MMA Training Hub

Training
61

[quote]Djwlfpack wrote:
HunterKiller wrote:
Iv been wanting to get into MMA but I want to up my cardiovascular strength before I do. I was thinking a good training would be clean and snatching for 5 minutes none stop. This would work the entire body on a very intense level for 5 minutes which is the average length of a round. Thoughts?

My opinion is to just get in there and start training. Even if you’re in good shape you’ll be winded at first when training MMA; it’s just a different type of training. The more you train, the better your conditioning will be.[/quote]

Beat me to it.

You don’t know what kind of strength you’ll need until you’re in there, and you’ll still be fucking sore after the first few times.

The human body is a remarkable thing though, and soon enough you’ll be fine.

62

[quote]Djwlfpack wrote:
HunterKiller wrote:
Iv been wanting to get into MMA but I want to up my cardiovascular strength before I do. I was thinking a good training would be clean and snatching for 5 minutes none stop. This would work the entire body on a very intense level for 5 minutes which is the average length of a round. Thoughts?

My opinion is to just get in there and start training. Even if you’re in good shape you’ll be winded at first when training MMA; it’s just a different type of training. The more you train, the better your conditioning will be.[/quote]

Cool, thanks for the advice I will take it to heart.

63

[quote]HunterKiller wrote:
Djwlfpack wrote:
HunterKiller wrote:
Iv been wanting to get into MMA but I want to up my cardiovascular strength before I do. I was thinking a good training would be clean and snatching for 5 minutes none stop. This would work the entire body on a very intense level for 5 minutes which is the average length of a round. Thoughts?

My opinion is to just get in there and start training. Even if you’re in good shape you’ll be winded at first when training MMA; it’s just a different type of training. The more you train, the better your conditioning will be.

Cool, thanks for the advice I will take it to heart.[/quote]

Good luck. Let us know how it goes once you start training.

64

Strength Workout

  1. Hang Clean, 5x3: 165
  2. BB Bench Press, 1x5RM: 225 (5, not bad consideirng I hadn’t done BB bench in a long time)
  3. BB Bent-over Rows, 5x5: 175 (5)
  4. DB Split Squat, 3x8: 55 (8)

Workout was around 40 minutes, which included some dynamic stretchig pre-workout and post-workout static stretching. Weight went up on all exercises, which is always a positive.

65

Cool thread, i do more BJJ/submission grappling than MMA. Hope its ok that i contribute my routine. I am blue belt in BJJ, been training at Straight Blast Gym in Portland, OR since Oct 06, did several years of no gi before that in Tallahassee Florida.

I usually go 2-3 BJJ classes a week and an open mat on sunday. My schedule looks like this

Sunday-2 hour open mat
Monday-1.5 hour BJJ class
Tues-1,5 hour BJJ class
Thurs-1.5 hour BJJ class

Class is the pretty conventional format. Warm up, learn and drill technique, practice with gradual resistance, then usually a 10-15 min open roll at the end. Open mat we can do whatever we want. Usually we just end up rolling the whole time, I have been focusing on 4 min rounds lately to get in the mind frame for a submission tournament in the spring.

On top of that i try to fit in Strength and Conditioning as well. I like using Ross Enamaits model, training various strength qualities plus conditioning throughout the week. I can usually work out on my lunch hour, so alot of times i will do that and then BJJ class at night. I dont really have set days in the week that i do the workouts, it kinda depends on my recovery or tired i am from BJJ. I do try to get in four workouts a week though. Something like this:

Workout #1 Blend of conditioning/strength. Something like ross’s Magic 50 or Crossfit’s Fran. I try to change this workout every week.

Workout #2 Max strength. I rotate this one every few weeks. I have been doing 3x3-5 with Deadlifts, weighted pull ups, and weighted dips.

Workout #3 Lighter GPP. Usually bodyweight based, or sometimes sprints. Last time i did Crossfit’s Cindy. 5 PU’s 10 Pushups 15 Squats. As many rounds as possible in 20 min. I got 14 rounds, kipping the pull ups

Workout #4 Explosive strength. Mostly been working with plymetric pushups, power overs, jumping squats, jumping knee tucks, broad jumps, etc.

Thats kind of it in a nutshell. I have also been working out a friend’s Crossfit gym once a week, so sometimes that will take the place of a conditioning workout. I think i seem to be balancing everything ok, though sometimes i feel perhaps i need to do less gym stuff outside of BJJ class.

Anton

66

Anton,
Thanks for posting and yeah, you’re more than welcome to post your workouts here. I do mostly BJJ, too, so no worries.

BTW, where in Tallahassee did you train? Was it a well-run place? I lived there for just over 4 years. I never really considered training BJJ while I lived there, though.

67

[quote]Djwlfpack wrote:
OK, what’s everyone’s thoughts on conditioning? What do you like to do?

Bodyweight circuits?
Sprints?
Circuit-style training?
Strongman medley?

I tend to rotate between bodyweight circuits (Tabatas are a real killer) and sprints for the most part.[/quote]

I like this question.

