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

There is a big myth out there that unless every one of your mma conditioning sessions makes you puke or get near this point, you’ll never achieve top levels of mma conditioning. This is not only untrue but just plain stupid if you look at the logic.

Though it’s true that in order to grow and develop your conditioning you do indeed have to overload your cardiovascular system with more work consistently so that it continues to develop, this doesn’t mean you have to take your body to the limit physically every single workout.

The key, like anything else worthwhile in life, is progression and persistence. If you’re persistent with your training in the long term in that you train consistently and improve bit by bit over the course of weeks, months, and even years, you’re much further ahead then someone who trains until they puke their guts out for three weeks then takes a week or two off, and does it again.

Plus, if every one of your mma conditioning sessions is like a day in Hell, how long are you going to stay motivated to do this again and again and again? You are more likely to get burned out either physically, mentally, or both if you keep up this pace.

Instead, approach your mma conditioning with a more long term goal, keeping the main focus of continuous progression over time. This is not only healthy for you and actually a smarter approach physically, but is the right ingredient mentally because you’ll always stay sharp and hungry as you make progress a long term habit.

Now, this isn’t an excuse for lazy workouts. If you take this as and excuse to not pushing yourself in your training and taking a bunch of “easy days” thinking that as long as your staying persistent, you’re missing the point.

I’m the first person to get excited when I’m pit with a challenging mma conditioning workout that pushes me near my limits physically and mentally, and I believe every so often these workouts are necessary to not only take your conditioning to the next level but for shear mental toughness as well.

You see, it’s all about a balance. It’s unrealistic to expect yourself to go through one of these near-limit workouts every single training session. You’ll eventually get burnt out, lose motivation and start missing days which doesn’t do you any good.

However, on the other hand, if you’re still doing the same mma conditioning workout every week to the point where you can do it without breaking a sweat while doing it in your sleep, you’re spinning your wheels here too.

Remember, mma conditioning is about progression AND persistence. But you’re not going to double your lung capacity or muscle endurance overnight, so don’t judge your workouts so much by each individual effort, but rather the sum of all your efforts over time.

Train hard, train smart fellow fighters and fans,

Derek Manuel
MMA Conditioning Workouts

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 post fight interviews after the explosive and wild UFC 115 card, Mirko Cro Crop confirmed a great point regarding mma conditioning that I wrote about a few months back.

When asked about his training coming up to the fight, the Croatian native talked about how in the past he would be able to do 5 -10 minutes of high intensity rounds on the punching bag. But then, 3 – 5 minutes into a fight, he would still find himself gassed out.

This is when he stated a very important point when it comes to mma conditioning that I think few mma fighters realize when he said…

“a punching bag is one thing, sparring is another.” – Mirko Cro Crop

He admitted that he didn’t use to have sparring partners in the past, and in his latest fight he brought in 3 professionals in which they trained hard with an emphasis on sparring.

He went on to say after this change that his conditioning was much better in his latest fight against Pat Barry, where even in the third round he felt great and that this was the best he’s ever felt conditioning wise.

Bruce Lee once said that the best way to condition for an event is repetition of the actual performance of the event. A while back I wrote about how sparring is the absolute best way to mimic the mma conditioning of a real fight. Read it here

As simple and obvious as it is, not enough mma fighters actually spend enough time sparring.

MMA conditioning workouts of all sorts are great supplemental workouts to increase your strength and conditioning for mma, and they are also great to isolate and focus on a particular attribute, such as anaerobic endurance, power endurance, maximum strength, etc.

However, when it comes training your body to condition itself for a fight, there’s no substitute to the closest thing to the actual event, sparring.

But there’s no longer a need to take my word for it, a legend in the sport and still every improving mma fighter, Mirko Cro Crop said it himself.

I’ve always been told to only take advice from those who have the results you want, and what better advice about mma conditioning can you get from a living legend in the sport who’s been fighting for over a decade.

Train hard, train smart, fellow fighters and fans.

Derek Manuel
MMA Conditioning

When conditioning for MMA, every second of exercises AND rest count

If you’ve been training with mma conditioning workouts for a while but you still find yourself gassing out in your training or competition, you may be making a mistake in your training  that can be fixed in 60 seconds or less.

