In a typical MMA workout routine that focus’s on using body-weight, most people think of exercises like push-ups, pull-ups, bear crawls, etc.

Though these are indeed excellent bodyweight exercises, another method fighters should include in their mma strength and conditioning workouts are doing resistance exercises, such as with dumbbells or barbells, using actual bodyweight as the resistance.

Though it’s key to condition your body to get comfortable moving it’s own weight, it’s important not to forget that when you’re in a MMA fight, you’re not just battling your own resistance, but that of your opponents.

That being said, it is equally important that you include this type of resistance training in your mma workout routine.

Here are some of the most important exercises you should be doing in your mma workouts with your bodyweight as the resistance:

- Bench press’s

- Squats

- Deadlifts (both regular and stiff-legged)

- Lunges (both forward and reverse)

- Bent-Over Barbell Rows

- Shoulder Press’s

A good measure of relative strength, which is your strength to bodyweight ratio, is to be able to perform at least a couple reps of each of these exercises with your bodyweight in good form.

If you find yourself not able to do at least 3 -5 reps with any of these exercises with your bodyweight in good form, then you know a good place to start.

For exercises that you find relatively lighter, such as with squats and deadlifts, you can work on your strength endurance with these exercises through various mma workout routines.

Most people struggle with the lunges and the shoulder presses at this weight, so you may want to build up your levels of strength with these exercises first before working them into your mma workout routines for strength endurance.

After all, it’s called strength endurance, if you have no strength to begin with, what the hell are you trying to endure – weakness?

Next time, before one of your mma workouts, record the amount of reps you can do for each exercise above (remember to have a spotter) in good form, and make it a goal to increase these numbers every several months.

Don’t forget to share your results below!

Train hard, train smart, fellow fighters and fans.

Derek Manuel
MMA Workout Routine

MMA Strength Training with Death Sets

When most people think of training with heavy weight, they follow the mindset that it must be done with low reps. Same kind of thinking goes with the reverse: light weight, a lot more reps.

When it comes to MMA strenght training however, mma fighters are the rare type of athletes that need not only raw strength, but strength endurance as well, or the ability to exert maximum or near maximum effort over and over for a long period of time.

One way you can incorporate this into your MMA strength training routine is through power complexes, where you superset a compound exercise with heavy weight and low reps immediately with a light or body weight exercise for a lot of reps.

This is a very effective way of developing both strength and strength enduranace, and you can do this to develop your power and power endurance as well.

Death Sets

Another but much less known method fighters can incorporate into their mma strength training routine is called “Death Sets,” and by their name you’ll get a glimpse of how grueling they are.

The concept of death sets is simple: heavy weight for a lot of reps.

Huh? Isn’t that a paradox?

Maybe, but this can be done with a few exercises, mainly compound exercises for the bigger muscles.

The most grueling exercise you can do, but also perhaps the most beneficial as a mma fighter and complete athlete overall, are death sets with squats.

Here’s how you do them. Load up the barbell with weight you would normally do 10 reps with. How do you make this into a death set? Do 20 reps with it instead.

On paper, this may sound illogical and even impossible, but most people underestimate their capacity with certain exercises.

You can’t do this with every exercise, such as isolation exercises, but with the major compound exercises like squats, deadlifts, and bent-over barbell rows, you can definitely give it hell.

Try incorporating these into your mma strength training workouts a couple times a year. I usually don’t suggest doing them more then 2 to 3 times a year, 6 or so weeks at a time, as it’s too exhausting to do in conjuction with regular MMA conditioning and skills training and requires a lot of rest in between each workout (3- 4 days in between each).

You’ll not just discover it’s one of the hardest things you’ll ever do physically, but you’ll be developing strength, strength endurance, conditioning, cardio, and mental toughness all in one.

Train hard, train smart, fellow fighters and fans.

