There a lot of different styles or martial arts and many different ways of training. I dare say that your training should help your martial arts background. For instance if your style requires you to hold on tight and use slow methodical motions then it is going to be a waste of your time doing a lot of explosive fast exercises.

Here is a list of my types of workouts and why, in other words its my training theory.

My theory lies mostly in the belief that you should train for the fight and train your body to be powerful, explosive, fast and with cardio.

Weights: if you are training in typical weight training workouts (eg: 4 sets of 10 reps) then it is a lot of wasted time. In a fight there are very few times that you are going to need the strength that weight lifting gives you. If you want to use weights then you should do low weight and be fast with high reps. You can even add times on there (eg: use 20lb dumbbells for 40 seconds as many reps as you can within that time).

Running: if you use running as your soul cardio workout you are wasting your time. Running is excellent as a part of your work out and/or warm- up but you don’t want to rely on it. If you are just starting out it is a good way to get yourself into the workouts and get your cardio up but you don’t want to rely on it to get your cardio for your fight.

If you want to run do long runs a couple of days a week and do sprints. Your body needs to be able to explode. I do short and long sprints as well as 2-3 long 30- 60 minute runs in a week when preparing for a fight. I also do a shorter jog (20-30 minutes) on my off days to keep my body moving.

A new thing that I’ve learned through a buddy is sprints with rubber bands. These are awesome especially if you only have a small space. Rubber band sprints are very very effective.

Olympic lifting: Excellent… a fight is all about quick explosive movements (standing or on the ground) so you should be training your body to react in this way. All of your takedowns, punches, movements, kicks, stand up grappling etc. require this type of movement. Be aware that you don’t want to do real heavy weights and make sure the person teaching you has experience or is qualified to show you how to do this. They are high injury exercises if done incorrectly.

Body Weight Exercises: Excellent… the person you are fighting is a body not a weight. It will have similar weights, movement and balances as using your body or someone else’s. Train your body to compete against another body not a bar and plates.

Plyometrics: Excellent… This gets you the explosive movement you need. Again, everything you do in a fight involves explosive movement in order for your fight plan to be effective. If you aren’t explosive and trained to be explosive it could be a bad day for you in the ring.

Circuits: Awesome, they combine body weight exercises with distance for cardio. It also helps to get you ready for your rounds. Ensure that the rounds of your circuits are no less than the length of each round you are scheduled for in your fight. I find that they also are awesome warm-ups.

Stair runs/jumps: Excellent… they go along with your explosive power work outs.

Training for martial arts or MMA is tough. You should research as many different exercises and ways to train as you can.



By: Raymond Burton

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Razz Strategy