One of the biggest but perhaps unnoticed mistakes that I’ve seen mma fighters or combat athletes make in their training is not enough attention to the time they “rest” in between sets, reps, intervals, or rounds in their mma conditioning workouts.

For example, have you ever followed someone’s mma conditioning workout, whether it be out of a book, video, coach, or magazine, and you see instructions on how long to perform each exercise as well as how long to rest in between?

Do you pay as strict attention to the time instructed to rest as you do for the time instructed to perform an exercise?

If you can honestly say yes, then pat yourself on the back. However, are you SURE you ACTUALLY rest for ONLY the time instructed in between exercises?

Next time you are performing your mma conditioning workout, (and if you need one check out the reviews of the top mma conditioning workouts here), I want you to pay strict attention on the rest periods between each exercise or round.

More often then not, unless you are training with a coach, athletes who do their mma conditioning workouts on their own will take a little extra time, whether it’s conscious or unconscious, in their rest intervals.

For mma fighters, this can literally make all the difference, in a negative way, in your conditioning.

Allow me to get a little scientific on you for a second. I’m not an advocate of using big words and I hate people who use them just to sound professional, so I’ll do my best to keep it as simple and down to earth as possible.

For any science freaks out their, I know I’m not using the scientific names for these systems, but the point is to educate the reader, not confuse them .

The 3 Energy Systems

There are three energy systems the body depends upon when it comes to cardiovascular conditioning. There is the ATP system, which is used for up to about 10 or so seconds of maximal output in energy, such as a set of lifting heavy weights, or an explosive movement such as shooting in for a take down and driving your opponent to the mat.

Then there is the anaerobic system, which is energy produced in the absence of oxygen, which usually lasts around 2 minutes. This is when you are using near maximal output for a relatively long period of time, such as sprinting or a fast paced grappling match.

Finally, there is the aerobic system, which is when your body uses oxygen to produce energy for lower energy outputs for longer periods of time.

When you’re training using well put together mma conditioning workouts, the rest periods are just as important as the exercise periods. Often times when doing high intensity exercises such as sprinting, rest periods can seem to go by extremely fast.

The mistake you don’t want to make is lose control of time during rest periods and end up resting 60 seconds when you’re supposed to be resting 20. Or resting 30 seconds when you supposed to rest for 10.

A lot of times athletes wait to catch their breath to move onto the next exercise or set, resting twice or three times as much as their supposed to. By making this mistake you may be failing to develop one of the the energy systems.

By not properly developing all three energy systems, especially the ATP system and the anaerobic system, you’re going to find yourself still gassing out in high intensity events, such as an mma fight or grappling match.

I’ve been known to ramble, so the moral of the story is this: If you are following a mma conditioning workout that specifically states to rest for 30 seconds in between intervals, make sure you ONLY REST FOR 30 SECONDS, and NO MORE, and so on for all of the rest of the rest period instructions.

Otherwise you may be cutting your mma conditioning potential short by just a few seconds.

Train hard (and rest hard), fellow fighters and fans,

Derek Manuel
MMA Conditioning Workouts

Bear crawls is a great mma conditioning exercise

Circuit training has been around for a long time. It is a staple in exercise routines for developing cardiovascular endurance and muscular conditioning.

As the sport of mma becomes more and more popular and the standards for mma fighters strength and conditioning continues to increase, mma conditioning workouts need to be more refined and sport specific then ever.

Traditional circuit training had trainee’s doing typical “old school” exercises such as push-ups, pull-ups and sit-ups.

Although these will continue to be staple exercises for any athlete, fighters and combat athletes need more sport specific mma conditioning workouts and exercises.

One limitation in traditional circuits is that typical bodyweight exercises do not overload the muscular system sufficiently enough to increase strength and power.

Though it is very important for mma conditioning workouts to condition a fighters body to move it’s own weight efficiently, it is also important that they include added resistance to really build tolerance to lactic acid build up that occurs in mma type movements.

Another limitation traditional circuit training has is not enough exercises that stress pulling movements, overhead movements, and side to side or lateral movements.

For a fighter to be in top condition, they must follow mma conditioning workouts that include exercises that work all of these movements.

Pulling is key for grappler’s pulling in the clinch or guard, overhead pressing important for building endurance in the shoulders for striking and other movements, and lateral movements are absolutely vital for developing power in striking along with core strength.

