MMA Training & weights

[JayC]

Hey fella's..
I've recently decided to take my past & current experience and cross over into MMA/cage fighting. I have alot of experience but MMA as a whole is new to me. I'm thinking I might need to change up my resistant training and wanted some advice. Anyone MMA training?? ..or know someone who is?? ..and what type of weight lifting program should I be running?? Thanks guys.

 

[Eze]

OC Cartel
Swellin

I know these guys train BJJ, probably a few other things. They can probably help you out.

 

[Skarhead1]

http://www.defrancostraining.com/

This is a link to joe defranco, a world famous strength and conditioning coach for athletes. If you click on his "ask Joe" section, and do a search on "MMA training" Joe outlines his ideas and concepts for MMA training.

 

[ManOfMuscle]

Basically you're not going to be able to hit the weights nearly as hard.

 

[motawa]

Basically you shouldnt be worried about adjusting your weight lifting routine more than the need of a good training team and coaches.

How old are you ? any experience in any type of traditional martial art ? BJJ, wrestling or boxing/kickboxing/muaythai are what suits best MMA, other crap are only good for jackie-chan movies.

some things you might want to consider:

1. you look a bit bulky in your pic, you most likely will have to drop weight, in order to get the advantage of a good reach and cardio, which will cause loss in strength for sure.

2. If you are planning to become a pro ie; make a living out of it, and you are 25++ years and not consider yourself a pro in atleast 1 traditional martial art, just forget about the idea.

3. You would probably be spending no more than 20% of your training time with actual weight lifting, mostly just strength exercises.

 

[Skarhead1]

Q: Joe D – I’m a wrestler turned mixed martial artist. I’ve been following your program 2-3 X a week in conjunction with my MMA training with great success. On my upper body high rep day I do mostly chin variations and DB bench variations. To be honest I’m getting bored. Do you have any different suggestions for a MMA guy that comes to mind? My goal is to come train with you for a couple of weeks but for now sending in a question is the best I can do. Thanks man.
Todd

A: Todd,
Here’s a suggestion for you - For your Rep Upper Body Day, try performing timed isometric holds as your main lift. Isometric strength is of utmost importance for mixed martial artists; I feel incorporating isometrics into your routine is a great way to make your workouts more “MMA specific” as well as add some variety to your training.

How many times have you seen a guy control a fight and go for multiple submission attempts, yet he ends up gassing out and the other guy ends up taking control of the fight and winning?! This happens because isometrics require a lot of energy from the body and if your body isn’t used to this type of activity, it will take its toll on you.



The bottom line is, as a mixed martial artist, if you don’t train this specific aspect of strength, it may end up costing you a fight! Below are just a few examples of exercises that you can use as your main exercise on your Repetition Upper Body Day…

Chin-up holds (wearing weighted vest, various grips)
Thick bar or heavy dumbbell holds
“Baby carry” sandbag holds
“Bear hug” sandbag holds
Weighted vest push-up hold (top position)
Weighted vest push-up hold (bottom position)
‘Zercher squat” barbell holds
You can perform 3 sets of max time with minimal rest periods, multiple sets of a pre-determined time with minimal rest periods, 1 all-out set, etc., etc. The possibilities are endless. After your isometric work, go into your regular strength training exercises, but don’t expect to break any records. This is very difficult to do because the isometrics take a lot out of you. But it’s good to condition your body in this manner; just as if you went for a submission and it failed and you had to continue fighting after expending a lot of energy on the submission attempt.

How long before MMA is as mainstream as baseball, football & basketball???

Joe D.

 

[Skarhead1]

Q: Coach D – first off, keep kickin’ ass, your website is top notch and your athletes motivate the hell out of me. Anyway last year I started MMA training and I love it. I was a high school wrestler (state champ) and I’ve been focusing on my jiu-jitsu and striking for the past year. My question to you is how important of a role do you feel that strength plays in the fight game? I’m asking becuz in high school I was known for overpowering my opponents but now I haven’t spent the same amount of time with the weights because my body is always exhausted after my boxing and jiu-jitsu workouts. I’m torn between whether I should focus on my weakness or make my strength even stronger. Any wisdom you could share with me would be greatly appreciated. My goal is to fight in the UFC someday. (I’m 22 years old, btw).
Steven C.

A: Steven,
In the world of mixed martial arts, TECHNIQUE definitely reins supreme; especially this day and age where it seems like every guy is so well-versed in so many different disciplines of the martial arts.
It is great that you have a wrestling background, but since you have only been working your jiu-jitsu & boxing for one year, I HIGHLY recommend that you make them your focus for now. I understand that if your strength was your “strength” during your high school wrestling years, you don’t want to completely abandon what enabled you to become a state champ. With that being said, I would recommend that you still strength-train, but make sure your strength workouts do NOT take away from your MMA workouts. In other words, revolve your strength training around your MMA workouts – NOT the other way around. If your strength workouts ever take away from your MMA progress, you’re doing too much strength work. At this point in your career, your goal should be to focus on developing your MMA skills while maintaining your strength and using your strength workouts to help in injury prevention.

