Fighter Weight Training

Training
41

oh… joe is a genius, especially with his guys and when it comes to increasing athletic attributes but some things i’ve seen him reccomend for fighting are a little weird.

one was something like-
bench pressing, hitting the bag, then benching again.

that just leads to arm punching and subpar benching.

punching is a total body kinetic linking more like poplocking (think Breakin II… and Rampage is Turbo) than it is bench pressing.

if he said 1 arm snatch then punching then that would be a little different… considering its a full body expression through 1 limb.

But of course it depends what you’re trying to accomplish. its just my opinion that front squat (hell sprinting) will effecting your punching power more than bench pressing.

42

[quote]drewh wrote:
A westside inspired routine would be beneficial its important to remember that they do assistance work alot of times in hypertrophy zones so i’d say a strength/hypertrophy ala westside would be best but there are limitless variations on how this can be done.[/quote]

fuck hypertrophy zones, whether you did 4x6 or 3x8 isn’t really going to have much of a difference when it comes to did you eat 100gm of protein today or 200gm of protein. Thats where the growth comes from.

just put weight on the bar and eat like you’re 300lbs

43

Do you know what I love about these threads?
that there is always some excellent advice doled out, and it always falls on semi deaf ears.

I also love how no one has realy clear goals with this. And that everyone is training MMA.

Its OK to be a casual player- or weekend warrior.
But lets be clear-(MMA not other sports)
If you have to PAY for the bulk of your gear, training, or are transporting your self
at your expense for travel competition you are a casual player, and that is fine.

Xen as always laid out a great game plan.
so did others.

Kalle really explained it well. Carry over.

My earlier post about strenght training
being supplemental- was about my direct expirience.
not as being a casual trainee.

Also I have/had been training in my sport for years, and had a good skill set , and a decent amount of strength where it counted

The conjugate or repetive methods ala westside shed amazing results. I wish I knew more about them then. the have tremendous results.

basically everyone is saying to train like an athlete think track and field vs Bodybuilding.

training muscles for strenght, will result
a staggering amount of strenght a good amount
of asthetic athletic look, and a big fat
boost in performance be it in striking or grappling.

you asked what kinds of lifts I would recomend for flexibility- stretch, and take some Yoga.
I now do lots of mobility, rehab, foam, corective shit. Im 36.
every one is different. I do lots of unilateral stuff, OH squat, and really dont train like a body builder.

At your stage in the game-
you mentioned your weighing 160- I would not complicate things.

Lift big lift, for performance.
Find a balance of cardio and good food intake
to keep a good ratio of strenght gains.
Some HIIT 2 to 3 times a week should not hinder any good strength gains.

You also asked me what specific drills
you could do to help improve your takedowns and ground work?
I have no Idea- as to your current abilities.
add another session a week in BJJ or what ever if you can
or schedule a private with your teacher/coah.
specifically to work one or the other.

google newaza drills, or john smith.

kmc

44

[quote]drewh wrote:
A westside inspired routine would be beneficial its important to remember that they do assistance work alot of times in hypertrophy zones so i’d say a strength/hypertrophy ala westside would be best but there are limitless variations on how this can be done.[/quote]

Yes people just don’t get this. we dont max out every lift we do. its ussualy a me or de lift than a supplmental heavier lift than ACC stuff done in 4x6 3x8 3x12 etc.

Someone mentioned defrancos website. I wanted to check this out as someone was asking me how to “lift like I do but for MMA” and found this from Joe Defranco

Q: Mr. DeFranco,

I have had a lot of success with your program in the past and everything I have read trolling your site has been very useful. I am training for my first amateur MMA fight. I am looking to put some weight on. I have realized that it is not possible to train 2 hrs a day 5-6 days a week and lift 4 days a week. I am leaning towards lifting 3, maybe even 2 days a week. My question is what is your recommendation for bulking up? Will fight training and just eating like a horse be enough or should I add some Rep Method work after my fight training everyday? I appreciate any recommendations
you have.

Thank you,
Steve

A: Steve,
If you are training MMA 5-6 days a week and you have a fight coming up, I recommend that you strength-train only 2X a week (with 2-3 days between strength workouts) at this point. Since you�??ve had success with �??my�?? program, I will provide you with a great Two-Day variation of my template. (Obviously, there are many ways you can organize your strength training; but this is a good starting point for someone like yourself who has had success with a modified Westside template.)

WORKOUT #1

  1. DE Lower Body Movement (Jump variation)
  2. ME Upper Body movement
  3. Posterior chain lower body movement
  4. DB press variation
  5. Lat/Upper back superset
  6. Ab circuit (high reps)

WORKOUT #2

  1. ME Lower Body Movement
  2. Rep Upper Body movement (chin-up or push-up variation)
  3. Unilateral lower body movement
  4. Shrug variation super-setted with rear delt movement
  5. Grip training
  6. Weighted abdominals

Obviously, your diet is going to be KEY if you�??re looking to gain strength and add muscle mass during this time. Make sure you�??re eating �?? or drinking a meal replacement shake �?? every three hours. And remember that you must be creating a caloric surplus if you�??re looking to gain weight while on this training regimen. (In other words, you gotta put more calories in your body than you�??re burning off!)

