Jan 01 2012

Sprint Your Way into MMA Conditioning Shape

Category: Conditioning,MMA,MMA Training,Power Training,Recovery,Strength Training,Uncategorized — Rob @ 9:27 PM

I believe I have said this once before but sprinting is one of the best if not the best conditioning tools a MMA fighter can use to increase not only their anaerobic conditioning but at the same time get leaner, stronger and more powerful.  Most people forget about this easy to use and most natural tool we have.  Fighters and their coaches love to put their athletes through different types of “MMA specific” circuits and use that as their only mode of conditioning.  I have caught myself doing this as well but as I grow wiser and grayer in the beard I have come to love and appreciate the art of sprinting.

Sprinting is a full body training session.  If you have not sprinted in a while then you will definitely have some muscle soreness in the following days.  Besides getting in a great conditioning session and increasing your stamina, there are a few more benefits from getting out and sprinting.  Sprinting will also help to cut off excess pounds and around this time of the year, who doesn’t need that.  With the loss of fat comes the increase of lean muscle mass, which will not only make you a better athlete and fighter but also make you look good, a definite bonus for you single fighters out there.  Sprinting will also help increase power while activating those Fast-Twitch muscle fibers necessary in fighting.  The benefit that I find to be very useful especially in the fighting world is the fact that a sprint session is very short.  With all the training that fighters need to go through to get on the mat or in the cage, shorter sessions in the strength and conditioning world will save you and your body from excess wear and tear.

If you have not put sprinting into your training this may be a great time to do it.   Check out the sprint program that I posted a few months ago, this will be a great place to start.  From there you can get into some more intricate and hit me up for a program to improve your strength and conditioning training.

Finally I will leave you with an awesome sprint session that I completed on New Years Eve.  After each sprint, make sure you get sufficient recovery time.  What I do is I gauge by my heart rate, once my heart rate drops between 30-40 beats I then complete the next set.  This is a basic ladder scheme, start off with a 100m sprint followed by a 200m , then a 300m and finally a 400m sprint.  I know I said finally but you are not done yet.  Once recovered from the 400m sprint, which for some can take minutes as you gather yourself, you then embark down the ladder starting with 400m, then 300m, 200m and finally 100m.  After a good solid warm-up, the sprinting should not take any longer than a half hour to complete.  Rest intervals will determine how long the session takes.

So get out to the track and get your sprint training on, because your conditioning will thank you in the end.

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Jul 09 2011

Recovery for MMA Training

Category: Conditioning,Injury Prevention,MMA Training,Recovery,Uncategorized — Rob @ 8:49 PM

Professional athletes from those who participate in MMA training to marathon runners train hard, that is no surprise to the majority of people.  Professional athletes also take the time and use their good sense to recover and listen to their bodies.

MMA Training Recovery Methods:

There are many different methods to recovery, use some of them or all of them but find a method that will allow you too adequately recover and your body and mind to repair.  Some of these methods fuel your body, some ease your pains, others refresh your mind and will help keep you focused on your goal, to be the best, most fine tuned athlete that you can be.

MMA Training Recovery Method 1:

Foam rolling, stick rolling, ice baths interval hot and cold showering, sleep, food, hydration, recovery days, deload weeks and are all methods of recovery often used in MMA training camps professional and even high school athletes for the simple fact that many of them are free and all of them work.

Foam rolling and stick rolling is also referred as Self-myofascial release or active release techniques.  These massage tools are used when a muscle stretches near the point of injury. Foam rolling stimulates the muscle and works it so the athlete can work in a more complete range of motion without the muscles shutting down from over working. Also, massage techniques are helpful in fixing soft tissue adhesion and dissipating scar tissue build up as well. Foam rollers are relatively cheep as id pvc pipe and wooden sticks, all three of these will do the job.

MMA Training Recovery Method 2:

MMA Training

Ice baths are a jolting yet priceless addition to a recovery schedule.  With intense exercise also comes small micro traumas that occur, tiny tears in muscle fibers.  Ice baths constrict blood vessels to flush waste products like lactic acid from the muscles.  The decreasing of metabolic activity and slowing the swelling and tissue breakdown is also an added benefit of ice bathing.  Lastly, the rewarming process increases blood flow speeds, circulation and faster healing time.

