MMA Workout Routines

Posts Tagged ‘build strength’

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.

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.

In a nutshell, Chuck “The Ice Man” Liddell’s exercise plan is a menagerie of different strength training exercises in hyper mode. You won’t catch Liddell going for a morning jog unless he’s dragging something really heavy behind him. With the encouragement of a well known professional trainer, Liddell works out out with a group of other athletes in several grueling sessions a day. Medicine balls and rowing machines are a part of his routine, but they involve a twist. Try speed rowing for two minutes straight, then jumping up to immediately wrestle an opponent.

Of course, Liddell and his trainer don’t neglect to do the traditional strength training exercises like squats and push-ups. For example, on day one he will do three sets of 20 squats, three sets of 20 barbell lunges and two sets of 20 seated leg curls. One day two, Lidell will focus completely on the upper body by doing two reps of push-ups till failure, explosive military presses and front pull downs. Each night ends with Liddell fighting into the wee hours of the morning until he goes to bed, wakes up and does it all over again.

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In 2008, a quiet light heavyweight made a huge splash in the UFC coming in as a late addition on the prelim card of UFC 87. He hasn’t looked back since. His only blemish on his near perfect record was a disqualification against Matt Hamill for use of illegal elbows.  Since then he has fought some very tough opponents, although you wouldn’t know that the way he just tosses them around. When he fought the decorated wrestler Ryan Bader, you would have thought Bader didn’t know how to wrestle and he was a Raggedy Andy doll.

The 6-foot-3 former All-American Greco-Roman wrestler’s training program is as unorthodox as his fighting style. Every exercise is meant to push his muscles to max capacity so he can explode during his fights.

Usually starting two months before his fights, Jones begins his strength and cardio training three days a week. His strength and conditioning coach, Kelly Tekin, explains “We went by feel and used a lot of explosive exercises to train his muscle fibers to fire faster,” and, “We also relied on a lot of heavy compound exercises to keep muscle on his frame.”

Below is an example of a typical training day for Jones.

AVERAGE DAY
1. Hang Clean (5 sets of 5 reps)
2. Barbell Push Press (8 sets of 5 reps: 30 sec. rest between sets)
3. Lying Leg Curl (6 sets of 6 reps)
4. Depth Dumbbell Snatch (4 sets of 4 reps)
5. Ring Twists (3 sets of 4 reps to each side)
6. Clean from Knees w/Jump (3 sets of 10 reps)
7. Medicine ball superset (run the cycle three times for a total of three supersets)
•    Medicine Ball Power Up (5 reps)
•    Medicine Ball Sprawl and Jump (8 reps)
•    Medicine Ball Plyo Push Up (8 reps)
8. One-Leg Straight Leg Walking Dumbbell Deadlifts (3 sets for 25 yards each)

Jones’ cardio is worked with high-tech equipment that tests his muscles in ways reserved for fights. For example, Tekin would place a tackling dummy on top of a non-motorized treadmill (called the Tred Sled), then hook Jones into a special vest with resistance cords attached to it. “I would push the dummy as hard as possible, as if I was doing a takedown, for 5-10 seconds,” says Jones. “Because I was being pulled backward by the cords, it’s a strenuous exercise that really builds up your explosive strength.”

Another unique tool Tekin uses is the VertiMax—a platform with resistance cords attached to it that strap onto Jones’ hands, waist, knees and ankles. Jones’ coach then hooks him up, then he does knee strikes, kicks and punches for 30-60 seconds at a time, switching stances (from traditional to southpaw) in between rounds. “The extra resistance made it difficult just to keep my hands up, let alone throw a punch,” says Jones, “After being tied into that thing, once I went to knee a guy without being strapped into the machine, it made my strikes that much more powerful in the Octagon.”

The one thing with Jon Jones is that he’s always been training, partly from being an All-American wrestler but also having to keep up with his two older brothers that are pro football players.

If you have the dedication to follow a plan like this, you have a chance of not only increasing your fighting strength, but your overall fitness will greatly benefit from this.