Combat Athlete Strength and Conditioning

Singles are a very effective strength training tool, but you have to work into them the right way. For most of us, jumping right into heavy singles is a mistake. You need to work into singles gradually with a regimen whereby you train heavier, with lower reps, in order to lay the foundation for a singles program.

Take the following heavy strength training program:

Day 1
Squats:5x5
Milt. Press:5x5
Bent-Row:5x5
Farmer's walk
Abs

Day 2 Deadlifts:5x5
Bench Press:5x5
Sandbag carry
Side bends

If you've been doing 5 x 5 for awhile, try the pyramiding 5/4/3/2/1 system for a few months. First, as a warm-up, perform three or four sets of progressively heavier singles, working up to your regular five rep weight with that then becoming the 5 rep set in the series.

Then add weight and do a set of four reps.
Add weight and do a set of three reps.
Add weight and do a set of two reps.
Add weight and finish things off with a single.

After three or four months of 5/4/3/2/1 training, you'll be ready for the single rep workouts where you are performing 10-15 sets.

Be careful: Singles are tough, and it's easy to overtrain on them, especially if you are doing a lot of other MMA conditioning.