45

He also has an article on increasing punching power mma cinditioning and tips for boxing (westside)

46

www.rosstraining.com/articles/strengthtraining.html

47

that program from DeFranco is solid

48

I hope my question about powerlifting hasn’t led to me being tarred with the “semi deaf ears” brush! I was just curious as I had always assumed lifting slow made you slow and that it was a good way to train for a short bloke! Also I’m in a weird situation because I am training to start training as a fighter, if that makes sense.

49

[quote]Roundhead wrote:
I hope my question about powerlifting hasn’t led to me being tarred with the “semi deaf ears” brush! I was just curious as I had always assumed lifting slow made you slow and that it was a good way to train for a short bloke! Also I’m in a weird situation because I am training to start training as a fighter, if that makes sense. [/quote]

Power lifts dont lift slow they lift fast. When going for max weights the speed of the lift will slow down but they are still trying to lift it fast which is what matters. I mean one of the main components to the Westside method is DE work, speed work. Watch a video of a top PL doing some DE box squats they are moving REALLY fast.

Why would short people want to lift slower/be slow?

There are many elite powerlifters that are 6’+

You just have some misconceptions thats ok.

I think the same point again is train like an athlete not for aesthetics. The “look” will come if you put the work in.

50

Exactly what Kalle said…

by the way mma.tv/tuf

they have a section on fighting techniques, training, and videos you can spend a LOT of time watching and learning.

51

is it really daft for a fat guy to train for power when also doing mma?
what i mean is, it has been said on this thread that the aesthetic look will come if u train ur ass off, but if u are a fat guy trying to lose weight via mma training 5 days per week, is the power training say 3 times per week just a daft thing to do?
will it aid someone in losing weight?
or will it just be a waste of time as a fat guy trying to lose weight cant eat like a horse?! lol
by fat i mean like 70lbs overweight btw

any help/opinions appreciated
:slight_smile:

52

[quote]jackabstrakt wrote:
is it really daft for a fat guy to train for power when also doing mma?
what i mean is, it has been said on this thread that the aesthetic look will come if u train ur ass off, but if u are a fat guy trying to lose weight via mma training 5 days per week, is the power training say 3 times per week just a daft thing to do?
will it aid someone in losing weight?
or will it just be a waste of time as a fat guy trying to lose weight cant eat like a horse?! lol
by fat i mean like 70lbs overweight btw

any help/opinions appreciated
:)[/quote]

The aesthetic look may or may not come via MMA training. Diet and genetics also play a role in how you look.

Take a look at Fedor. If you watch his training vids, I’d say it’s pretty tough to say that he doesn’t train hard. It’s also pretty easy to tell how well conditioned he is from watching him fight. But he doesn’t look physically impressive (at least from an aesthetic standpoint).

Then look at someone like Sean Sherk. He trains his ass off, but is built like a brick shit house. One of the most (if not the most) heavily muscled fighters in MMA (relative to his size).

Both guys train their asses off, but one just has much better genetics as far as aesthetics go. Diet could also be a factor though, as I don’t really know either of their dietary practices.

As far as actual fighter weight training goes, I like the suggestion to work on improving maximal strength. But strength endurance is probably equally important for a fighter.

I’d suggest anyone who is serious about their conditioning to check out Charlie Lysak’s stuff. His “CRAWL” workout is the most effective weight training program that I’ve ever used/seen when it comes to building supreme levels of strength endurance. And I’ve never put anyone through it (nor has Charlie to the best of my knowledge) who didn’t say that it was the most intense weight training workout that they had ever done.

One of my buddies is a wrestling coach, and is training to prepare for his first fight, and he absolutely loves the Crawl. So much so that he has his wrestlers do it during the off season.

You can find out more about it at:

53

[quote]Sentoguy wrote:

:slight_smile:

The aesthetic look may or may not come via MMA training. Diet and genetics also play a role in how you look.

Take a look at Fedor. If you watch his training vids, I’d say it’s pretty tough to say that he doesn’t train hard. It’s also pretty easy to tell how well conditioned he is from watching him fight. But he doesn’t look physically impressive (at least from an aesthetic standpoint).

[/quote]

It may have to do with weight classes and the type of training a fighter utilises too. A heavyweight will generally be less “ripped” than a welterweight/lightweight like Sherk, for many reasons.

54

[quote]Nikiforos wrote:
Sentoguy wrote:

:slight_smile:

The aesthetic look may or may not come via MMA training. Diet and genetics also play a role in how you look.

Take a look at Fedor. If you watch his training vids, I’d say it’s pretty tough to say that he doesn’t train hard. It’s also pretty easy to tell how well conditioned he is from watching him fight. But he doesn’t look physically impressive (at least from an aesthetic standpoint).

It may have to do with weight classes and the type of training a fighter utilises too. A heavyweight will generally be less “ripped” than a welterweight/lightweight like Sherk, for many reasons.[/quote]

True. But even among heavy weights genetics (and most likely diet) play a big role. Just look at Tim Silvia, Brock Lesnar, Cro Cop and Jeff Monson. All heavyweights, but all very different body types.

All of these guys likely train hard, but I’ll also agree that the type of training someone does has an affect on how they look as well.