MMA conditioning workouts must include both bodyweight exercises, resistance exercises covering all planes of motion, and some type of power or plyometric exercise to really be complete.

Some examples of good bodyweight exercises to included in a mma conditioning workout circuit are:

• Push-ups
• Handstand push-ups
• Pull-ups
• Bear crawls
• Rope climbing
• Parallel bar dips

Examples of some good resistance exercises in a circuit are:

• Kettle bell swings
• Sandbag exercises (presses, squats, deadlifts, etc)
• Barbell complexes (every heard of the “Randy Couture workout?”
• Tire flipping
• Weighted sled

And finally, a complete mma conditioning workout will also include a few power or plyometric exercises, ususally in the beginning of the circuit and with just a few reps to focus on explosiveness and technique rather then fatigue.

Some examples of good power/plyometric exercises are:

• Box jumps
• Hurdle jumps
• plyo-push-ups
• Medicine ball throws (front slams, side toss’s, chest pass’s, etc)

Circuit training, like many other forms of physical fitness is constantly evolving. With the UFC and other big mma fight promotions becoming more and more popular, mma conditioning workouts are helping with this evolution to create the perfect athlete, whether in combat sports or otherwise.

For mma conditioning workouts that include the above exercises and more in complete and comprehensive programs specific for mma fighters, be sure to check out reviews of the top mma conditioning workouts here.

Train hard, fellow fighters and fans.

Derek Manuel
MMA Conditioning Workouts

When it comes to mma conditioning, mma fighters have to develop elite levels of physical cardiovascular endurance that few other athletes require.

With so many different types of exercises and pieces of equipment out there today, which one  is the best for mma fighters?

It seems like everyday there is a new product or piece of equipment endorsed by this celebrity or that company.

Granted, Chuck Norris will always be one of the biggest bad asses to walk the planet (I assume you sense the satire), but the Total Gym isn’t your solution to getting into fighters shape.

You can go on YouTube and see all sorts of crazy circus – er, I mean circuit – mma training workouts where there’s some dude doing everything from flipping tires to climbing ropes to doing upside down jumping jacks on some crazy machinery that looks like something Tim Burton and the producers of Saw put together.

Are all these different types of mma conditioning routines, exercises and tools necessary to get into elite levels of fitness? Well, yes and no.

Each exercise and piece of workout equipment serves its own unique purpose, and when put together in programs purposefully, they can be very effective.

But is there IS one piece of equipment that stands out from the rest.

Yeah I said it.

I bought this piece of equipment quite a while back, and no other product has come even close to touching it.

I have used them over and over and I have never gotten better results from anything in terms of good old fashioned heart pounding cardio and conditioning.

So what is this magical piece of equipment that every serious mma fighter in training should own? Take  a look below….

These bad boys have brought me from the lowest level of conditioning to elite levels when I worked them right.

Surprised? Here’s my point…

If you really want to keep it simple and develop the type of mma conditioning that will enable you to go the distance without sucking wind, get your ass outside and run.

Start off building a base of aerobic conditioning: slow paced but long distance runs, then progressively incorporate anaerobic conditioning: short but explosive intervals followed by short rest periods. 5-10 second sprints, 30 second sprints, fast paced running for 15-20 minutes, and 45 minute jogs are all necessary components to developing a balanced level of cardio specific for mma fighters.

Do hill sprints, bleacher sprints, running around the track, suicides, run along the beach, just run, run, run and stay CONSISTENT and after several months you will really build a strong cardio base.

Now, note here that I am teaching a principle here rather then mma conditioning specifics.

You still need to build your muscular conditioning to get into fighters shape, and you WILL eventually need to incorporate other cardio exercises to maximize your conditioning.

But that’s a whole other topic and you can check out my other stuff on that elsewhere on this blog.

But I think there is a key principle that has been lost in translation when it comes to mma conditioning.

Conditioning to become an mma fighter is not a fashion statement and is not dependent on the latest trend.

Sometimes we just need to remember that if we want to get into fighters shape, we just have to run the miles – literally.

Boxing is one of the most physically demanding sports and tests a fighters endurance and stamina like few other sports.

How did most boxers from way back when till today develop this conditioning?

From a word they coined dozens of years ago called “roadwork,” Which is basically just running day after day after day consistently for months at a time.

