Jan 01 2011

Frankie Edgar Training Hard

Category: Agility,Conditioning,MMA,Power Training,Quickness,reaction time,Strength Training,Strongman,UFC,Uncategorized — Rob @ 11:35 AM

The lightweight champion is back at UFC 125 on New Years Day, as Frankie Edgar looks to defend his title against the only man to beat him Gray Maynard.  Yesterday we took a look at Maynard putting the Battle Ropes to the test.  Like I said both of these fighters are always in great shape come fight time.

Today we will take a look at Edgar training for this fight.  In this video you will see all the different types of training Edgar does in preparation for a fight.  There are agility ladders to improve his footwork.  As we saw in his last two fights against BJ Penn we saw that edgar had great footwork.  Using the agility ladder in training has helped him improve in that aspect of his fight game.  You will also see him using hurdles to develope lower body power.  Having an explosive lower body helps in all aspects of the fight game from punching and kicking to takedowns.  We also see him using a stabilty ball to help improve dynamic flexibilty and core strength.  The sledge hammer also makes an appereance, just another tool that produces power as well as core strength.  Kettlebells which many combat athletes have now incorporated into their strength and conditioning also make their way into his training.  Turkish Getups with a kettlebell is a great movement to add strength to the entire body.  Give them a try and let me know what you think.

Now remeber when looking at this video be aware that there is a plan or program for what he is doing.  This could be one session where each of the exercises you see stand alone and is not a conditioning protocol.  Many fighters out there see these things and just go out and try and perform them without knowing where it fits in their training.  By looking at the date on the video this is more than likely a General Preparation Session, which is used to get the athlete ready for the work that is to come ahead in the training for the months ahead.

Happy New Year! If you are looking to take it to the next level I do offer online training at a discount for the New Year.  Make the investment in your career and make 2011 your year.

Train Hard Train Smart!

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Nov 22 2010

MMA Reaction Drill

Category: Agility,Boxing,Jiu-Jitsu,MMA,muay Thai,reaction time,Uncategorized — Rob @ 9:00 AM

Reaction time in sport can be the determining factor in winning or losing.  Split seconds and the reactions of the athletes in those moments have made many champions in all sports including MMA.  Hell reaction time won me a few touch football games back in my younger days.  Hey even the time I flipped over my handle bars going down a hill my reaction time was necessary as I need to find a way quickly not to let my head smash into the pavement.  If that were today I really would not have needed to learn how to fall cause I would have my mandatory helmet, kneepads and elbow pads to protect me.

I have been incorporating some gymnastics into my training and seeing how it transfers to combat sports.   While doing some of these drills I found that my equilibrium as well as my kinesthetic awareness was a little off after performing forward rolls and cartwheels.  After watching some MMA fights and seeing that some of the fighters end up rolling around in a scramble just to come up and get rocked I decided to add a dimension of fighting to the gymnastic drills.  In the Brock Lesner, Cain Velesquez fight you saw Lesner get rocked a bit and do a backward roll into the cage.  As he came up you could see that he was uncertain of what to do.  This drill may help aid in that kind of fighting situation.

Now you will need another person to really get the reaction time training as well in this drill.  The second person will call out punch combinations as you come up to your feet after performing the specific gymnastic move.  The key is some simple punch and kick combo’s.  The reason behind this is because in a fight the basics are the most important especially when you are tired and or rocked from a punch.  Remember do not have the combinations predetermined.  As you will see in this video I will mess up one combo a bunch of times.  Do the same combo until you get it right so the basic become second nature.  Plus these are some good outtakes, watch as I almost crash into my daughter. Another key is to have the partner call out the combo either as you are getting up or in the last rep of the specific gymnastic move you have chosen to do.  Go give these a try and see how you improve in kinesthetic awareness as well as reaction time.

Tags: , , , , , ,

Oct 12 2010

Explosive Power Using Mini-Hurdles

Category: Agility,Boxing,Jiu-Jitsu,MMA,Power Training,reaction time,Uncategorized,Wrestling — Rob @ 7:00 PM

In sports there are two very important factors when trying to achieve victory.  These two factors go for pretty much any sport on the planet.   Those two factors that separate the champions from the rest are being to exhibit power and reaction time.

In combat sports such as Jiu-Jitsu, wrestling, MMA and boxing being able to move a mass with speed and being able to react are keys to victory.

So before the weather gets nasty here in New York I want to get as much training done as well as video for the site.  In this video I will be using the mini-hurdles. The drill is designed to build on lower body power or explosiveness as well as reactive abilities.  The pattern of how you attempt your hops over each hurdle is up to you as the coach or the athlete.  Remember to hop back to the center of the hurdle after hopping over each hurdle.

