Are You Doing These MMA Conditioning Drills?
The simplest and the most effective way to organize your conditioning workout is to mimic the exact round length, rest periods, and number of rounds in the event for which you are training.
Usually you are fighting for three five-minute rounds, with one minute of rest between each round. Your conditioning routine would have a similar work-to-rest ratio. Pick several different exercises and perform them in five-minute circuits, resting only one minute between each circuit.
MMA Conditioning Drills
Full-body exercises are a must for MMA conditioning and when you use them, you closely simulate the strength and conditioning you need as fighter. This is important for mixed martial artists because in a fight you use your body as one integrated unit, not as isolated muscle groups.
Take Randy Couture as a prime example. He uses a lot of explosive drills like plyometric push-ups, bodyweight squats and lunges, squat jumps, medicine ball squats and resistance bands. All of these exercises are important because they build explosive strength and conditioning in his entire body.
Even the basic calisthentics exercises like pushups, pullups, situps, bodyweight squats are great for fighters.
Another great MMA conditioning exercise is sledge hammer training. The swinging and chopping motions condition your core muscles in a way that is hard to duplicate with other exercises. I'm sure you've seen the training clips of top fighters like Dan Hensderson, Tim Silvia, Fedor Emelianenko, Sean Sherk and Rick Franklin all swinging a sledge during their conditioning routines.
You don’t have to get the heaviest sledge hammer available, just get whatever size you feel comfortable with and what pushes your energy levels.
The exercises and drills from above are just a few of the many that you can use in your circuit-style MMA conditioning routines. These exercises work well for the best mixed martial arts fighters in the world, and they will work for you too.
Usually you are fighting for three five-minute rounds, with one minute of rest between each round. Your conditioning routine would have a similar work-to-rest ratio. Pick several different exercises and perform them in five-minute circuits, resting only one minute between each circuit.
MMA Conditioning Drills
Full-body exercises are a must for MMA conditioning and when you use them, you closely simulate the strength and conditioning you need as fighter. This is important for mixed martial artists because in a fight you use your body as one integrated unit, not as isolated muscle groups.
Take Randy Couture as a prime example. He uses a lot of explosive drills like plyometric push-ups, bodyweight squats and lunges, squat jumps, medicine ball squats and resistance bands. All of these exercises are important because they build explosive strength and conditioning in his entire body.
Even the basic calisthentics exercises like pushups, pullups, situps, bodyweight squats are great for fighters.
Another great MMA conditioning exercise is sledge hammer training. The swinging and chopping motions condition your core muscles in a way that is hard to duplicate with other exercises. I'm sure you've seen the training clips of top fighters like Dan Hensderson, Tim Silvia, Fedor Emelianenko, Sean Sherk and Rick Franklin all swinging a sledge during their conditioning routines.
You don’t have to get the heaviest sledge hammer available, just get whatever size you feel comfortable with and what pushes your energy levels.
The exercises and drills from above are just a few of the many that you can use in your circuit-style MMA conditioning routines. These exercises work well for the best mixed martial arts fighters in the world, and they will work for you too.
