extremely well with bodyweight exercises and plenty of other training drills in your workouts.
Frank Shamrock said basically the same thing in an interview. When asked how to prepare a new person for a mixed martial arts fight, he said you need to use high repetition bodyweight calisthenics. This prepares the body for combat. Why do you think the military uses exercises like pushups and situps so often?
High repetition calisthenics are also used by the Hindu wrestlers, Olympic judo players, and Brazilian jiu jitsu guys like Rickson Gracie. Bodyweight calisthenics are also being used by Fedor Emelianenko for mixed martial arts and Sambo competition.
The same workouts were used by legendary boxers like Muhammad Ali.
But bodyweight training is not as one-dimensional as most people believe.
Don’t by into the myth that people who train with bodyweight exercises only know how to do high repetitions of exercises and only know how to do one thing, build muscle endurance. There is no question or even a valid debate that high repetition bodyweight calisthenics are great at preparing your body for wrestling, boxing or training for mixed martial arts. But people often take a one dimensional approach to looking at these training exercises. Just because you train with you body weight doesn’t mean you neglect things like power and explosiveness.
On the contrary, bodyweight athletes are often very explosive and are able to perform explosively for the long periods of time.
Take Fedor for example. He is arguably the most explosive and strongest heavyweight mixed martial artist in the world today. There is nothing that says you can’t become strong and explosive from bodyweight workouts.
So you can now see that bodyweight training is a fantastic way to prepare your body for MMA or any other combative style sport. You will build an incredibly strong fitness base and — with the right exercises — you will learn better balance, movement, and body awareness.
Bodyweight Exercises Combined With Other Training Methods
Should you leave out every other type of training since you are training with your bodyweight?
No, there is no reason why you have to be narrow-minded. If something works, it works. Period!
Your conditioning needs are dynamic. And you can train dynamically as well. Get as much variety in your workouts as possible and your body will become stronger and better conditioned in a wider variety of ways. There are many other training tools at your disposal such as running, sprinting, hill sprinting, jump roping, using resistance bands and yes even weight lifting.
While I don’t think a bodybuilding routine will do much to improve your performance in the ring, cage, on the mat, or even in the gym, I do think that you can successfully use some weights in your routine. But the following is what Josh Koscheck, a phenomenally successful collegiate wrestler and now a successful mixed martial artist, said about working out.
He said “I believe Weight lifting is very overrated for mixed martial arts.”
I was actually pretty shocked to hear him say that because he is one of those fighters who really seems to out muscle almost every opponent. But being such a successful wrestler, Koscheck must have learned that bodyweight exercises are much more realistic exercises for wrestling and other combat sports.
Basically, it’s up to you. But I think you’ll find, as many others have, that the weights are by no means a necessity.
Yes, you can lift weights, but if Muhammad Ali and Bruce Lee, didn’t need them, what makes you think you do?
