With so much information on t-mag, I want to construct a weight lifting program/cycle for an upcoming Mixed Martial Arts event (10 weeks away). I have read Staley’s and other coaches articles/books, and the more I read about other coaches programs, the more confused I get.
I train MMA on Mon, Wed, and Sat. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
make yourself a couple of sandbags (75-100lbs) and (30-50lbs)
they are awesome strength and conditioning tool
be sure to add flexibility to your training too but don’t get overly excited about stretching so you hurt yourself and become too flexible
I too have read Staley and others. Their advise is very interesting. It is easy to get confused with all the info out there. What I have fiound that works FOR ME is a full body workout 2 times a week. It includes power cleans with a push press, Squats, deadlifts, bench press, pull overs and bent rows, plus what ever pain you enjoy for your arms. like I said it works for me.
I would stick to a 3 day split alternating upper and lower body(Sun, Tues, Thurs) with very low volume and big compound movements making up 90% of your workouts. These will teach your muscles to work together. For a template look up Westside routines in the archives. They workout four days a week, but Dave Tate said it would be no problem to use over eight days. Hopefully you’ll be getting enough cardio and strength-endurance work during your MMA classes. Trying to do too much more outside class will only lead to overtraining. If you do anything extra, maybe try Christian Thibadeau’s “Running Man” workouts(400 m sprints 1-3 x’s/week). Your coach and classmates may tell you that you need to do high reps, but you’ll only be duplicating exactly the same energy pathway you work in class. Hope this helps.
You need to do an analysis so you can properly train for your sport!
First ask your-self these questions:
- Devopmental age?
- Current state of your movement? (posture problems, poor form, ext)
- What are the athletes limiting? Is it strength, coordination, motivation?
There are plenty more questions that I ask each of my trainees but these should get you stated. Below is a basis template for the needs analysis:
NEEDS ANALYSIS
Exercise movements:
- Main motor abilities required by your sport?
- Muscles and/or groups used?
- Joint angles?
- Contraction type (eccentric or concentric)?
Energy system used: - Dominant systems?
- Estimated contribution from aerobic/anaerobic metabolism?
- Work-rest cycles, performance duration, frequencies?
Injury prevention: - Most common sites (Shoulder, forearms, ext.)?
Good advice given to your so far. Check out my HOC article here at T-mag for some killer cardio routines. A component of strength that is very important for fighters is exposive strength. Make sure that you are doing some power cleans, dumbbell swings etc. The core and back (upper and lower) are also very important do deadlifts, side bends, turkish get-ups, windmills are good choices. For legs, you cannot go wrong with one legged squats and front squats.
Mike Mahler
Check out the ‘strongman’ articles on here… they have some cool info
sandbag idea is great, those things are murder
Thankyou for the advice. I have structured my previous routines around the O-lifts and their variations.(cleans, snatches, power-cleans & snatches, snatch pull and clean pulls.) I workout between 3-4 times a week. Also, my set and rep scheme was low reps (1-3 reps) and about 20 sets per workout (with the first excercise being approx. 6-10 sets).
An example workout would be
(1)power cleans 6-10 s. X 1-3r.
(2)snatch pulls 5s. X 3-5r.
(3)hanging leg raises 5 X 5
Any thoughts?
I don’t practice mma, only jiu jitsu. But the rest of my team does so heres my advice. Forget working out all together if you’re interested in mma for the first 2 to 3 years. Just concentrate on your ground game, and your standup. It doesn’t seem you have been doing mma all that long. The most important thing is to keep practicing the techniques required in doing it because you still have so much to learn. Until you feel you stoped progressing then add the lifting weights. I’m also only talking about not lifting weights, this does not include calisthenics lice crab walk, cart wheels, chin ups and basic body movements. Just my input
Have you tried kettlebells? While I am not a MMA fighter, I do play lacrosse & I have found that KB’s have increased my ability to use my strength for a longer period of time than just standard barbell/dumbell workouts.
This is one of my best friends, who just fought at the last UFC in the prelims. Wade “the Nightmare” Shipp. I’ve asked him about this type of thing since I’m into lifting. And pretty much what he has said, is only do body weight exercises. He fights for San Diego Fight Club and used to be a Lion’s Den fighter, and he’s told me both places are big on body-weight only exercises. I’d only work on those as well as rolling and stand-up…
In support of calesthenics and bodyweight training try trainforstrength.com But if the “weightroom” interests you and can’t help yourself but workout in one, I would suggest doing prehab exercises that influence the shoulders (the RCs), hamstrings, trunk flexors and extensors. I guess these are the muscles you can’t see. There’s not a whole lot to do for these areas, from what I’ve known and done, so I don’t think it will hinder the majority of your training in learning skill, gpp/work capacity, and strategy.
You think this is a good idea? I learned the hard way when I hurt my shoulder. My rehab was the same as prehab, meaning if I did prehab I would have been less likely to have injury.