Derek Manuel
MMA Strength Training

This is going to be a bench mark year for me. Why should you care? Because I’ve already started creating what I believe is going to be the most comprehensive MMA strength and conditioning program to date – and I want YOUR help to complete it!

I have been studying the sport of mixed martial arts as well as the strength and conditioning side of things for well over 10 years now, and believe there is a WHOLE lot of room for growth for effective and efficient training.

How would you like to achieve elite levels of strength and conditioning, specifically for the sport of mixed martial arts in the most efficient (more results for time put in) and effective (highest value of results) way possible? This is what I’m working on, and will keep you updated with the progress.

In the meanwhile, I’m going to need YOUR help.

In the comments section below, leave your comments, questions, and suggestions on what YOU would like to learn most about improving your strength, conditioning, fitness, and overall performance in MMA.

Here are some examples to get your idea’s flowing:

• What is your biggest challenge in strength and conditioning for MMA? (what, why, how, when, etc)
• What would you like to increase more of: your strength or cardiovascular conditioning?
• Do you find yourself gassing out more, being out-muscled, or both?
• What are your goals when it comes to strength and conditioning for MMA?
• In what format would you like to learn more about strength and conditioning for MMA? (eBook, hardcover, online training, video, etc)

Any question or suggestion you have regarding MMA strength and conditioning, leave them below.

My goal is to create the ultimate and ongoing strength and conditioning program specifically for MMA that will be a MUST HAVE for all serious MMA fighters, fan’s, and fitness enthusiasts, and I want YOUR input in its creation!

Thanks a million guys and gals,

Derek Manuel
MMA Strength and Conditioning

It’s not only the start of a New Year, but a new decade. If you’ve read my last post on how to ACTUALLY set and achieve your New Years Resolution goals, then you’re on the right track, assuming you’ve begun applying the first 3 steps.

Check out the blog post here if you havn’t read it yet.

If one of your goals for the new year will be to improve your performance for mixed martial arts, fitness, or both, you’ve come to the right place.

This year one of MY New Year’s resolutions is to really help you guys out in getting in better overall shape, specifically strength and conditioning for MMA.

That being said, this blog will hopefully be a much bigger help to you and your goals moving forward. So let’s say you want to start off the New Year with a bang. You want to get in elite fighters shape, whether to fight, compete, or just look and know you damn well could if you needed to.

One of the first places to look is at your current MMA strength and conditioning routine. Do you have one? Or do you just wing it? For most people, they either construct their own mma workout programs each day as they feel, or they think they are getting a good enough workout in the regular MMA skills training.

The problem with these two approaches is that you’ll never really improve your strength and conditioning for MMA to the point where you’ll have an advantage over your competitors.

Sure, you might (and should) be progressing nicely in your MMA technique and skills training with your instructor or class, but if you’re not putting in the same deliberate practice in your MMA strength and conditioning workouts you’re giving up a huge advantage.

So where to begin? The first place to begin is to learn from the experts. Since most people either can’t find or afford a specialized trainer specifically for mma strength and conditioning, the next best thing is to follow a proven program.

I have broken down and reviewed the top three MMA strength and conditioning programs out today, where everything from exercises, diet and nutrition, full on programs, and more are covered. All you have to do is follow instructions.

1) Eric Wong’s Ultimate MMA Strength and Conditioning Program
(Best overall MMA strength and conditioning program out today)

2) Jim Smith’s Combat Core Training
(All about training the core muscles most used for combat athletes)

3) Eric Wong’s MMA Ripped
(Best program for fan’s and fitness enthusiasts who want to train like a fighter without being one)

By starting off with one of these programs in the new year, you will be well on your way to making 2011 THE year to really step up your MMA strength and conditioning goals.

Not only will you get results after completing one of these programs, but you will have the knowledge and experience to THEN start experimenting with your own workouts and exercises since you’ll have a hell of a lot more knowledge the before. Start building your mental and physical momentum now, and make 2011 your year.

