Eric Wong Strength and Conditioning
April 11, 2012 by admin
Filed under Strength Workouts
Article by Chad Barnet
In this article, I’ll explain what’s in Eric Wong’s Strength and Conditioning training guide, as well as giving some background information on him, which I hope will be of some help if you’re considering buying it.
Firstly, Eric is a well educated guy. He has a degree in kinesiology from the University of Waterloo in Canada. Furthermore, he has trained hundreds of mixed martial artists, including Claude ‘The Prince’ Patrick, who has an excellent 14 wins, 2 losses record in UFC.
Within Eric Wong’s strength and conditioning training program, he mainly focuses on the 5 critical errors that fighters make, and how to avoid them.
1.) Overtraining:
He mentions that many guys make the mistake of hitting the gym too hard and over-traininig. A typical schedule of someone making this mistake may look like weights in the morning, cardio in the afternoon, then MMA skills session in the evening. Eric explains that your body gets stronger, muscle motor programs improve and tissue regenrate during rest, not recovery. Therefore it’s important to rest, so you’re in peak physical shape.
2.) Lifting Like a BodyBuilder
Splitting your weightlifting routine (i.e. back and biceps on Monday, chest and triceps on Tuesday) simply doesn’t work. Workout should be all body, 2-3 times per week preferably, so no one single muscle group gets worn out. The six major movement patterns a mixed martial artist should be concerned with are squats, deadlifts, lunges, push, pull and twists. Building core stability is a must too, through exercises like the plank.
3.) Not Developing a Proper Base of Strength
Most fighters fail to build a proper base of strength before moving on to more complex workouts. This could be critically damaging to one’s success. Conditioning, endurance and hardcore training should come after this. In terms of relative strength, he sets the following guidelines: Bench – 1.25 x bodyweight, 3 reps. Back Squat – 1.5 x bodyweight, 3 reps. Deadlift – 1.75 x bodyweight, 3 reps. Chinups – 15 reps with perfect form.
4.) Trying to Gain Everything at Once
If you push too hard on weights, and sap your energy, you’re body won’t be able to develop the neural pathways to progress the quality of strikes, takedowns and submissions. Less is more! Training should be periodized, so that each 2-3 week pattern builds on the progress made from the previous pattern. E.g. long before, or shortly after a fight, focus is on base conditioning, i.e. resistance training that works on muscular strength endurance and joint, ligament and tendon health, so that when training moves on to the strength phase, there will be no injuries.
5.) Lack of Structured Program and Progression
Just turning up to the gym with no long term goal in mind is a big no-no. There must be a future vision that you’re working towards, with incremental training goals along the way. Also, it’s imperative to keep a written record of the workouts. Eric Wong’s strength and conditioning training guide is a result of his looking through all of the training logs of his fighters, and utlising the methods that worked best.
It’s possible to sign up to Eric’s newsletter, and receive an excellent FREE report called Never Gas, which is an introduction to competition level mma strength and conditioning training. You can sign up by clicking here
Chad Barnet is an enthusiastic Mixed Martial Arts fan, with a particular interest in strength and conditioning training.
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