UFC 119 is tomorrow night! Who else is excited for this card.There are some good fights on the card. The main event pits Mirko Cro Cop going up against former Heavyweight Champion Frank Mir. As much as I like Cro Cop, I believe Mir will be able to get this fight to the ground and submit him.
On to another fight that is on the card UFC 119 and that is Sean Sherk going up against Evan Dunham. This should be a pretty explosive matchup. So continuing with my pursuit to bring you the best content in the world of combat sports strength and conditioning I have a great video of the Muscle Shark in training for one of his previous UFC fights.
Sherk could be one of the best conditioned athletes in the UFC. He also has great strength and power. This is a result of a solid strength and conditioning program that focuses on all the different modes of athletic development. Having a wrestling background also makes a difference as we know wrestlers at pretty much all levels are some of the hardest working athletes. No this is not putting down any other athlete or for that matter any Mixed martial artist that has a background in any other art. So take a look at this session by Sherk and see what you think.
Remember Train Hard! Train Smart!
Sep 24 2010
Sean Sherk Strength and Conditioning
Sep 17 2010
Pummel and Drive for MMA
All week I have been posting video of a training session I had on the beach with my top Brazilian Jiu-Jitu fighter and soon to be MMA fighter Jessica Richer. We had a great time and training on the beach was really fun and a great experience. Next summer I will be doing a lot more training out on the beach.
Jessica brought to my attention a great drill that she learned from one of our fellow Jiu-Jitsu training partners Kevin. Many of you have seen the video of Jessica pulling the sled to develop strength in her legs to improve her drive during a takedown. This drill is very similar to the sled dragging we perform. Jessica called it the pummel and drive.
The drill is performed for 3 min, obviously you can add time if you would like. First set up to markers 20 yards apart. To start the drill you begin with twenty pummels. Once finished with the pummeling, your partner drives you backwards for twenty-yards while you give resistance. Once you hit the twenty yard mark you begin to pummel again for another twenty reps followed by you driving your partner for twenty-yards. The added resistance in the sand forces you to really drive forward using your quads and hamstrings. This really mimics driving through an opponent on a takedown or driving an opponent into the cage in an MMA fight. Doing the drill for three minutes also adds a conditioning element to the drill. If you are looking to generate more force in your takedowns try the pummel and drive drill with a partner.
Train Hard! Train Smart!
Sep 14 2010
Takedowns on the Beach
Fighting ha been around since the beginning of humankind. People have been going to battle for all sorts of reasons. With the inception of mixed martial arts people can now take up fighting using all different styles in an organized fashion. Here in America training in a martial arts dojo is the norm. But in many countries, many people train outside. Many Muay Thai camps in Thailand do they’re training in the outdoors.
This brings me to training Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu outdoors. If you have been exposed to Jiu-Jitsu you have seen many training on the beautiful beaches of Brazil. Living up in New York I only have a small window of opportunity to get to the beach and train before it gets really cold out.
On the final weekend of the summer, I had an opportunity to train on the beach. I had the opportunity to train Jessica Richer who is quickly becoming one of the top woman’s Jiu-Jitsu players. We had a great training session working on our strength and conditioning using gymnastics, bodyweight exercises, kettlebells and sprinting as all part of the session.
To finish off the session we took a page out of the Brazilians book. We did a takedown drill on the sand. Going from our feet we just attempted to take each other down. Once taken down we would get back up and start all over. It was a great time and different training in sand. Watch below as you see me get beat up and taken down several times by a future MMA champion!
Train Hard! Train Smart!
Sep 07 2010
Hurdles and MMA
We all know that combat athletes need to be explosive. Developing a MMA or Jiu-Jitsu fighters lower body explosiveness is essential in developing an excellent fighter. Lower body explosiveness transfers over to punching, kicking, takedowns, sprawling and using your hips to escape from compromising positions. You get the point a fighter needs to be explosive and it explosiveness starts from the ground up.
Hurdle hops are a great way to develop this type of explosiveness. Before you run off to the local track and start doing these type of hurdle hops you must first develop some strength. Many athletes and especially martial artist sometimes ignore this fact and just jump into these plyometric type exercises without gaining strength. This usually leads to not doing the plyometric effectively and causing injury. A solid strength program with plyometrics incorporated into the program can lead to vast improvement in power production.
To start an athlete can use shorter hurdles to jump and progress to taller hurdles as they become more powerful. The objective during the hurdle hop is to reduce the ground contact time after each hop. Essentially a combat athlete wants to limit the amount of time that they are actually on the ground. As soon as your feet hit the ground you are jumping right over the next hurdle. Here are a few tips when performing the hurdle hop, one always stay on your toes, two use your arms to help you jump, just like a broad jump of vertical jump and three avoid staying on the ground to long in between jumps.