Hope this helps,

Derek Manuel

MMA Strength and Conditioning

As the above image of the heavyweight enigma Fedor Emelianenko suggests, looks can be deceiving. At first glance you wouldn’t think he’s a very physically strong or conditioned human being, but anyone who’s seen him fight would attest otherwise.

Have you ever rolled with an opponent who, before clashing, you thought you were going to be able to manhandle – only to discover he’s freakishly more strong then you anticipated?

What about the other way around? If you train in MMA or some kind of grappling art long enough, I’m sure once you were intimidated by the muscle size of your opponent, and then realizing right after you start grappling that he isn’t nearly as strong as you thought.

Some people naturally have better looking builds then others, and some people are naturally strong but don’t look it. And then there are those gifted with both, such as the case with Georges St. Pierre.

However, there are some people who can train as hard as GSP and for as long as he has (though I seriously doubt that many do) but will never have the physique of the Canadian welterweight.

Again, everybody’s born with different physical genetics, and everybody develops at a different pace then each other both looks wise and strength wise.

The point is this: for combat athletes, it is much more important to develop one’s strength and conditioning in your mma workouts and not gauge you progress on how you look.

Of course, any athlete who follows a solid mma workout and has a good diet will most definitely develop a better physique then if they sat around on their asses all day eating Twinkie’s, but this should just be a by-product of your training, and not the end goal.

If you’ve read any of my past stuff, you’ll know how I emphasize power endurance as the main physical attribute mma fighters want to develop to be in optimal fighters shape.

Power exercises means moving resistance quickly. When you are moving resistance quickly, you are not necessarily building the muscle fibers that are ideal for muscle mass and definition.

This means you can be very powerful, but not look physically imposing (i.e. Fedor).

Now, I’m a guy, and I like having a fit and muscular and lean looking body just like the next guy, so I’m not saying that working out with the goal of looking good from your mma workouts is necessarily a bad thing.

What I’m saying is that if you are planning on fighting or competing in some kind of martial art competition, remember to follow the advice of Pat Riley, “the main this is to keep the main thing the main thing.”

And the main thing in a mma strength and conditioning workout is to further develop your strength and conditioning.

If you want to throw in an extra set of curls every once in a while or do a couple ab exercises that have absolutely no use other then building a thick muscular six pack, go ahead, especially if it’s the beginning of your “training camp” and your fight isn’t for a while.

But the closer it gets to your fight or competition, you’d better be focusing on your performance in your coach’s eyes rather then how you look in the mirror.

Hope this helps,

Derek Manuel
MMA Training Workouts

In the last post, I went over some things that don’t work when trying to develop your punching power. Today, I want to go over 3 exercise’s you can fit into your mma training workouts that simply kick-ass if you really want to develop that knockout power every mma fighter desires.

The following exercises should be trained together, no more then 2 to 3 days a week. Start off doing about 5 to 15 reps, 2 to 4 sets each exercise, with about 60 – 90 seconds rest between each set and exercise.

Remember that the key is to focus on technique and power in each rep, this isn’t your typical mma strength and conditioning routine where you’re trying to exhaust your muscles or test your endurance.

In fact, if you find yourself slowing down or getting tired then you’re not developing power at all, but performing a half ass conditioning workout. You need to either lower the resistance in each exercise, rest longer between sets, or perform less reps/sets.

Here are the exercises below:

1) Medicine Ball Side Tosses

Medicine Ball Side Toss

Start Position: Start standing perpendicular to a sturdy wall with your feet roughly shoulder width apart, holding the medicine ball in front of you at arms length.

Movement: With your arms nearly straightened out and your feet firmly planted in front of you, cock the medicine ball to the side slightly before you use your core and hips to rotate as fast as possible to throw the ball across to your other side.

Notes: The key is to use your core and torso to throw the ball, not your arms, and remember to keep your feet in the same position throughout the movement.  Start off with a light medicine ball, around 6 – 10 pounds depending on your weight and strength level. Remember, the key here is developing a powerful and “snappy” movement, you’re not supposed to be looking like a StrongMan lifting 500 pound Atlas stones.

