IMPACT PERFORMANCE TRAINING
Articles: Considerations and Training for Mixed Martial Arts
By Dewey Nielsen, Performance Enhancement Specialist (originally published at strengthcoach.com)
Some of the training methods presented in this article are a continuation of my article, “Common Mistakes of a Mixed Martial Artist” and others are things that I have learned more about or added to my program over the last year. This should expose some training components that make MMA different than other sports and offer some ideas on how to train these athletes.
Iso Explode – Beyond the use of muscle activation, there really isn’t a large need to train isometrics in sports like there is in combative sports. Watch an MMA fight and you will see isometrics everywhere. The most common isometrics are “yielding” and “overcoming”. A yielding isometric is when you are holding a weight and preventing it from moving, while an overcoming isometric is when you are pushing or pulling an immovable object. I have been using isometrics for a long time and even using iso-explodes for a while. But it wasn’t until my friend, Jon Chaimberg, told me he was using them in exercises (beyond what I was already using) that I started to think of where my program would benefit from implementing iso-explodes into additional movement patterns. Here are three exercises that we are implementing with great results.
Iso-Explode RFE Split Squat (yielding isometric)
Iso-Explode Inverted Row (yielding isometric)
Iso-Explode Bench Press (overcoming isometric)
The long iso holds we are using closely simulate the nature of MMA. Some things to consider:
- The explosive portion should be 50% 1 RM or below depending on the goal and the athlete.
- Choose exercises that yield themselves best to this type of training.
- The explosive portion should be just that…. EXPLOSIVE.
- The load, reps and time should be adjusted accordingly to the athlete. Do not allow the explosive reps to be slow or to slow down.
- The explosive reps should typically be 5 or less.
- Yielding and overcoming isometrics can both be used.
Train the pulse – Stuart McGill has been talking more and more about “pulsing” and much of his research is now looking at this. It’s funny because as an MMA athlete myself, I have intuitively used pulsing in my martial arts training for quite some time (as have all martial artists). But a huge light bulb went off in my head when Stu explained pulsing to me and gave examples of how to train this concept. Here is how Stu explains it:
"I think of a pulse originating out of any sort of contraction. For MMA it could be a period of isometric contraction (holding an opponent) and then explosively pulsing to create a desired effect. It may be simply to start relaxed and fire into motion such as a sprinters start
or superman punch for example. These are all pulses.”
Here are two exercises I got from Stu McGill that we use to train pulsing:
Helicopter Pulse:
The athlete stiffens the core while swinging the converta ball overhead. We cue the athlete to pulse at 12, 6, 3 and 9 O' clock. On our 1st set we perform four to five pulses at 12 and 6 O' clock. On set two, we pulse at 3 and 9 O' clock. The ball should be light. We use a 4 lb ball for most. Pulsing at the different angles offers a very nice 3D feeling for the core.
Pulsing KB Swing:
Perform a single arm kettlebell swing. Time the pulse at the very top of the swing….. right before the bell begins to descend. During the quick pulse, you should produce a short total body contraction followed by a relaxation as quickly as possible. Use a light kettlebell to learn it and progress to a medium weight. From talking with McGill, he has told me that it is not so much about the rate of contraction as it is the rate of relaxation. The great ones are able to achieve the relaxation phase quickly.
Training too many days per week – I have talked to many coaches that have their MMA athletes strength training 4+ days per week; this is too much training. Realize that outside of their strength and conditioning sessions, many MMA athletes are training six days per week. We all know the negatives that accompany overtraining. Their martial arts training is so demanding on the body that “more” is not always better. I am always redundant in saying that the most important job for an MMA strength coach is to keep his athletes healthy. This should be a priority. Strength coaches have a hard time understanding what these athletes feel like when Friday or Saturday rolls around, or how beat down they feel after a heavy sparring session. Some advice, if you are training MMA athletes and have not participated in the sport yourself…. try it out. You don’t have to go full throttle, but train for a week or two. You will be amazed at your level of exhaustion. This will make you a better coach. At least go and watch some sparring sessions and try to understand the demands of the sport.
Crunches are bad…. Duh – Those that know me know that I am a big fan of Stu McGill. I am comfortable with being called an anti-flexion guy, but let me explain why I am so adamant about avoiding repetitive lumbar flexion. I think the argument that MMA athletes go through spinal flexion in their sport, therefore they should train spinal flexion, is a flawed thought process. Yes, mixed martial artists perform a ton of flexion during their sport; far more than any other athlete in any other sport. This is the reason I believe it should be limited in programs. We only have so many cycles of flexion available in the spine before something bad happens. To program flexion exercises for MMA athletes would be insane and dangerous in my mind. Remember, they are going to go through so many cycles of flexion during their sport, so it is best to not use those cycles up during their strength and conditioning sessions. Mike Boyle’s analogy of “car accidents happen but we don’t train for them” applies here.
