2 Day a Weeks, MMA Strength

Bigger Stronger Leaner
1

hey guys ive done martial arts since i was lil, i competed with muay thai for about 3 years but stopped about 2 years ago, i got into heavy weight training then, ive recently gotten into mma and can only allow 2 days a week for strength training, ive been doing wendlers 531 4 days a week for just over 12 months with great gains but cant continue the four days cause of mma and i dont like his 2 day version,

ive searched the net for the last few nights for a 2day program and can only find full body splits with a fair amount of isolation stuff which isnt what i want, im not planning on flexing my biceps to win fights lol anyway i was thinking of doing the following for my strength training and hoping someone could chime in with what they think…

Monday - Squats 3x5, Bench 3x5, Barbell Rows 3x5, Parallel Dips x 50 reps.
Thursday - Deadlifts 3x5, Press 3x5, Pull-ups x 50 reps, Push-ups x 50 reps.

these exercises i enjoy doing and are the main strength builders i think, id be pretty happy to sub out the pushups for a different exercise as i do plenty mixed in with my skill work…
With the bodyweight movements ill be mixing them up alot so like 1x10 with a light weight, 1x5 with heavy weight and some with no weight, it doesn’t matter as long as i get in over 50 reps, got that idea from 531 lol

im 5.7 and 76kgs, im 26 years old… i dont know my body fat but im dry, i obviously got to make weight when i fight so i cant gain too much muscle… also for any people that chime in i cant oly lift n dont wish to learn…
any advice at all would be appreciated!!! thanks in advance :slight_smile:

2

[quote]mmaguy88 wrote:
hey guys ive done martial arts since i was lil, i competed with muay thai for about 3 years but stopped about 2 years ago, i got into heavy weight training then, ive recently gotten into mma and can only allow 2 days a week for strength training, ive been doing wendlers 531 4 days a week for just over 12 months with great gains but cant continue the four days cause of mma and i dont like his 2 day version,

ive searched the net for the last few nights for a 2day program and can only find full body splits with a fair amount of isolation stuff which isnt what i want, im not planning on flexing my biceps to win fights lol anyway i was thinking of doing the following for my strength training and hoping someone could chime in with what they think…

Monday - Squats 3x5, Bench 3x5, Barbell Rows 3x5, Parallel Dips x 50 reps.
Thursday - Deadlifts 3x5, Press 3x5, Pull-ups x 50 reps, Push-ups x 50 reps.

these exercises i enjoy doing and are the main strength builders i think, id be pretty happy to sub out the pushups for a different exercise as i do plenty mixed in with my skill work…
With the bodyweight movements ill be mixing them up alot so like 1x10 with a light weight, 1x5 with heavy weight and some with no weight, it doesn’t matter as long as i get in over 50 reps, got that idea from 531 lol

im 5.7 and 76kgs, im 26 years old… i dont know my body fat but im dry, i obviously got to make weight when i fight so i cant gain too much muscle… also for any people that chime in i cant oly lift n dont wish to learn…
any advice at all would be appreciated!!! thanks in advance :slight_smile: [/quote]

If you’re set on 2 days a week only, then that split is about as good as you’re going to get for just basic, basic beginning strength. It’s not going to train explosiveness or speed or work capacity or endurance, but if you want to get stronger then that is as good as 2 days gets. If you don’t want to put the push-ups in then don’t and use that spot for something that is a weak muscle group and a health oriented muscle group like rotator cuff, serratus anterior, something frequently injured that needs to get fixed OR stay healthy.

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I would also not get to eager with the heavy weight on your 50 rep set. Just make it a time based goal (e.g. 50 dips in less than 90 seconds, or something). When you make your goal then consider adding weight or cycling between weight/body only. The idea of the 50 rep set is to flush blood into your muscle instead of being there for strength gains.

4

pull ups
dips
squats

you can do these daily, as much as you want, whenever you want

strength is not linear, especially in the case of martial arts

5

[quote]Aragorn wrote:
I would also not get to eager with the heavy weight on your 50 rep set. Just make it a time based goal (e.g. 50 dips in less than 90 seconds, or something). When you make your goal then consider adding weight or cycling between weight/body only. The idea of the 50 rep set is to flush blood into your muscle instead of being there for strength gains.[/quote]

Sounds good man, thanks alot for your reply, all the speed work, plyometrics etc i do at my mma gym but they just seem to let you do your own strength stuff which is weird i think… like i said ive only been strength training for 2 years, i had good gains on wendlers 531, do you think i can still progress on the 3x5 exercises i listed only training monday n thursday? in the last 2 years ive always strength trained 4 days a week…

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[quote]Jarvan wrote:
pull ups
dips
squats

you can do these daily, as much as you want, whenever you want

strength is not linear, especially in the case of martial arts[/quote]

hey man thanks for your reply, what do u mean by strength isnt linear? sorry if its a stupid question i just dont understand what u mean, are you talking about linear progression?

7

well, i shouldve been a bit more specific…

the strength you gain from lifting weights doesnt directly translate into martial arts… at first. Once you learn how to use that strength, then you can fully apply it

but also, the progression in how strong you get in the weight room doesn’t happen predictably. So if the weights don’t always go up in the weight room, don’t worry, you might be seeing it in the dojo/mats/ring instead

8

I believe Chad Waterbury had a 2-day/week program for MMA. That was probably posted back in 2006-07. I know I used a CW program during my MMA training and it worked very well.