Remember this is a little more of an advanced plyometric make sure you progress as an athlete to this point to avoid injury. Train Hard! Train Smart!
Aug 19 2010
Sleds and MMA
I know winter is only a couple of months away but I am still going to have a discussion about sleds. Not the sleds you ride down a snow covered hill on in the middle of winter but the sled that will turn you into a well conditioned, powerful fighter.
Sleds can be used for different reason’s, sleds can increase strength, power and can be used for conditioning purposes. Another great reason to use the sled is to help with the development of speed in sprinters. The sled forces the athlete to maintain the posture needed in the acceleration phase of a sprint. This phase in a sprint is almost similar to when an athlete in MMA, Jiu-Jitsu or wrestling takes a shot for a takedown.
The sled pull in the video below is to teach my fighter how to drive off the ground and use the force off the ground to develop speed. I was not working on sprint mechanics I was trying to make the fighter stronger in a position that she will find herself in.
As you will see I loaded the sled up with a good amount of weight to force Jessica to really drive off the ground. This not only developed strength in the range of motion needed it also worked on her conditioning. This is the first step in using the sled to develop a faster shot for a takedown. Step two will be to lower the load and have my fighters sprint with the sled and the last step is going to be having my fighters take actual shots with the sled with a light load. This is one of my field studies to see if I can develop much faster shots with my athletes.
Train Hard! Train Smart!
Jul 18 2010
Interview With Triumph Athletics
Like I have promised you all week, I had done an interview JR Joyner of Triumph Athletics. JR is one of the great strength and conditioning coaches in South Carolina. He really has in depth knowledge of training athletes. JR trains some of the top wrestlers in the country. If you have seen any of his training videos on You Tube then you know what I am talking about!
If you are a combat athlete in MMA, Ji-Jitsu, Wrestling, or boxing listen to this interview, you will gain some valuable information. If you are a strength and conditioning coach it’s a must to take some time and listen, the information can help you become a better coach. And if you are as passionate about coaching as JR and I are then I don’t have to tell you to listen. Under the audio of the interview you will see some of JR training video’s to watch as you listen. Just remember to lower the volume on the video’s so you can hear the interview. Remember Train Hard! Train Smart!
Jul 14 2010
What is the Super 32 Challenge
In a few days all visitors will be in for a treat as I will be interviewing JR Joyner, owner of Triumph Athletics. We will all be a little bit smarter because of the knowledge JR brings to the table. His website is http://www.triumphathletics.com JR is very passionate about strength and conditioning. This is what he loves to do and he is very good at what he does.
JR trains some high level athletes including some of the top high school wrestlers in the country. He has prepared these wrestlers for the Super 32 Challenge. Super 32 is a national wrestling tournament held every year in Greensboro, North Carolina. The best wrestlers in the nation compete in this tournament.
Here is a great video of JR’s team training for this elite wrestling tournament. The interview will be posted in a couple of days. If you are a combat athlete that competes in wrestling, jiu-jitsu, boxing, or MMA or just a strength coach it will be of benefit to you to listen to this interview. You will learn a ton!
Jun 08 2010
Agility Drills MMA Style!
Before I start, agility is defined as the ability to change the direction of your body efficiently and effectively. In order to perform agility drills effectively you need to be strong, powerful, have good balance and be able to control your body at all times. Agility drills are very effective for training all sorts of athletes. They increase the athlete’s performance and also help with the reduction in injury. Today many athletes are prone to knee injuries and other lower body injuries, agility drills can teach an athlete how to control their bodies which in turn will help reduce the likelihood of these injuries.
Combat sports and athletes are no different from regular athletes and should have agility drills programmed into their strength and conditioning routines. Fighters that compete in jiu-jitsu, MMA, boxing, and kickboxing are always changing direction. Agility drills will help a fighter with their footwork as well as other aspects like takedown defense and takedowns. Agility drills will make an athlete quick on their feet, as it will help any combat athlete as well.
The drill below is the 20 Yard Shuttle, it is used during NFL Combine and scouts use it to help them assess the players. The 20 Yard Shuttle is used as a test of lateral speed and coordination. Like I stated above being able to change direction in a fight is essential. So below is an example of the regular 20 Yard Shuttle and then a variation of it for combat sports. In the variation I add sprawls to enhance reaction ability and help with the athletes ability to get up and continue to change direction in a fight. In future article I will write about how to program agility drills into your strength and conditioning training. Remember one thing when you do these agility drills or even speed drills, get a full recovery in, it’s not a conditioning session it’s an agility session.
Jun 06 2010
To Program or not to Program…
If you have been following my blog or know about my training philosophy, you will then know that I am al about having a solid program in place when you training. Some of the benefits of a program range from the motivational, knowing what you will be doing and hitting the gym hard, to just seeing the best results possible. I use my programs for my fighters to help increase their strength, power and conditioning in a progressive fashion. There is always a method behind the madness and it always works.