The MMA athlete should get their core strength/stability work (see videos below) through anti-rotation and anti-extension exercises (combative sports are all about NOT letting your opponent move you). Core power work is best developed through (but not limited to) medicine ball training. Not only are these methods safer and more effective than traditional flexion based core training, but they also build great endurance. The athlete is forced to brace the abdominal wall while maintaining a normal breathing pattern. So many athletes gas out because they cannot do this in the ring, cage or on the mat. Take a beginning mixed martial artist for example, the first time they do some mit/heavy bag work they are completely exhausted after throwing a couple of combinations. The reason is that while they are keeping the core braced, they are not maintaining normal breathing. Instead they are holding their breath which in turn causes them to fatigue early. This component can and should be trained in their strength and conditioning program.
Core training exercises for MMA:
Anti-rotation using the Waterball (props to Tim Vagen)
Oscillating rope – This is great as it offers a reactive bracing effect
Hard Roll
Hard Roll – Regression
Hard Roll – Progression
Pinching a pad between the knees should ensure that the athlete doesn’t cheat by pushing off with his feet.
Jits guys are better at looking flexible than they are at being flexible – I have the pleasure of running my performance training business inside of my martial arts gym. So I constantly see athletes I strength train and condition perform their sport. It’s a definite advantage to see first hand how they use (or fail to use) their training on the mat, and adjust their program accordingly.
What is interesting is many of the guys that look flexible grappling are actually not very flexible when we test them. They are just good compensators. This is referred to as “relative flexibility”. It is when the body goes through a range of motion and chooses the path of least resistance. The problem is that since they are good compensators they tend to be the guys that are injured more often. Most commonly these will be low back injuries because of the lack of core stability, in combination with a so called “flexible game”. These athletes will allow themselves to constantly get stacked up which leads to low back issues.
Athlete Getting Stacked
This is common and impossible to completely avoid in Brazilian jiu-jitsu but the point is to avoid severe stacking on a regular basis and for the athlete not to make it part of his/her game. These videos may not serve the greatest examples but it should offer a visual of “getting stacked” to those that have not seen it.
Grip training is overrated for athletes that train in a gi – Before the guys from Diesel Crew come and assassinate me, let me explain. I am speaking from personal experience. I truly feel that adding specific grip training to gi athletes (judo, jiu-jitsu) can cause overuse injuries. Anyone who trains in a gi knows how your fingers feel….. they constantly ache. I am yet to find grip strength to be a limiting factor in these athletes. In fact, the best thing they could do is not train in a gi all the time. An alternating method works best. Switch training days between gi and no gi training. Your fingers will be much happier. Also take the time to get a little soft tissue work on your forearms and even your hands. Using a lacrosse ball and a golf ball works great!
Forearm Massage
Hand Massage
Training too close to the fight – All those guilty say I…… (long pause)…… “I”! Again Jon Chaimberg made me more aware of this. I was guilty of having guys lift to close to their fight. The problem I was facing was with amateur fighters. They often have limited notice before their fights so I was trying to get as much done in as little time as possible. I have become much better at adapting to these situations and still giving the athlete the rest they need before the fight. I have most guys stop about 7-10 days out while maintaining some specific circuits and lighter sparring sessions along with a lot of foam rolling and mobility work.
Not everything thing needs to resemble farm work – Tires, sandbags, sledgehammers, ropes, etc, etc, etc. Don’t get me wrong, I think some of these things have their place and I use some of these as training tools. But I think so much of this ends up being gimmick training. Gimmicks can be good but don’t let the gimmick design the program. I will say that again because I think it is important….”DON’T LET THE GIMMICK DESIGN THE PROGRAM”.
Previous Articles: Brilliant at the Basics
Dewey Nielsen is a Performance Enhancement Specialist and Certified Personal Trainer from the National Academy of Sports Medicine. He is the founder/owner of Impact Performance Training and the co-founder/owner/coach of Impact Jiu-jitsu. Dewey is primarily located in Newberg, Oregon and can be reached at
www.impact-pt.com , www.impactjj.com or dewey@bjjnewberg.com.
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