" MMA Conditioning 101" Its not just for fighters anymore"

MMA CONDITIONING 101

Mixed Martial Arts or as better known as MMA is the fastest growing sport in the world to date. Originally, UFC and MMA were transplanted to this country through the Gracie Jiu Jitsu family in the early 90’s.It was made popular by the Ultimate Fighting Championship matches on pay per view in the early 2000’s with Dana White and Zuffa Inc. at the helm.
Today with the popularity of this sport comes a huge amount of interest in how these combat athletes stay in shape and prepare for battle. What makes this sport unique and conditioning much more intense are the multiple ranges of combat ( boxing, Muay thai, and ground fighting. Strength and conditioning professionals must design a training regimen that accurately reflect the metabolic demands of the sport. ( Schick NSCA Strength Journal Volume 34) . The 3 energy systems ( phosophagen, glycolytic , and oxidative ) can be taxed during a fight. ( Schick NSCA Journal Volume 34) The conditioning must follow a systematic approach of functional sport specific training.The goal in training these athletes is enhance these energy systems. Other training techniques can be integrated as long as the “ sport specific mma theme” remains constant.

Fight Camp

A fight camp is defined as specific amount time between matches to enable the combat athlete peak for the event. This can generally be between 3 and 6 months. The conditioning coach’s job is to work with the other coaches and team members to create an effective marco cycle conditioning program. This macro cycle will have 3 micro cycles within it to help the combat athlete peak at fight time.
The micro cycles phases are:
Strength and Hypertrophy
Explosive power
“Gas in the tank” or sport specific conditioning

Phase 1 Strength and hypertrophy This is the base phase of the conditioning program. Quite simply, we found it was necessary to build a foundation and rebuild any injuries or muscle imbalances prior to moving towards later demanding phases. The hands on data from 15 UFC fighters we worked with reinforced that these athletes need to spend a minimum of 6 to 8 weeks in the strength phase. Heavy strength training which increases muscle mass needs to be done in this phase to avoid a difficult weight cut. This phase would establish base line overall strength of major muscle groups and core strength. The program model we followed in this phase was :
1. rotating muscle groups
2. full body workout
3. multi joint
4. multi planar
5. 10 to 12 repetition goal
6. PRM formula
7. 3 complete sets of all movements
8. emphasis on functional movements

Sample strength workout. This will be a full body workout covering multiple joints in multiple angels.
Single legged dead lift
The grind with Air Fit
Single arm chest press on stability ball
Medicine ball twists
Medicine ball diagonal chops
Dumbbell upper cuts
Plank to press ups Bosu
Leg curls on stability ball ‘
Reserve hyper extensions on a stability ball
This program would be implemented 3 days per week for a minimum of 6 to 8 weeks.

Phase 2 Explosive Power
Explosive exercises such as “plyometrics” have been around for many years as we all know. There is supporting data illustrating the effectiveness of plyometric training in improving muscular power .( Journal of Sports Therapy Volume 3 Issue 1) However compelling this data is care should be taken on the frequency and duration. ( Journal of Sports Therapy Volume 3 ) The challenge with many of these movements is the nature of the movement itself. They are ballistic and can cause injuries if not properly coached. The other element to consider is what surface the athlete is landing on. With a combat athlete this must be taken into consideration since the nature of their sport has a high degree of impact and injury. We found it extremely useful to implement equipment such as Bosus, rubberized medicine balls, and fitness trampolines like Jump Sport to gain all the benefit without the impact.
We have found we our 15 UFC fighters that this type of training which is plyometric in nature is beneficial after the strength phase. Also we have found this to help increase the athlete’s proprioceptive awareness of the demands getting closer to the competition as well decreased risk of injury. The program model we followed in this phase was:
Sample Explosive power circuit -
Kettlebell snatches
Box Jumps on fitness Trampoline
Explosive inverted rows
Bosu sprawls
one legged hops on fitness trampolines
Power blocker with “ The Surge” or sand bag
Fitness Trampoline smashes
Across toss with medicine ball
Coverta ball ground and pounds