Even though I do not compete in MMA, muay Thai or Jiu-Jitsu fights I have always had a program that I have followed so I could get the best out of my performances in my martial arts training. Recently, however it has been tough to juggle the strength training, martial arts training on top of the strength and conditioning coaching and family life. At first this was driving me crazy not to be able to get to the gym and get some good strength and conditioning sessions in. Program, there was no program for a while as I tried to adjust the schedule so I could get everything in.
How did I solve this problem? Well first I put things into perspective. I had to think to myself what was the most important thing and of course family time came first without a doubt. I wanted to stay strong and powerful so the weight room was the next priority followed by the martial arts training. The only reason the martial arts training came last was because I am not competing or am not planning on competing I just love to train martial arts.
So what’s the program you might be saying? This is what I have done. I make sure to get two strength and conditioning sessions in. One session is in the gym, consisting of Olympic lifts, squats, deadlifts, plyometrics, other accessory lifts and conditioning sessions. The other strength and conditioning session comes in the form of a speed, agility and quickness session. This session takes place with my fighter Jessica. While coaching her I train along side her. This has two benefits, one it lets me get in that extra strength and conditioning session and two it pushes both her and I to compete with each other in the drills. I have written about the benefits of “team” training in earlier posts.
Now for the martial arts training, I try to get in one session of MMA training in every week as well as a jiu-jitsu class and a muay Thai class. If I am lucky I get in another no-gi and muay Thai session on the weekends. On one of the nights I pull a double session, a gi jiu-jitsu class followed by a muay Thai session. Now there are some weeks where I get all the training in and some weeks where I don’t it all depends on the schedule at home. Another factor that plays into attending sessions is being in touch with how my body feels. If I am fatigued and my body is not doing well I will take a recovery day. You need to figure out what fatigue is. Being a little sore does not count. This will help you learn about your body and how to react to your body.
I have seen some great results with this program. I feel refreshed in my training. My body feels better than it has in a long time. I have had more energy. That being said I highly recommend if you are a competitor in MMA, jiu-jitu, boxing, kickboxing, wrestling or any other combat sport I highly recommend you follow a strength and conditioning program for the best results in and out of the cage, ring or mat. This way of training is good for those that train in martial arts for fun and also like to hit the gym and be strong and powerful. So yes programming is very important and I will get back on a program for the weight room once more time is available but until then, Train Hard! Train Smart!
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May 25 2010
The Rotator: Strengthen Your Shoulder!
In any combat sport be it MMA, jiu-jitsu, wrestling, judo, boxing and kickboxing, shoulder strength and flexibility are essential. Internal and external rotation of the shoulder is important in throwing, pulling, pushing or even punching an opponent. Many combat athletes have a tendency of injuring their shoulders. Constant wear and tear leads to overuse and puts a combat athlete at risk. Strength and conditioning coaches should give some attention to not only strengthening the shoulder but also making it more flexible, you know the shoulder locks in jiu-jitsu could hurt.
Recently I had the honor of trying out a product that works on the two aspects mentioned above. The Rotator, which was created by Scott Kay and produced by Joint Mechanix LLC, is an excellent product that helps with shoulder strengthening and flexibility.
Along with The Rotator, I received instructions on how to set it up, a sheet with different exercises that can be performed with The Rotator the Strong-Arm band and the Velcro strap to perform the different exercises shown. Another thing that came with the Rotator was a DVD that gives us some great information on the shoulder joint and external and internal rotation exercises. (Side note: check out the blooper segment)
After taking it out and playing with it for a few minutes I knew instantly that this product would be of beneficial use to not only combat athletes but people in general. So I gave The Rotator a solid run for the last four weeks or so. I used the Rotator 4-5 times a week. I did the basic internal and external exercises that are shown on the video and on the sheet that came with The Rotator. Majority of the exercise were very easy to figure out especially with the use of the pictures and video. There were one or two that at first I had trouble getting the position right but I found the groove.
Before the four-week period was up I found that The Rotator was working well for me. During my Thai Boxing training my shoulders felt stronger and I was able to do the conditioning drills at a higher pace. On the grappling mat I found my flexibility had improved in my shoulder especially when people were attacking my shoulder for different submissions. I also found it useful in the weight room as well. With the snatching and overhead pressing it has helped improved my training sessions in the gym. I am going to continue using The Rotator to help my shoulder flexibility and strength out.
So if you are a combat athlete or you just want to strengthen your shoulder and make it more flexible definitely go get yourself a Rotator. Your shoulders will thank you. Below is the video of the introduction, which is found on the DVD that comes with your purchase of The Rotator. Come check out the site just click here http://therotater.com/wp/
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