2) Sledgehammer Slams

Starting Position: Start off with standing in front of a piece of equipment that will give, such as a tire or other strong rubber. Word of Caution: don’t slam it against something that will cause the sledgehammer to bounce back – unless you plan on developing your chin simultaneously (that’s a joke). Stand with one foot forward, and the sledgehammer in front of you as seen in the above picture.

Movement: Slowly raise the sledgehammer in an arcing, half-circle angle vertically, and use your back, shoulders, and core to slam the hammer down on the tire as hard as you can.

Notes: The key is coordinating the movement with all the muscles for maximum speed and power. Really focus on using your core, back, and shoulders to develop the power. Your arms, just like a punch, should only be the delivering mechanism for the force, not the cause of it.

3) Power Push-Ups

Starting Position: Start off in the bottom/finishing position of the push-up.

Movement: With all your power, push with your arms and chest as fast and hard as you can, elevating your body off the ground as high as you can.

Notes: Power push-ups are a good supplemental exercise to develop that extra snap that just doesn’t get developed in the bench press. By starting from the bottom position, and ending the moving as powerful as possible (unlike in the bench press where you actually have to slow down at the end to avoid throwing the weight), you are coordinating the correct muscle movement where your arms, chest, and shoulders are used in a punch.

Summary

Progressively integrate these three exercises in your mma training workouts, and after a few solid months of consistency, you should notice considerable increase in your punching power.

This of course, is assuming you’ll still be working on sharpening your technique as well.

Give them a try, and let me know by commenting below if you have any questions.

Train hard, train smart, fellow fighters and fans.

Derek Manuel
MMA Training Workouts

It is said that, just like some people are born naturally stronger, or naturally more athletic,  some people are born with more punching or knockout power then others.

However, just like strength and athleticism, punching power can be developed with the proper mma training workouts. The key is to take what talent you were or weren’t born with and focus on developing it from there – whining about “unfortunate genetics” won’t get you anywhere.

First and foremost, we must understand what constitutes punching power, then we can properly understand how to develop it.

The first thing mma fighters must understand is the fundamentals, which is technique.

In order to generate the most force in your blows, you have to learn and constantly work on mastering the technique behind each punch. Boxing is one of the best style’s of combat to really learn the minute detail in throwing every type of punch in MMA.

Once you learn good technique, then you can work on developing power in your technique.

Power in your punches is essentially coordinating  each muscle involved in the movement of a punch to deliver maximum speed output and maximum strength output harmoniously.

The major muscles involved in punching are your legs, core, chest, back, shoulders, and arms….. yeah, pretty much all the major muscle groups in the body.

What many beginning fighters and athletes aren’t aware of however, is how to properly develop these muscle groups to coordinate these together for strength, speed, and technique.

For example, most people would think that developing a strong bench press is a good exercise to develop your punching power.

However, an exercise like heavy bench presses alone won’t develop punching power for several reasons:

1) The bench press only develops the chest, shoulders, and arms, leaving out many of the major muscle groups involved in throwing a punch.

2) The bench press is a pushing motion, whereas punching is rotating motion (the majority of power in your punch’s comes from your legs and core, and how powerfully you can rotate your hips).

3) Training for a fast and powerful punch by doing heavy bench press’s is like sprinters doing heavy lunges.

Now, what I’m not saying is that the bench press is necessarily a bad exercise for developing punching power.

Increasing your muscle strength in your chest and arms is a good thing, just like having strong legs is a good thing for sprinters.

However, the problem is that the development of your punching power would be very incomplete if these type of basic strength exercises were all you were doing.

Following the example with sprinters, though it’s important to have strong legs, it’s equally important that they learn to move this new strength quickly, and they do this with other supplemental exercises such as sprinting, sprinting with resistance, etc.