A lot of Georges St. Pierre’s cardiovascular conditioning is owed to track sprints and uphill sprinting, and he is one of the most conditioned athletes to ever embrace the sport.

So my fellow mma fighters and fans, get yourself a pair of nice running shoes (I know, I need a new pair) and run.

Run in the rain, run in the snow, run in the sunshine, run on the track, run on the beach, run through a creek, I don’t care where the hell you run.

The point is not to get all caught up in the latest piece of fitness equipment and think that is the answer to your mma conditioning troubles.

If you have common sense, and a good solid and foundational mma workout routine, it’s just a matter of getting the guts to do what it takes, always thinking progress, and to staying consistent.

What are your thoughts? Post your comments below, I’d love to hear them!

Derek Manuel
MMA Conditioning Workouts

“It’s my birthday and I turned 31 today. I started fighting for this company about ten years ago at the age of 22.” States BJ Penn at the press conference following the annihilation of Diego Sanchez last Saturday at UFC 107.

Dana White, ever so tactful, chimes in with “And he just started training at 31.”

I am an avid believer in strength and conditioning as a integral part of any serious mma fighters workout.

This is, after all, the whole essence of this blog.

In part 1 of “The Case for BJ Penn’s Conditioning” I posed the question as to whether The Prodigy’s conditioning will ever be a factor again since he started his training with strength and conditioning coach, Marv Marinovich.

I think last Saturday answered that question.

BJ has always been one of the most talented fighters to ever walk in the Octagon, but it has taken ten years for people to finally start agreeing without a doubt that he is in his prime.

What changed? His strength and conditioning program.

Not only did BJ look just as energized the fifth round as he did the first, but there where many other subtle signs that his physical capabilities have improved dramatically.

For example, in one mma training workout video with BJ, Marv had the champ training his footwork and alteration speed (the speed at which you can completely change directions while in movement).

Did you notice that Diego, known for his wrestling ability, speed and intensity, often times shot in for a take down only to end up on all fours reaching out to barely touch BJ’s foot?

BJ’s foot speed and reaction speed has developed such that he can literally back peddle fast enough that even an elite wrestlers shot ends up completely missing the mark altogether.

Not to mention that when Diego’s take-down’s did connect he, much like Kenflo, couldn’t take down the champ even once in five rounds.

BJ Penn had a missing piece for over 10 years. The moment he partnered with a true strength and conditioning coach he has become literally invincible with NO holes in his game at 155 lbs.

Don’t underestimate the importance of strength and conditioning.

If you’re a mma fighter, you probably have some strengths and you probably have some weaknesses.

Maybe you have quick hands but limited grappling experience. Maybe you’ve trained in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu since you were five but you aren’t quite comfortable on your feet. Or maybe you have a pretty solid overall mma game.

In either case, it takes several months and for the most part several years to master any single form of combat.

Developing strength and conditioning, however, can be developed in a relatively short amount of time.

Don’t let your own talents go to waste simply because you didn’t take the time to develop your conditioning.

It took one of the most talented fighters to ever walk the planet 10 years to figure this out before he finally reaches what many say is his prime; this is a mistake that can be avoided early.

Strength and conditioning alone won’t always win you fights, but it will carry you through the rounds so that you continue to let your talents shine through all the way to the end when sometimes it matters most.

Check this out here for reviews of the top mma strength and conditioning workout programs on the web.

Every fighter has their strengths, and every fighter has their weaknesses. And some fighters naturally pick up skills with more ease and at a faster rate than others.

This is certainly the case with current UFC lightweight champion, BJ Penn. Unlike nicknames like “The Axe Murderer”, or “The Pit-bull,” Penn isn’t called “The Prodigy” for the intimidation factor.

Prodigy: A highly talented child or youth.

And this is exactly what the Hawaiian native is. He achieved his black belt in Brazilian Jujitsu in THREE YEARS, (most fighters are still blue belts at this level), then weeks later went on to be the first non-Brazilian to win the World Jiu-jitsu Championship in Brazil.

Then he became a professional mma fighter and started knocking people out.

He is the only fighter other then Randy Couture in the UFC to hold a title from two different weight classes, hasn’t lost in the lightweight division in 8 years, and hell, in my opinion he is the only other fighter other then Shogun Rua to really give light-HEAVY weight champ Lyoto Machida a run for his money (which, by the way, Shogun DID win) way back before Machida was the champ.

