An MMA Conditioning Workout

If you are reading this article, you are probably looking for a real MMA conditioning workout that you can start using right now. If that’s the case, here’s how to get started…

With all the talk of super long training sessions, training for eight hours a day, running long distances, its no wonder most aspiring mixed martial artists are struggling to even get started with an effective workout. What if you can’t train full-time? What if you don’t have any fancy equipment or a set of trainers devoted just to you?

Then you need to take matters into your own hands and get started with some basic conditioning workouts that will explode your MMA training.

Let’s clear up some of the confusion right now and give you some conditioning tools you can really use. Whether it’s for MMA, grappling, submission wrestling, melting fat from your body, getting stronger, or just in the best shape possible without spending three hours a day in the gym.

The way we see many professional fighters training today is sometimes the exception and sometime an exageration. Sure, if training is your full-time job, you can try to emulate what guys like Fedor and Rich Franklin do. But what if you can’t devote your entire life to training? What if you just want superior conditioning so you don’t get tired on the mat, or so you can display your technique in a fight without getting exhausted, or so you can win that upcoming submission wrestling tournament.

You’d be surprised at how much of a weapon your conditioning is once you have it. But getting there is what often leaves combat athletes scratching their heads. But you won’t have to any longer. Here is a sample of a great mma conditioning workout you can start with right now.

The first thing you want to do is design your workout around your specific goals and needs. If you’re a grappler with five minutes matches, then you need to emulate that in your conditioning workouts.

Similarly, if you’re an MMA fighter with three five-minute rounds and one minute of rest between rounds, that is how you want to organize your workout. Sounds simple, but this really is the most effective way to condition your body for combat sports.

Here’s another important tip. When your conditioning improves, and it will improve fast, you want to make your workout harder than your actual competition. There are 2 ways to do this:

1. Add more rounds to your workout. For example if you fight for three five-minute rounds, make your conditioning workout last for four five-minute rounds.

2. Make your training workout more intense. The easiest way to increase the intensity is to decrease your rest periods. If you get one minute of rest in the cage, give yourself 45 seconds of rest in the gym.

This way when you get in the ring or on the mat, you’ll be over prepared.

Perhaps the best way of imitating an actual MMA fight or grappling match is to use some form of circuit training. To create a circuit conditioning workout you need to determine a time frame for each circuit.

For example, if you’re training for five-minute rounds, you need five minute circuits.

The end result may look like this:

A five-minute continuous circuit, one minute rest, another five minute continuous circuit, one minute rest, etc.

Within each five minute circuit you need full body exercises and drills that closely mimic combat situations. Bodyweight exercises are great for this, so are sprinting intervals and other conditioning drills such as rope climbing, pull-ups, sledge hammer training and plyometrics.

Some fighters like Rich Franklin, Mario Sperry and Renato Sobrol also use weight machines during their circuits. And of course, sport specific drills like shadow boxing, timed wrestling drills, sprawls and takedown drills are very useful as well.

Here is just one of many sample MMA conditioning workouts you can use:

Squat jumps 30 seconds

Shadow box 30 seconds

Hindu pushups 30 seconds

Shadow box 30 seconds

Situps 30 seconds

Then repeat immediately but end with reverse situps instead of regular situps.

This circuit lasts for only 5 minutes, but it blasts your entire body and also has you changing positions every 30 seconds. This simulates the dynamic nature of a mixed martial arts fight or grappling match where you are constantly changing positions and constantly utilizing different muscles and strength from various angles.

To complete the entire conditioning workout, you would follow this circuit with a period of rest lasting from one to three minutes. One minute should be your goal, but is probably going to be too short at first. After resting, repeat the circuit for another five minutes, or perform a different circuit. Put two or three of these circuits on top of each other and you have a brutal 10 to 15 minute conditioning workout that is very specific to MMA.

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