MMA Workout Routines

Posts Tagged ‘increase endurance’

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.

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.

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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Rashad Evans uses just about every fighting style allowed in MMA to take down his opponents. He already had a considerable background in fighting before entering the UFC, but he changed up his workout style in order to maximize his ring prowess.

When training for a bout, extensive workout sessions are spent perfecting his technique, getting stronger and quicker and examining potential weaknesses. Rashad Evans isn’t the time of fighter who comes into the ring looking for a knockout in the first round. Instead, he prefers to duke it out and really punish all those who challenge him.

Spending about as much time to train in the ring as we do working each day, he focuses on sparring, endurance building and strength training. Twice a week, Evans focus completely on strength training. On the remaining days he focuses on disciplines such as boxing, wrestling and takedowns.

After working out for several hours, Evans ends the day with supplementary conditioning and punching exercises. Like all serious fighters, Rashad eats a healthy, basic diet everyday.

Combined with a day off here and there, Evans gives his body the perfect balance of clean fuel and rigorous training necessary to be the best.

Machida’s workout plan is surprisingly simple. As a well known fighter, most would assume his regimen would have a lot of fancy bells and whistles, but with a lifelong background in karate, Machida mostly does what he knows best.

While he trains anywhere from four to six hours a day, he also breaks up each training session into approximately two hour blocks.

Starting with karate, Machida trains with fellow MMA fighter and brother Chinzo for a few hours in the morning as he has been doing most of his life. He attributes much of his success to working closely with his family in preparation for fights, both in the gym as well as psychologically.

His second workout session of the day consists of a lot of hitting mitts, sparring and take-downs, but it is also notable that that all of his workouts are based in some form of karate. Lyoto will usually follow up with some strength training exercises, similar to a combination of soccer drills and Jiu-Jitsu.

Multiple intense workouts spaced throughout the day allow for a full body workout that is as much cardiovascular as it is conditioning.

Much of Machida’s training looks and feels exactly how he moves in the ring; constantly moving while using tactical blocks, hits and evasive maneuvers.