My preferred conditioning method combines heavy lifting, throwing stuff, bodyweight stuff and sprints. I call them ABC drills. Usually I will set one “heavy” toy (heavybag, sandbag, waterball) on one side of the yard, then a “light” toy (medball, dumbell, abwheels)on the other side. Or it may be heavy toy on one side and bodyweight stuff on the other. To transfer from the heavy play area to the light play area I do medball throw-sprint-catches.

Example:
A. Heavy Bag for twirls
(www.lockflow.com/article_view.php?id=2412 its this exercise but with a boxing bag because my friends won’t help me train, buncha rat bastards)

B. Throw med ball and catch it on the first bounce x2

C. Bodywieght exercise. Clapping pushups, Mountain climbers, burpees, whatever else…

Finisher is holding/carrying the heavy bag for as long as possible. Overhead carry until I cant, then shoulder carry unitl I cant, then granny carry until I cant, then colapse in the yard.

I will alternate doing these drills for time or reps.

68

Oops forgot to introduce myself.

I play Judo mostly, with a little jujitsu, No-gi/MMA stuff, and a little boxing to round things out. I still do alot of the old TKD drills to keep my kicks handy.

Spent last week helping the Judo club get ready for a grappling tournament held Saturday. Unfortuantely I didn’t get to go due to work, but I did get to be the team’s throwing dummy for a week.

69

When i was in Tallahassee we trained at a few different places. First it was on FSU’s campus, then we moved to this judo school for a bit, then we rented mat space at this kung fu school behind Momo’s pizza on Tennessee St. A few of the guys had blue belts from Royce Gracie or Marcio Simas who is down in Orlando. Eventually they drifted out of the picture.

Overall it was a fun time and i did learn alot, but it was more of a show up and roll kind of atmosphere. Good for athleticism but i really didnt start feeling more technical till i got some serious instruction here at Straight Blast. I think there is an Alliance Black Belt in Tallahassee and a bunch guys i used to train with formed the Tallahassee MMA club. I think some of them fight ameture or pro.

Anton

70

Goju-ryu. Heavy in katas, sanchin breathing, etc.

Fucking exhausted. May lift tomorrow if I’m not doing the MMA thing.

71

[quote]Bujo wrote:
Oops forgot to introduce myself.

I play Judo mostly, with a little jujitsu, No-gi/MMA stuff, and a little boxing to round things out. I still do alot of the old TKD drills to keep my kicks handy.

Spent last week helping the Judo club get ready for a grappling tournament held Saturday. Unfortuantely I didn’t get to go due to work, but I did get to be the team’s throwing dummy for a week. [/quote]

Bujo,
Welcome aboard. Cool workout routines. You train a lot techniques, which is great (I wish I had time for more).

To you or anyone else out there, how similar is Judo to BJJ in terms of class structure? Do you guys work technique then grapple (roll)? Not a lot of guys use Judo in MMA…do you find that to be an advantage?

72

Honestly, if you want to be in competitive Olympic judo, you don’t need to know much more than a solid blue belt level BJJ. If you can stall for about 15 seconds you get the stand up. Most of your time if rightfully devoted to the tachi-waza.

A good judo guy will absolutely give wrestlers and BJJ guys fits in the gi, but in no-gi you have to make some serious adaptations to your game. Sambo rules are a little bit better.

73

There is nothing more beautiful in all of grappling than a perfect throw:

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-2506304944163835779&q=judo+highlight&total=259&start=0&num=100&so=0&type=search&plindex=3

74

[quote]Donut62 wrote:
There is nothing more beautiful in all of grappling than a perfect throw:

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-2506304944163835779&q=judo+highlight&total=259&start=0&num=100&so=0&type=search&plindex=3

[/quote]

Cool vid, thanks Donut. Man, that makes me want to take up Judo! Those throws are awesome. I’d imagine no-Gi Judo would be more difficult to execute those manuevers. That damn Gi; it’s used more as a weapon against you, which is so frustrating until you get the hang of it.

75

[quote]tones wrote:
When i was in Tallahassee we trained at a few different places. First it was on FSU’s campus, then we moved to this judo school for a bit, then we rented mat space at this kung fu school behind Momo’s pizza on Tennessee St. A few of the guys had blue belts from Royce Gracie or Marcio Simas who is down in Orlando. Eventually they drifted out of the picture.

Overall it was a fun time and i did learn alot, but it was more of a show up and roll kind of atmosphere. Good for athleticism but i really didnt start feeling more technical till i got some serious instruction here at Straight Blast. I think there is an Alliance Black Belt in Tallahassee and a bunch guys i used to train with formed the Tallahassee MMA club. I think some of them fight ameture or pro.

Anton[/quote]

Momo’s Pizza…that brings back memories of my days at FSU.

76

Its not so much training in a bunch of different styles as trying to maintain what I’ve learned over the last 10 years. Like in boxing I’m refocusing on keeping my hooks and uppercuts closer to my body instead of letting them wing out. I’d much rather my opponent feel the hook than see it.

Our Judo class structure usually:
Warmup
Technique Practice on 2-3 throws
Randori, either Standing or Ground
Technique Practice on pins/jointlocks/chokes or throws ending with a pin/jointlock/choke
Bow out
10-15 minutes open mat time

We may see Judo and BJJ move closer together in training. In my neck of the woods more Judo clubs are sponsoring Judo/Grappling Tournaments. I like it since for the same fee (or slightly more) I can double the number of fights during the weekend.

