MMA Conditioning
Strength and Conditioning in this modern era is more important than ever for MMA Athletes. Pushing yourself for 3, 3 minute rounds of punching combinations, kicks, wrestling, take downs and grappling can be very cardio-vascularily taxing.
This being said, having a good set of lungs just simply isn't good enough. A good strength to weight ratio along with explosive power is necessary. Often in MMA more so in amateur ranks, strength can out-do technique (This being said, perfect technique obviously beats strength).
So we get asked a lot by customers about MMA Workouts, so to help out with this I called in my colleague Jamie. Jamie is an MMA Fighter in training, coached by professional cage fighter Lee Chadwick. Lee was able to provide me with some of the professional MMA routines he's had Jamie and other successful fighters do to get them in top shape.
Circuit training is the most preferred method of MMA Fighters. The reasoning is clear, being able to get in a lot of intense exercise to build strength, power and cardiovascular functional fitness. Everything you need for the cage. Here's a few of the routines;
Bodyweight Workout
20 x Burpees (make sure you get that strong jump in there)
20 X Alternative Lunges
20 X Push Ups
Repeat this circuit, but on the next set do 15 reps, then following that 10, following that 5.
This circuit might take you 5 minutes, it might take you 30, the important thing is to not have any breaks. This is about intensity, it's about pushing yourself and getting your lungs fired up and your muscles burning. Anyone could do this routine if they took good rest, so push yourself and get results. Get in, get it done and move onto other areas of your training.
Dumbbell & Rowing Machine Circuit
5x
200 Metre Sprint (On rowing machine, highest intensity you can bare)
Dumbbell Swings x 10 (The weight can be of your own choice, most people will feel comfortable providing their technique is decent with a 15kg Dumbell)
Dumbbell Press x 10 (on each arm, you could do 20 and perform alternative presses also)
Floor Leg Raises x 10
Burpees x 10
Wide Push ups x 10
As the title states, do this entire workout for 5 sets. Again try not to have any rest, this is an extremely difficult workout and will only get as hard as the effort you put in. Time yourself and try to beat that by a little bit each workout, once progress starts really slowing down begin incrimenting the weight of the dumbbell minutely over time. I.e if one week you're using a 15kg dumbbell, the next increment should be about 17.5kg.
Hill Sprints - (Treadmill)
Whack the treadmill on as much of an incline as you can handle, or alternatively find some hills. Don't play it lightly though, these are hill sprints, not slightly-sloped-pavement-walks.
Full sprint - 20-30 seconds
Off - 15-20 seconds
Repeat for 10 sets.
In the case that your sprinting isn't up to standard, instead of taking a full break in between sprints, just do a very light walk.
A way to try and organise this if you only can get in one workout per day would be this;
Week 1;
Mon Bodyweight Workout
Tue Sprints
Wed Rest
Thur Dumbbell & Rowing Machine Workout
Fri Rest
Sat Bodyweight Workout
Sun Sprints
Week 2;
Mon Dumbbell & Rowing Machine Workout
Tue Rest
Wed Bodyweight circuit
Thurs Sprints
Fri Rest
Sat Dumbbell & Rowing Machine Workout
Sun Rest
