Mixed Martial Arts Training – How To Get Into Top Shape

Article by Louiell Ayonon

The world of Mixed Martial Arts or MMA is fast evolving these days. Both trainers and athletes are constantly coming up with better ways to train. And if you want to get into this sport, it is very important to condition your body first.

Say you have been training in boxing, wrestling and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu for years and years. And you have mastered quite a lot of techniques. Your strike may be impeccable, your takedowns are unbeatable, you are in perfect control of your game. But the moment you step into that cage, you suddenly realize that while your skills are undoubtedly top of the line, your body is not in top shape.

You may be fast and sharp in the beginning. You take down your opponent with a lightning-fast single leg that he does not have time to stop. You are perfectly in control, or so you think. As the game progresses, you realize that with each scramble, you seem to lose some speed. You begin to struggle with your breathing and at the blink of an eye, the tables have been turned. You now end up defending yourself instead of delivering the offense you have been practicing for years. And before you know it, everything turns black. You just passed out.

The point is, in the world of MMA, skill will be rendered irrelevant if your body is not in optimum shape. In short, you are not conditioned properly. So the solution to prevent this from happening is through a well-rounded mixed martial arts conditioning program.

The program must develop:

• Aerobic capacity which pertains to the maximum amount of oxygen that the body can use in a workout session, that is normally assessed during a brief period of high intensity exercise.

• Anaerobic capacity which pertains to the total amount of energy from the anaerobic energy systems, that is maximally stressed in short duration high intensity activities.

• Strength that is the degree to which muscles can apply force against any resistance.

• Functional Strength which refers to the maximum strength, strength speed, strength endurance and reactive strength.

• Power which is the ability to exert maximal muscular contraction at once through sudden bursts of movement. Power is composed of speed and strength.

• Muscular Endurance that refers to the muscle’s ability to perform sustained work.

There are a range of exercises that you can do to develop these attributes such as sprinting, running, plyometrics and weight lifting. Start where you are weakest and work from there. By training everyday and doing these exercises religiously, you will acquire that conditioned body in no time.

Top 3 Circuit Training Workout Routines Designed For Mixed Martial Arts

Article by Todd Erwin

MMA fighters look good. They can even look better than some bodybuilders, which is pretty extreme. Not bigger, but better, ripped and with amazing well-rounded strength and conditioning. Circuit training routines are usually credited for those physical features, but you should understand that MMA training involves a lot more than circuit training, and that a circuit training routine will not transform you into an MMA fighter, and probably not even into an MMA fighter look-alike. Not even if it’s a circuit used by Brock Lesnar, or the famous Sean Sherk Caveman training. And if you try to use it too often and without proper supervision, it can lead to overtraining and injuries.

In MMA, circuit training usually complements strength training and specific sports training, coupled with a healthy nutrition and a good amount of rest. You can’t fight in MMA if you don’t follow all of the above, and if you can, you’ll probably enter a losing streak that will end your career before it began.

Another thing is that a circuit training that works for a fighter might work for another one. People have different bodies, different abilities, and respond to stress in a different way. Besides, some of the fighters constantly change their routine in order to keep their body from adapting to it.

MMA fighters don’t usually disclose information regarding their specific training methods, despite all of the above. Even if you see a video of Wanderlei Silva running on a treadmill with a snorkel and then jumping into an ice bath, you don’t know how much time he spends on the treadmill, at what speed, why, how often, and you definitely won’t find out the results of the blood tests that Rafael Alejarra does before and after every workout. If you try to imitate Silva, you’ll probably pass out from the lack of oxygen or worse.

There are, however, a few circuit training routines that famous MMA fighters successfully used, and that can be found.

1. Ryan Bader’s routine is one of the best, and the young undefeated fighter has always been in a terrific shape. He follows a 45-60 minute workout three times a week, changing the exercises each session. A good circuit routine that his conditioning coach, Ryan Johnson, recommends has the following exercises: one arm dumbbell snatch, one-legged squat, side-to-side pull-up, diagonal medicine ball slam, physioball push-up, windmill. All of the exercises should be done without taking any break between them. At the end of every set, rest for 60-90 seconds, and then do it again. You should aim for 3-4 sets, no more than three times a week.

2. Another famous routine belongs to Randy Couture, who does it with a single barbell that he holds in his hands through the entire circuit. The workout has seven exercises, and Randy recommends six sets of each, with one minute breaks between the rounds: bent over rows, upright rows, military presses, good mornings, split squats, squat push presses and stiff-legged dead lifts.

3. Rich Franklyn used to do a circuit routine three times per week, using 10 exercises for each session. Unlike Randy Couture, he uses both free wieghts and machines, and the total workout time does not exceed 45 minutes.

As we were saying at the beginning, if you look for a circuit routine that you can use for your own body, you’re doing something wrong. With only one exercise, you can train your body in a lot of different ways, just by modifying the intensity, duration and the rest period between the sets. But you have to be very careful in doing so, as it is very easy to get it wrong. Begin by knowing your body and how it responds to physical exercise, in order to find exactly what to improve and how.

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