As far as Judo in MMA I don’t think it will ever play a big roll. In MMA the Judoka would have one chance at the beggining of each round to make the big throw after that its all gound work. The Judo throws are very technical and take alot of practice to be appliable, where as the BullRush/2-leg grab/1-leg grab can be learned in 30 minutes.

In BJJ do y’all spend a lot of time learning to get past your opponents guard and get into something else like side mount? I ask because I was watching a UFC fight on Spike last nite (ended with a juji gatame/arm bar), and it seems the two guys really enjoyed the missionary position. They may be dating, I don’t know.

77

[quote]Bujo wrote:
In BJJ do y’all spend a lot of time learning to get past your opponents guard and get into something else like side mount? I ask because I was watching a UFC fight on Spike last nite (ended with a juji gatame/arm bar), and it seems the two guys really enjoyed the missionary position. They may be dating, I don’t know.[/quote]

Yes, there is a lot of work on that in BJJ. It all depends on how strong a guy’s guard is, though. Like in my tournament, I ran into a guy that focused all his strength on keeping his guard and nothing else. Makes it harder to pass than if a guy is being active in his guard and is looking for submissions or sweeps.

In MMA, though, there are some guys that prefer to stay in an opponent’s guard and try to ground-and-pound from there. Tito Ortiz is one of the best at this.

78

No BJJ last night due to the bad weather. I’m going to try to go to the a.m. class tomorrow, which is no-Gi.

Conditioning work
Time: 30 minutes
Notes: Did 4 min. of rowing for 4 sets. In-between each set of rowing did a bodyweight circuit of squats, push-ups and various crunches, followed by one lap sprinted around the indoor track (that also averaged out to about 4-minute sets). Very little rest between sets, maybe 30-45 seconds. Finished up with stretching. Good workout.

79

Did a max strength workout yesterday.

3x3 Dips, Pull Ups and Deadlifts

250 on the Deadlifts, +35lbs on the dips and pull ups. Still working on my deadlift, i would like to hit double bodyweight by spring, right now at 160lbs BW i have pulled 270x2. Not a lot of weight, i think my max strength is pretty low. But along with BJJ plus conditioning i only have so much time.

I have been rethinking on how to organize my S&C work plus BJJ. I am going to give this a try and see how it works.

Sunday Open Mat 2hrs
Monday noon conditioning workout BJJ class in the evening
Tuesday noon strength workout BJJ class in the evening
Wed Off
Thursday noon conditioning workout BJJ class in the evening
Friday Strength Workout
Saturday Off

I will probably rotate through various max strength workouts for one of my strength days, and the other might be explosive strength or some sort of full body routine but at a lighter intensity than my other strength day.

In BJJ class on monday we worked butterfly guard top. A few good passes, both from kneeling and standing. The thing i have to remember when passing butterfly guard is you either drive in and pin his legs to his butt, or you back straight out and pass some other way. Trying to go up just gets you swept.

Its tough balancing all this, i have to remember that BJJ performance is number one, and that all the additional work is not good if i am still recovering when i am in class. But i would like to get a double BW deadlift just because its a good bench mark, and on top of that i just got into the O-lifts…

Anton

80

[quote]tones wrote:
Did a max strength workout yesterday.

3x3 Dips, Pull Ups and Deadlifts

250 on the Deadlifts, +35lbs on the dips and pull ups. Still working on my deadlift, i would like to hit double bodyweight by spring, right now at 160lbs BW i have pulled 270x2. Not a lot of weight, i think my max strength is pretty low. But along with BJJ plus conditioning i only have so much time.

I have been rethinking on how to organize my S&C work plus BJJ. I am going to give this a try and see how it works.

Sunday Open Mat 2hrs
Monday noon conditioning workout BJJ class in the evening
Tuesday noon strength workout BJJ class in the evening
Wed Off
Thursday noon conditioning workout BJJ class in the evening
Friday Strength Workout
Saturday Off

I will probably rotate through various max strength workouts for one of my strength days, and the other might be explosive strength or some sort of full body routine but at a lighter intensity than my other strength day.

In BJJ class on monday we worked butterfly guard top. A few good passes, both from kneeling and standing. The thing i have to remember when passing butterfly guard is you either drive in and pin his legs to his butt, or you back straight out and pass some other way. Trying to go up just gets you swept.

Its tough balancing all this, i have to remember that BJJ performance is number one, and that all the additional work is not good if i am still recovering when i am in class. But i would like to get a double BW deadlift just because its a good bench mark, and on top of that i just got into the O-lifts…

Anton[/quote]

Anton,
Let me ask you, in your BJJ classes, is it straight technique or is there rolling as well? If you do get to roll for say, 30 minutes, then I wouldn’t worry about doing conditioning on the same day; you’ll get enough conditioning from rolling.

As for your schedule, I’d think about switching your strength workout to Wed. instead of Tuesday, that way you won’t have to worry about being fatigued in BJJ that evening.