MMA Training Recovery Method 3:

Rest and sleep has always been an essential part of training. Building recovery time into any training program is important because this is the time that the body adapts to the stresses of exercise and true physical growth is made.  Recovery also allows the body to replenish energy stores and repair damaged tissues.

MMA Training Recovery Method 4:

Food should not be overlooked as a recovery tool.  Working your body to its physical best and then feeding it the man made worst is a disservice and insult to your body and hard work.  After training meals should be balanced with proteins to feed your body, veggies to refuel your vitamins and nutrients and healthy complex carbs to replenish the energy you just expended.  Protein shakes and post workout drinks can also assist in this aspect.

MMA Training Recovery Method 5:

Hydration as a recovery tool should also be of no surprise.  Warding off dehydration before during and after training is vital to recovery and performance.  Simple body functioning relies on H2O to work correctly at all times.

Importance of Recovery in MMA Training:

Building recovery time into any training program is essential because it is during this time that the body adapts to the stress of exercises and builds muscle. Recovery allows the body to replenish energy stores and repair damaged tissues. Exercise causes changes in the body such as muscle tissue breakdown and the depletion of energy stores on top of as fluid loss.  Recovery time allows these stores to be replenished and allows tissue repair to occur. Without time to repair and replenish, the body will continue to breakdown from intensive exercise instead of building up.  Short term recovery occurs in the hours following a workout as well as time inbetween sets.  Deloading or long term recovery can span a week or longer depending on the exercises and training intensity that you are undergoing.

So, training is not only what you do, but can sometimes be the work you do after you think you are done, or even doing nothing, for a scheduled period of time.  So, in MMA training, remember to train hard, train smart and recover correctly!

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Apr 20 2010

Take a Break from MMA!

Category: Jiu-Jitsu,Mental Training,MMA,Strength Training,Uncategorized — Rob @ 9:12 PM

If you are a strength and conditioning coach then you know the importance of having deloading weeks in their programs.  Many coaches fail to have their athletes deload and this can lead to weaker athletes as well as injury.   For those of you that are MMA athletes or grapplers let me briefly explain to you what deloading is. Deloading is a segment of training session that aid in the recovery of your body.  They normally happen every four to eight weeks after an intense training program.

If you are training an MMA athlete you must have deload weeks placed in their programs.

MMA athletes are notorious for intense training weeks of many different aspects of each discipline required to be a MMA fighter.  On top of that they add strength and conditioning sessions and that can lead to problems because they never allow themselves time to recover.  Recovery for these athletes is imperative and must be taken seriously.

That being said if you are an MMA fighter you must look into deloading in your overall training.  I know, I said it, basically you should schedule weeks within your training to deload from all aspects of training.  Yes that means all aspects of training, don’t try and sneak a sparring session in on your deload week.  Here is what I am proposing you can pick a cycle of training, be it four, six or eight week cycle and deload on that last week.

What are some of the benefits of deloading? No you are not just sitting on your ass during the deload week eating and watching TV.  For starters it is an active recovery session.  These deload sessions will help reduce the risk of injury or rehab an injury, help with the repair of muscles or muscle building, help your flexibility and help you mentally.

How do you organize your deload week?  You can have three or four sessions during your deload week.  During this week you are focusing on active recovery.  Make the sessions short and sweet.  So in each session you should have some type of dynamic stretches to increase your flexibility and get more blood flowing to the muscle.  You can also use body weight exercise to get the blood flowing as well.  If you want to do any training in any specific martial arts you will just do the technique work.  NO SPARRING OR ROLLING!! One thing you can do during your deload week is look at tapes of fights or jiu-jitsu tournaments.  This will vastly improve your game as well and will pump you up when you get back into training the following week.

I know this is hard for the MMA athlete but it is important to making gains on and off the mat.  At first these sessions will be very strange to you.  You may not even know what to do with your free time during that week but you will see improvement in your skills and gains in your strength and power.  So remember add the deload week in your training, you will thank me later.  Train Hard! Train Smart!

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