Now, with all of the above being said, I am still a huge advocate of strength when all other factors are equal. To prove my point we need not look any further than last week’s UFC 64. In the title bout between Sean Sherk & Kenny Florian, it was evident that strength played a HUGE role in determining the winner.



Sean Sherk


Kenny Florian



Check out the differences in physiques that these two athletes display. Both Sean Sherk & Kenny Florian fight in the same weight class, they both possess incredible technical skill & conditioning, and they are both absolute warriors with hearts of a lion. But if you witnessed this fight, you noticed that the one major difference that set these 2 athletes apart was their strength. Sean Sherk was able to control Kenny Florian for 5 rounds mainly due to his superior strength.

So to answer your question…Is strength important? My answer would be, “Yes.” But is it the most important factor in MMA? My answer would be, “Absolutely not!”
But, once you develop incredible technical skill, your strength may become the deciding factor if all other factors are equal. This is the beauty of mixed martial arts…it’s usually the most well-rounded athlete that wins.

Best of luck in your quest to fight in the UFC.
Joe D.

 

[JayC]

Thanks for some awesome input guys. Any other comments are still welcome.

Skar: Thanks for the link. Very helpful bro!!
Easto: Thanks for passing me those names. I'm pm'ing them now.
Motawa: (see below)

Basically you shouldnt be worried about adjusting your weight lifting routine more than the need of a good training team and coaches.
Won't argue there Got that covered. Now training under a UFC Vet.

How old are you ? any experience in any type of traditional martial art ? BJJ, wrestling or boxing/kickboxing/muaythai are what suits best MMA, other crap are only good for jackie-chan movies.
That's my only down fall, I'm early 30's. This whole thing was one of those aging athlete type decisions.. I miss the challenge, competition, team atmosphere, hard work, etc. Last chance at challenging myself w/a new sport. I do, I'm a collegiate wrestler by trade w/some Taekwondo experience.

some things you might want to consider:

1. you look a bit bulky in your pic, you most likely will have to drop weight, in order to get the advantage of a good reach and cardio, which will cause loss in strength for sure.
Ya..lol. I was bulking during that pic (about 206 lbs) but since have spent the last several months cutting (at 178 lb now). I'd like to fight at 170lb. I'm no stranger to cutting weight, which is why I'd like to keep my resistance training up. To hold on to some strength.

2. If you are planning to become a pro ie; make a living out of it, and you are 25++ years and not consider yourself a pro in atleast 1 traditional martial art, just forget about the idea.
Harsh reality I know but I just plan on taking it as far as I can go. Even if it just means winning a few amateur fights or just ends up being a hobby. It's the physical challenge I'm after.

3. You would probably be spending no more than 20% of your training time with actual weight lifting, mostly just strength exercises.

 

[motawa]

The thing is, it might not be worth it to give it all your time. Alot of undercard guys are still making 4,000$ a fight even in big organizations like the UFC.

 

[disturbed999]

Sorry to go off topic here. But say Right now I'm 20 years old 5'3, about 115 lbs trying to build muscle and bulking, with no prior fighting expirience. Think it would be possible for me to do anything decent in MMA fighting in the future?

 

[ManOfMuscle]

Sorry to go off topic here. But say Right now I'm 20 years old 5'3, about 115 lbs trying to build muscle and bulking, with no prior fighting expirience. Think it would be possible for me to do anything decent in MMA fighting in the future?

No.

 

[Skarhead1]

Most of your cordination is built approximately when youre 12. Thats why its harder to be older and try to learn and perfect a sport in comparison to someone who's doing it all their life.

As a strength coach at a high school and watching wrestling i can vouch for this. The kids who started when they were young absolutely DESTROY the kids who started in middle school or high school. Not saying you couldnt have any success though.

 

[ManOfMuscle]

Ok thanks. I have A LOT of determination when I really want to do something. Before I got bored of guitar I had determination, I would practice 6+ hours a day, and I became probebly one of the best couple hundred in the state. And right now I'm really determined to 1: get as big as I ca nfor my height with weight lifting and 2: hopefully do MMA someday. I realize I'll probebly never be able to do is profetionaly, but at least semi-pro or to be good at it localy would be nice. I don't know if theres an MMA type gym anywhere around here (seattle washington) but if there is one, do you think it would be better to try and get some fighting expirience ASAP, or wait till I'm a bit bigger and more muscular?

Ya sorry for the really bad grammar and rambling, I'm kindo drunk right now.

Are you like 13?

 

[Eze]

I am going to start BJJ in the next week or so, so if you get a response from OC or Swelling, tell them to come post in this thread

 

[ManOfMuscle]

Swellin gives great advice on mma related topics.

 

[Eze]

Swellin gives great advice on mma related topics.

Swellin is MIA

 

[OC Cartel]

I lift weights 3-4x a week.
Here's an example of what my routine looks like in the gym.
http://www.healthandfitnesstalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=121803

i wrestle and do boxing/mma about 2hrs 3 times a week if i can. and bjj 2hrs 2x a week if i can.

gains in the gym are definately slow to come by. but i still am noticicing increased growth and strenght, despite all the training.

Check out mister69's training log in the journal section too. he's doing a weight routine that compliments his mma training too

 

[JayC]

Thanks bro!