MMA Workout Routines

So hopefully you’ve managed to build up your endurance and strength, but how tough are you? By that I mean have you actually sparred or done any grappling with a human opponent? Even if you have, you will need to further your current training routine by doing some serious work.

You can do this in one of two ways; lengthen the time you workout, or add more intense techniques to your current regimen.

If you’ve been running two miles a day on a track, start running uphill.

Lifting 20 pound dumbbells? Crank up the weight to 30 pounds on each side.

You’re not trying to kill yourself, but your opponent isn’t exactly going to take it easy on you. Each time you set a physical goal for yourself, see if you can set the bar just a little higher.

If you follow MMA, you already know all about Frank Mir’s trouble rise to the top including a near death motorcycle accident and subsequent loss to Brock Lesnar. After taking some time off to evaluate his training strategy, Mir has put on substantial bulk as a result of a completely re-hauled workout plan.

Some of the basic changes made was to cut out the focus on bodybuilding and light conditioning many fighters choose to work with. In it’s place, Mir has added the principles of strongman strength training to add both strength and size to his arsenal.

The physical results are hard to deny as Mir is now a well defined powerhouse. How all his hard work will play out in the ring, no one yet knows. It is worth mentioning that some of the most successful fighters have followed this same plan.

Basically, strongman training focuses on lifting heavy weight in short reps many times over. Forget about just doing dead lifts and arm curls, the strongman technique will involve turning over tires, pulling cars and sending kegs barreling over your head.

Traditional strongmen aren’t necessarily known for their strength, but with Mir combining endurance building exercises and getting rid of most of his body fat, he will definitely be a formidable force in the ring again.

Cristiane Santos might very well be the most recognizable female star in MMA. The women’s division is on the move, so being champion was no small feat for Santos. As a member of the renowned Chute Boxing Academy in Brazil, Santos participates in a workout regimen that is intense, but yields phenomenal results. Based on the principles of Muay Thai kickboxing and Brazilian Jui-Jitsu, the Chute Academy trains their fighters to be notoriously aggressive and explosive in the ring.

Santos practices the basics of grappling, take-downs and strikes while incorporating them with aggressive strength training. She slams a sledgehammer on a tire in both standing and kneeling positions, turns over a huge tire and pulls her trainer with a bungee cord as she sprints.

Much of her cardiovascular work comes from these explosive and dynamic techniques developed by her experienced trainers both in and out of the gym. Swinging a sledgehammer takes a lot of energy, and alternating from a standing to a sitting position will give your muscles a burn never felt before. Using martial arts as a base, Santos focuses on several fighting styles a day with a focus on building endurance.

Brock Lesnar chooses to vary his exercise regime by breaking it up into multiple intervals consisting of various types of exercise. His workout schedule is intense, most days consisting of two sessions in the morning as well as the evening.

Lesnar combines cardiovascular exercise with grappling and weight training to create a full body workout each and every time he trains. While he does focus on heavy lifting, his reps are in short sets and dispersed throughout his workout.

Brock is a heavyweight, so cardiovascular exercise is necessary to keep his bulk down while spontaneously keeping him flexible and limber. Most his workout sessions are short, but by doing them multiple times a day several times a week, Lesnar is able to combine strength with endurance.

We’ve got more of Randy’s workout broken down into sets and weight.

If you have a barbell and are ready to build your cardio and get into sparring shape, this is how you do it.

The Randy Couture workout starts with the 45 pound empty bar and works its way up.

Do all of this MMA workout routine without letting go of the bar for the best effect:

Bent rows x8 (Back)
Upright rows x8 (Traps and Shoulders)
Military press x8 (Shoulders)
Good morning x8 (Lower back and hamstrings)
Lunges x8 (each leg) (quads,hams,glutes)
Squat push press x8 (mostly shoulders but also quads,hams,glutes,)
Deadlift x8 (Lower back, hams, glutes (traps when weight is heavier)…

Take a full 1 minute rest between sets. Do 3 sets, 5 sets if you can manage. This will build up muscle fast and hugely raise your cardio.

We all known Georges St. Pierre is super strong a complete animal in the cage, but how did he get that way? Most of St. Pierre’s regime focuses on weight and gravity based training. Whether he’s dead lifting, squatting with heavy barbells or climbing a rope, St. Pierre’s exercise regime either uses his own body weight or added weights to maximize his results.

Besides regular sparring matches, Georges does very little focusing on cardiovascular exercise, instead opting for heavy weights. Like many of his competitors, much of his actual regime is kept secret. What we do know is that he sweats it out, grapples and does as much weight training as he can muster to keep in shape.