Phase 3 “ Gas in the Tank “ This phase is the the sport specific phase or what we call “ Gas in the Tank.” This is where all your hard work with a combat athlete comes together. The goal all about peaking at the right moment. Absolute care must be given to not overtrain the athlete. In Phase 3 there are many factors the strength coach must take into consideration while getting the combat athlete to peak at the exact right moment. The following are critical factors that the strength coach must monitor. These factors are:
Weight cutting - athletes in theses specific sports must be a certain weight. Many of them will go to great extremes to “ cut weight”. A slow progression approach is necessary and close monitoring between the nutrition coach and strength coach is a must. This can effect the athlete peaking on time or to soon. The other factor is since the athlete needs to lose weight for the event they still need to exercise at higher intensity to increase the calories burned to lose weight.
Overtraining - it is essential to focus on any potential threats of overtraining which can lead to injuries.
Proper “tapering off” - this is a concept of lowering the overall workload or better known as tapering off (decreasing the volume and intensity of the workouts when approaching the competition) .(Greg Wells Canadian Sport center Volume 28 Number 3) Every athlete is different some may need a few days and others may needs 10 days. It falls to the strength and conditioning coaches hands to “ listen’ to the athlete and other coaches.

Sample Sport specific training ( AKA Gas In The Tank) -The principle of specificity states that the sports training must reflect the activity to elicit the proper training effect .We based ours on a work to rest ratio of 2.1 to 1. We have seen more improvement in the endurance of our athletes with a slightly higher work to rest ratio.This formula was based on the amount of “ real time “ in the cage or a fight. UFC fight rounds are 5 minutes with a 1minute break for 3 rounds for a non title fight. A title fight is 5 rounds for 5 minutes each with one minute rest between each round . Many of the exercises we developed in this workout and perform by our athletes resembled actual fight moves in the ring. Our formula of 9 stations for 35 seconds on with 15 seconds rest and 1 minute rest between each round of 9 stations worked effectively with all our fighters to enable them with added endurance in the later rounds. We have clocked the caloric burn of this type of workout at 475 calories burned in 17 minutes with an UFC athlete wearing a polar heart rate monitor. In 2011 during our “ Train Like and MMA Fighter” workshop at Idea World with over 150 people in the room , a 35 year old female attendee announced 877 calories on her heart monitor after 45 minutes.

Sample workout
Resistance bands wrestling shoots
Wall crush or cage crush
Standing one legged punches with resistance bands
Ground and pound on jump sport trampoline
Knee drop punch Bosu
Hip escape with Surge
Plank rows partner
Hammer Punches
Thai knees and shoulder roll outs with stability ball
Active rest 1 minute

These athletes are generally training 2 times a day 5 to 6 days a week plus sparring sessions. I recommend fighters take a 1 week off after a fight , unless they were injured. Then it was back to phase 1 strength and hypertrophy and begin to prepare for the next fight. Maintaining lean body mass is pivotal in this sport since there is a direct correlation between strength and anaerobic capacity. (Schick NSCA Strength Journal Volume 34 ) Conditioning coaches can face other challenges with issues in recovery, injury prevention, over training, proper peaking, and off season weight management.

“ How can trainers translate this into the average jane , average joe or weekend warrior ?” We have adapted these 3 phases for other athletes successfully. Athletes such as Glen Davis pro basketball player , Ras I Dowling Pro Football player , College hockey superstar Alex Gacek and your average Joe such as actor Kevin James.

Current equipment in use in general population health clubs can be implemented
Mma movements without the actual fight
Partner training with everyday equipment adds to the fun factor and reduces cost on needed equipment. ie partner band war
Fight moves can be simulated in a safe non contact environment with non specialized equipment . ie MMA Fighter Fit workout with Bosu

The Benefits we have witnessed of MMA fitness training are the following

High calorie burn. 475 calories in 17 minutes
Meets the demands of the growing popularity of HIT training
Marketing is already in place due to popularity of the sport
Training model can and has been used for other sports
No new equipment needed for classes.
Education for trainers on MMA fitness modalities is available
The programming is “ Plug and Play” with the appropriate education and training
It’s fun and exciting to clients
Everyone has a fighter within them

This is a win win for both client and trainer. The client walks away with a unique, fun, and multi planar functional workout. The trainer walks away with adapting current equipment with new proven protocols that can be used for combat athletes or general population.

Kevin J Kearns BS FMS Has been the personal conditioning coach for over 15 UFC athletes. He is the creator of the “ Burn With Kearns” MMA Fitness Trainer Certification System . Kevin also serves as the head S and C writer for “ Fighters Only”. www.BurnWithKearns.com

References
Schick NSCA Strength Journal Volume 34 2007 Strength and Conditioning for female MMA 1-8
Ian Lahart MSC, CSCS and Paul robertson BSCPart II. Judo-specific Strength and Conditioning methods Journal of Sports Therapy Volume 2
Greg Wells Canadian Sport center 2004 Tapering of an athlete Volume 28 Number 3
Chandler T and Brown 2007 Conditioning for Strength and Human Performance

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