Summary

So by learning to develop strength and speed in these muscles, then training your body to develop the coordination between these muscles and the movement with technique training, speed drills, and other strength and power exercises, you’ll be well on your way to developing your punching power.

Stay tuned for Part 2 of this article, where I go over 3 exercises in detail that will increase your punching power by developing all the major movements and muscles involved in striking.

Train hard, train smart, fellow fighters and fans.

Derek Manuel
MMA Training Workouts

There is a ridiculous amount exercises and drills mixed martial artists have to select from in their mma training workouts.

Boxing drills, grappling drills, the millions of mma strength and conditioning exercises such as battling ropes, tire flipping, weighted sleds, kettlbells, uphill sprinting, circuits, chicken chasing, sledgehammers, heavy bag training, speed bag drills, etc. (not really chicken chasing, I’m just trying to keep your attention).

One thing I suggest to mma fighters all the time is to stick to the basics. Whether you are beginning mma or are an established mma fighter, working hard on the basics is NEVER EVER a bad idea.

One of the most basic exercises that should never be left out of your mma training workouts is shadowboxing; although don’t let the name limit you to just throwing punches.

There are few exercises and drills that compare to the many benefits of beating the living hell out of an imaginary opponent for several minutes.

Here is a list of SOME of the benefits of shadowboxing:

1. Improved footwork (one of the most undeveloped and ignored attributes in mma)

2. Foot and hand speed development

3. MMA specific nueromuscular efficiency

4. Immediate feedback in form (when in front of mirror)

5. Aerobic conditioning

6. Anaerobic conditioning

7.  Developing combination’s

8. Noticing and breaking patterns/bad habits (again, a mirror is needed for this one

Not to forget…. it’s fun as hell! Who doesn’t like standing in front of a mirror in an empty room pretending to be in the ring or cage fighting for the title?

Practice shadowboxing in rounds, such as rounds in a fight.

You can add all sorts of various forms of progression such as shorter rest periods, intense and face paced striking/sprawling for one minute followed by light boxing for a minute for 5 or more minute rounds, or using gloves or light dumbbells (no more then 3lbs max is needed and any more can actually be bad for your shoulders).

Summary

Shadowboxing has always been a staple in a boxers training regime, and I am suggesting that it become a staple in your mma training workouts.

This was also a staple in Bruce Lee’s daily training routines, and if you know anything about me, you know how much I love Bruce Lee.

If it’s good enough for my man Bruce, then it’s good enough for you and I – and should be a main component in your mma training workouts.

Train hard fellow fighters and fans,

Derek Manuel
MMA Training Workouts

One obstacle even the most motivated fighter in world will often face is the inability to realistically sacrifice the time it takes to develop elite levels of mma strength and conditioning.

The average person has a job, a family, school, or some other major obligation that simply cannot be comprised for putting the time it takes to become a mma fighter.

If you aspire to become a fighter with a chance to compete with some of the best, you have to develop a certain level of mastery in three different categories:

Martial Arts Skill

Plain and simple, if you want to be a good fighter, you’re going to have to put in the man hours it takes to learn how to fight.

This includes striking, kicking, the clinch, throws and take-downs, grappling, and everything else in between; not to mention putting these altogether so that you can harmoniously transition from each of these distinctive techniques and their respective styles.

This alone takes YEARS to develop and requires a minimum three to five days a week of consistently improving your technique and skill.

There is no short-cut in regards to time when it comes to developing the skill it takes to become a mma fighter.

Strength and Power

Fortunately, because of the nature of the human body, developing strength and power doesn’t take several hours a day to develop.

On the contrary, it shouldn’t take more than  4 hours a week to constantly improve your strength and power, and in many cases much less.

This is something most people can fit into their schedule without making any major sacrifices of time in their daily life.

Cardiovascular Conditioning

Developing your cardiovascular conditioning, like strength and power, doesn’t have to take too much time out of your day, but still requires consistent effort.

