Strength and Condition for MMA Part 1

Now itʼs true that you may only do MMA for fun and not competition. But a greater ability to perform well equals more progression and, ultimately, more enjoyment. Donʼt kid yourself and think that there is no place for elite level mindsets in amateur/recreational sports. Set yourself ambitious goals - be they for intrinsic (internal) or extrinsic (external) reasons.

 

If you take one thing from this article, let it be the idea that the primary goal of strength and conditioning for MMA is to make you a better fighter, it should not be strength and conditioning for itʼs own sake. Keep this in mind and youʼll always question what youʼre doing, why youʼre doing it and whether it is actually fulfilling the goals that youʼve set.

A great program starts with a set of well defined goals. And a great goal always starts with the “end in mind”. Ask yourself: “What is your ultimate goal in MMA?” Set yourself both short term and long term goals and be specific. Initially they should be broad e.g.

 

• I want to win a particular title

• I want to achieve “x” $ʼs in winnings

• I want to be the strongest MMA athlete around

• I donʼt want to get tired, even after five 5 minute rounds

 

This should be an exercise in setting not just your goals, but also your dreams. Be ambitious and donʼt worry about what others will think of these goals. You need to aim big here - you can break this down into more manageable chunks at a later stage.

 

Once you have defined some overall goals, itʼs then time to start stripping them down into their component parts. What will you need to do to accomplish each of these broad goals? This is the stage when youʼll need to examine the strength and conditioning components inherent within these goals. For example:

 

“Where are the weaknesses in my strength and conditioning?”

“How do these weaknesses affect my ability to perform and improve?”

“Will turning these weaknesses into strengths actually make any difference to my

fighting?”

 

This last question is important to maintain a sense of purpose - donʼt waste time with training that wonʼt directly help you. And, by directly help, I mean:

 

• Improve your ability to fight

• Improve your ability to learn how to fight (skill facilitation)

• Improve your longevity and injury resistance

It is important, when looking at any sport, to analyse the required physical attributes needed for optimum performance. This will of course be dependent upon your own style of fighting but there are definite common themes across all MMA athletes. MMA athletes generally need to be able to:

 

• Move with speed and agility

• Have the flexibility to both apply, and escape from, submissions

• Apply power in a variety of different ways

 

Where your own strength and conditioning is concerned, I urge you to look at both strengths and weaknesses. Will improving a particular “weak” physical attribute help to improve your overall ability? Or perhaps further strengthening a “strong” physical attribute is your key to success. A word to the wise: very few will ever truly be as rounded as they

want to be. Consider yourself as a specialist if you think it will improve your overall performance.

 

Itʼs also very important to be able to “test” any component of your strength and conditioning program. Do you really know whether what youʼre doing is making a positive difference. Consider including standardised testing periods for all of the elements in your program and cross-reference these with your MMA performance.

The current ʻbuzzʼ in strength and conditioning is functional training. Every man and his dog is talking about how we need to be following a particular set of exercises and, if youʼre not involving a stability ball or wobble board you might not be engaging your core. Donʼt listen to these people. Functional training is always a subjective term. Is kneeling on a stability ball functional for you? This is a question that only YOU can answer.

 

Analyse the physical demands of not only MMA, but also how YOU compete. You will fight in a certain way and there will be a set of physical attributes that support this. And, this can vary dramatically between individuals.

 

And function works on a broad spectrum - itʼs not just a yes or no answer.

While Iʼm not a fan of following bodybuilding principles and programs when it comes to strength and conditioning for MMA itʼs important to distinguish between the variables involved. This means that you should consider each exercise you are doing and how you are doing it. The anti-bodybuilding crowd will always frown if you include any kind of isolation work and they will practically have a heart attack if you start doing curls. But the concept of goal setting should remain a constant - if an exercise will lead to an improvement in your athletic ability then do it and donʼt worry about what anyone else is doing. Be honest though - is it really improving your performance?

Strength and conditioning for MMA is exactly that - “for MMA”. Continually question why you are following a particular program and make adjustments to ensure that your program stays relevant to your overall goals.

 

• You should always be able to justify what is in your strength and conditioning program

• You should always know whether it is working or not

 

Matt Palfrey is the author of Sandbag Fitness: The complete Guide to Sandbag Training. Available digitally from FITedia.com. Sherdog readers can get a 50% discount by entering the code SHERDOG50 upon checkout.