Mixed Martial Arts Training

Hi Christian,
A While back you recommended this for increased power:

  1. IC (4 weeks)
  2. HTT (6 weeks)
  3. Ascending-Descending training (4 weeks)
    Any tips to tailoring this to MMA fighting? Certain exercises you would favor? This would be during a phase that is well before a fight so I’m trying to get a new level strength/power.

Id think youd want days you go hard in training on the same day as weights and using weights strictly to build explosiveness and power and energy system work as “conditioning” by using sprints or (i like this one a lot) the card game and technique work with plyo on off days or you could do no plyo at all. And because of the stress of MMA you could find a 3 day a week split best(3 lift/energy sytem work/MMA work days a week with 2 technique/maybe plyo days and then two days recovery)

what’s card game technique?

From what I’ve read, I think the card game technique is in which you draw a card from a deck, and it states the exercise (typically body weight), how many reps, and the rest break you get. So, although you still do the entire deck, the pattern of the workout varies to the point of having one day with say 7 sets of 50 push ups in a row without a rest before drawing a body weight squat card, or end up having a day with alternating squats and push ups. It’s always random!

Brutally effective for conditioning!

You pick a body weight move (ie Star Jumps) and then you perform however many reps the card you pulled indicates or for the amount of time the card you picked indicates (ie Joker=15sec or you could do Joker=15 reps or w/e value you want, then rest 15-30sec, pick another card and keep going until the deck has run out, the idea is that it mimics MMA through random work time, ie sometimes you go for 20 sec, sometimes you go for 2).

im sorry if my post was confusing, it was meant to say that you could use the card game and also practice your MMA technique on recovery days.

FatPanda has one version, I like the one i wrote because i use high rep ballistic movements and after i think 10sec type II fibres are depleted so the time cap plus the rest interval allows for the high rep ballistics without your body trying to use slow twitch to perform the movements.

Ha! Sorry, I didn’t notice you typed out a description too, numba56. I guess the use of the cards themselves can really vary: forgot that.

Thanks Guys,
But just to clarify, this would be during a phase where conditioning is NOT the focus and new strength/power is.
So I’d want to get to put all my effort into record power. As the event approaches I could then
up the conditioning and maintain the new power.
So my question still stands…

The conditioning could still be done in a phase where power is the goal. Power is built with weights so you weight structure is what effects that. I was saying it could look something like this.
Day 1
Weights
Small Amount of Short Sprints(ie 3-5x40yd with 90sec between sprints)
MMA training(i dont know, sparring, grappling, something high intensity like that)
Day 2
Energy System Work-Card Game for Lower Body 1-3 move
Work on technique of takedown, submission techniques, etc…low intensity stuff
Day 3
Repeat Day 1(with this days weight workout and MMA workout but the same format) without the sprints
Day 4
Energy System Work-Card Game Upper Body 1-3 moves
Technique Work(same as Day 2
Day 5
Repeat Day 1(with this days weight workout and MMA workout but the same format)
This would provide three days of lifting for power development(which is enough) and real match like things(sparring, grappling…you get the idea) and two days to work on MMA specific technique’s and low CNS stressfull energy system work.

Hey Scrappy, not trying to change your mind about westside which I only hear great things about, but you may want to check out trainforstrength.com. Wiggy who runs the site has alot of great articles that deal with MMA.

By the way do you have a fight coming up, if so when and where. Best of luck

Check out my article here at t-mag on HOC. Great training for fighters.

Mike Mahler