No more then 20 – 60 minutes of cardio 4 to 5 days a week is needed to develop maximum levels of cardio conditioning.

Again, developing your cardio doesn’t take too much time in your day by itself, but once you begin putting all three of these together, it can add up to several hours A DAY that many people simply don’t have.

Saving Time with Circuit Training in your MMA Conditioning Workouts

Once you factor in your strength, power, cardio and overall conditioning in, the hours start to really pile up.

Like I stated above, the average busy person just doesn’t have an extra 2 or more hours a day to dedicate to mma strength and conditioning.

There is a way, however, to save time by combining your mma strength training with your cardio in your mma conditioning workouts. This is through circuit training, also known as complexes.

A circuit is moving from one exercise to another with little to no rest periods in between each exercise, not stopping to rest until one “circuit” is complete.

With each workout, you can either increase the weight you do for each exercise, or decrease the time it takes to complete a circuit.

The great thing about circuit training is that compresses the time it takes to develop strength, power, AND cardiovascular conditioning into one mma conditioning workout; and the best part is that circuit training normally doesn’t take longer than 25 minutes a day to complete.

Don’t assume that with circuit training you’ll work any less hard or get any less of a result.  In fact, this type of training is one of the most physically demanding things you can do if you really push yourself, and is a staple in every fighter’s mma training workouts.

To learn more about circuit training and complexes for mma fighters, or to get started on a proven mma conditioning workout developed specifically for aspiring fighters who have little time but still want the results, the program I would recommend is:

Eric Wong’s Ultimate MMA Strength and Conditioning Program

Eric does a great job in covering every aspect of strength and conditioning for mma fighters, and breaks it up into a customizable yet effective workout program for every individual and their unique schedules.

Learn more about his program here

Train hard fellow fighters and fans,

Derek Manuel
MMA Conditioning Workouts

When people think of stretching, they often don’t take into consideration how many forms there are and of its importance.

Most people think doing the old Rocky Balboa pre-morning jog where he stretches each calf muscle and touches his toes for about 3 seconds each is all you need.

But for fighters who are most susceptible to injury, knots, muscle cramps and strains, giving the time and right type of stretching is key in your mma training workouts.

One of the best pieces of equipments to include in your mma workout program is the foam roller.

It may seem like a feminine product (and yes, when I think of foam rollers I too think of  hot women in tight spandex using this thing) but this bad boy is just as much of a masculine product and will actually be your best friend right up there with Fido.

10 minutes a day using the foam roller will do wonders for your body.

Many know the benefits of massages, but most of us can’t afford a weekly masseuse, let alone  a daily one, but the foam roller is actually billed as a form of self-massage.

Just 20 seconds of direct pressure (try not go shorter then this so that you let your  muscle lengthen and loosen up) on the muscles mma fighters use the most and are  most susceptible to tightening is all you need, though if this is your first time using a foam roller it’s probably gonna hurt like hell.

This is because if you don’t massage or actively stretch a muscle for a long period of time it will get really tight, and the “pain” you feel will be due to all the little knots that built up.

The best time to use the foam roller is actually BEFORE you begin any other form of static or dynamic stretching, and right after one of your mma training workouts.

Just roll back and forth a few inches on the following muscles for 20 seconds each before and after your mma training workouts and your muscles will thank you for it:

- Calves

- Hamstrings

- Glutes

- Quadriceps

- Groin area

- Lower back

- Upper back/shoulders including

There is no excuse why you shouldn’t start using the foam roller today. It’s 20 bucks. If you’re broke like me then just skip coffee for the week, steal Archie’s milk money, or whatever else you have to do and you’ll have the cash.

It’s a staple piece of equipment in every fighters mma training workouts.

If you work your guts out in the gym and on the mat, your muscles deserve a little self massage and the foam roller is all you need.

Hope this helps,

Derek Manuel
MMA Training Workouts