The one thing I want to focus on more than the pattern of the hop is reacting with every hop.  The drill is designed to move quickly and generate power.  Once you begin to hop the object is to have the least amount of ground contact as possible.  Once your feet hit the ground you are jumping in the next direction you have chosen.  Remember you do not want to land flat footed; also use your arms to help yourself jump. This will help you generate more speed going in and out of your jump.

So why is this important to combat sports such as MMA?  These are the types of drills that will turn a fighter into an athlete.  As the sport evolves so must the fighters in the sport. Being a combat athlete is the way the sport is heading.  Using agility drills such as these will only enhance your athletic and fighting abilities. These types of drills especially for lower body power and reaction time will help with a fighters takedowns, takedown defense, footwork and punching power.

Train Hard! Train Smart!

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Jul 21 2010

How Would You React?

Category: Boxing,Conditioning,Power Training,reaction time,Speed,Uncategorized — Rob @ 8:55 PM

In sports a second can be the difference between a winning and losing. As the competition gets better reaction time is critical. For example stuffing a take down in the final seconds of a fight can get your hand lifted at the end or send you back home a loser. I have been doing my research and reading a lot on reaction time. Strength and conditioning coaches all know it is an important component to training. All athletes should be working on improving their reaction time.

So what is reaction time? Reaction time is the interval time between the presentation of a stimulus and the initiation of the muscular response to that stimulus. Some examples in combat sports such as MMA or boxing are avoiding a punch with say a slip or bob and being able to sprawl in time when you see a takedown coming.

Some athletes and people are born with great reaction time. But that does not mean that you cannot increase the ability of your reaction time with practice. In a fight there are many different stimulus’s a fighter must react to. Within those stimuli there can be many different reactions. The more choices a fighter has in ways to react the slower the reaction time will be. So when starting off training reaction time you want to keep it simple with your fighters. You may want to start off with giving them only one choice to make. So say they are working on their boxing, Give them only the choice to parry a punch, as they get better add the slip.

These are some of the more sport specific ways to train reaction time. As a strength and conditioning coach you don’t have to be as sport specific in your training to start off. Using different exercises that we have done before you can add the element of reaction time within them.

In this training clip I incorporate medicine ball tosses with reaction time. So as you will see this thirty second set incorporates, power, acceleration, reaction time and conditioning. Focusing on the reaction time, after tossing the ball you must turn around track the medicine ball and react to where it is going and get to it before two bounces. As for reaction time it’s on an easier level because you kind of know where the ball may land. To make this harder have someone throw the ball for you then turn around and chase after it. So check out this video and more to come on training reaction time. Train Hard! Train Smart!

P.S. This was done the morning of my second anniversary. Happy Anniversary Baby!



Tags: , , , , , , , , , , ,

Apr 29 2010

The Journey is Rocking!

Category: Agility,Conditioning,Jiu-Jitsu,MMA,Power Training,Quickness,Speed,Strength Training,Uncategorized — Rob @ 9:37 PM

And so the journey continues and it is getting better and better as we move along.  As we all know Jessica is a 2010 Pan American champion but last week on a weekend visit to Chi-town it just so happened that there was a Naga taking place at the same time.  So what does any true Samurai do, they fight and that is just what Jess did as she once again took another tournament and continues her pace to becoming a great MMA champion.  This Saturday she will be competing in the New York Open jiu-jitsu tournament.

Look at that Samurai Sword!

The best thing about this is that after this tournament I have Jessica for a whole four weeks of strength and conditioning.  I am excited about this, as we have had to pull back a little on the strength training due to the fact that she was competing in tournament every couple of weeks.  I now have her for a full phase of training.

So here is what the program is going to focus on.  I am going to keep the same strength-training program that I had mentioned in one of my previous titled “What’s a Strength Coach Supposed To Do?  So she will follow that specific program two times a week with conditioning protocols at the end.  I will now be adding another day in there and it will focus on some different aspects of strength and conditioning.  The extra two days will focus on some functional exercise to help improve balance and mobility.  Along with that I am going to be adding speed, agility, quickness and reaction drills to these days.  I want to improve Jessicas athletic ability with this day.  We will be working on multi-directional work, cone drills and even some sprint work.  I know if I turn her into a better athlete that it will turn her into a better fighter.  This just goes to prove that not all strength and conditioning training for MMA fighters needs to be “sport-specific”.  Many times you need to take a step back and develop your fighters athletic ability it will only improve their fight game.  One thing that I am excited about testing and have been using myself is the reaction ball.  The way this ball bounces it is going to improve her reaction time on the mat and in the cage.  Look for my next post in the next day or so as I go through the progression of how I taught Jessica to snatch in out last session.  Until then Train Hard, Train Smart!

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,