Here’s an interesting take on the debate from Jason Ferruggia:
I want to discuss a major
misconception that still looms large over all of combat
sports. That is the idea that strength work is not
necessary or should, at best, be a secondary
consideration.
Many combat coaches and athletes spend
hours and hours a week on conditioning. Often times
this is all they will do, neglecting any kind of strength
work whatsoever.
Now listen, I understand that conditioning
is the most important quality for a combat athlete to
develop but you have to realize that improving your
strength is vitally important as well. Statistics have
shown that at lower levels of competition, the stronger
of two equally skilled opponents will usually emerge
victorious.
This isn’t always true at higher levels of
competition but it still needs to be noted.
Working on improving your endurance is the most
important thing you can do as a combat athlete. But
that doesn’t mean that strength work should take a
back seat either.
If you improve your strength, you
improve your endurance. That is because everything
that you do (pick up an opponent, etc.) when you are
stronger, takes less energy and thus is less tiring.
Think about this: strength work has been proven to help
marathon runners improve their times.
This is because
they can apply greater force to the ground with every
stride they take when they are stronger. And doing so
takes less out of them.
So if strength work can benefit a marathon runner how
can it not benefit a combat athlete where half the battle
is physically moving your opponent into positions you
want him?
See what I mean?
You have to get stronger if you want to get better and
help prevent injuries; there are no two ways around it.
If you are a world champion, maybe getting stronger
won’t help you much more, but for most combat
athletes, improving their strength could be the key to
victory.