Outside of being somewhat of a sore loser (sorry Penn fans), where is the weakness in BJ’s game?

From the beginning, it has always been the question of his conditioning, but this may not be the case anymore.

After his rude awakening with the second George St. Pierre fight, BJ went and did one of the smartest things he could have done for his career: Humble himself enough to reach out for help from a professional strength and conditioning coach.

Enter Marv Marinovich, a conditioning specialist who specializes in speed, power, and functional training. After just a few months of training his mma conditioning with Marv, BJ went four tough rounds with at the time the number one lightweight contender, Kenny Florian.

Just the way BJ looked physically you could tell he was different. He was slimmer and much more cut.

But the real question of his conditioning proved itself when he was able to continuously stuff Kenflo’s numerous takedowns and eventually execute a beautiful takedown of his own followed by a fight ending rear naked choke.

Where MMA Conditioning Plays it Role

When two fighters square off, often times we compare styles, and predict possibilities based on each fighters strengths and weakness in terms of their style of fighting.

But one important element that is no less important than knowing Brazilian jiu-jitsu, wrestling, and some form of striking and kicking is the strength and conditioning level of a fighter.

The Prodigy has one of his toughest lightweight challenges this Saturday against Diego “The Nightmare” Sanchez.

If Diego has one major advantage over the current champ, people would argue it’s his conditioning.

His intensity in his training and in the cage doesn’t just mean an exciting fight for the fans, it is a strength that if used properly can overwhelm fighters who are even more technically skilled.

But with BJ Penn having several months training under the watchful eye of a mma conditioning expert, can Diego still leverage this to his advantage?

This fight can go many ways, and the strength and conditioning may or may not be a factor.

The bottom line is this: a true mixed martial artist is one who has a mix of different arsenal in their toolbox, and they have the game-plan and intelligence to execute each tool at the correct time and with the right opponent.

So whether or not BJ Penn’s conditioning helps him with his chances in winning the fight, a true mixed martial artist is one who prepares himself so that he does not lose because of his lack in this or that skill or attribute.

And the Prodigy, at least in physical capabilities, is beginning to fill the gap that perhaps held him back from being as close to a true mixed martial artist as one can get.

Leave your comments below on your own personal thoughts on BJ’s conditioning and how important it is for his upcoming fight with the “Nightmare”

Kimbo Doin' Work

Outside of the unexpected lack of killer instinct by both heavy handed heavyweights, one very obvious disappointment that Kimbo Slice and Houston Alexander displayed was their lack of cardio and conditioning.

Now, I’m not one to sit back and just analyze and criticize fighters all day from the comfort of my couch.

Although I’m far from a professional fighter, I train in MMA on the regular and can truly understand the type of hard work most fans simply cannot even begin to appreciate that fighters put themselves through.

With that being said, there was no denying that the internet born celebrity and “The Assassin” had a lot of room for improvement in the cardio and conditioning category.

Whether it was due to Kimbo’s first time cutting weight or the fact that both fighters simply didn’t put in the hard work and consistent effort to reach a satisfactory level of conditioning, nobody really knows for sure.

The fact is that there must be a change in any fighters conditioning program if they are too tired to throw clean punches by the second round.

With all due respect to both fighters, I was a little shocked at how exhausted they both were by the end of the match, especially when there was so little action.

We never see a 40+ year old Randy Couture resting his hands on his knees at the first sound of the bell, and he’s been in plenty of FIVE round fights with a lot more action then the fight between Kimbo and “The Assassin.”

What We Can Learn From This

If you’ve ever seen Houston Alexander’s “Train Like a UFC Fighter” series of videos, you’d think his conditioning would be superb.

Also, based on Kimbo’s previous experience in the cage and even in one of his home video’s where he loses, you would think he would learn his lesson in the importance of cardio and conditioning.

But there is more to just “training hard” that may be one key element both (and many more fighters) may be missing out on: they are not training their conditioning specific enough for a real mma fight.

MMA Strength and Conditioning is MUCH More Complex than People Seem to Think

If you have the conditioning of a boxer, you don’t necessarily have the conditioning of a grappler, and visa versa.

If you have the conditioning of long distance runner, you don’t necessarily have the conditioning of a sprinter. Even further, if you are used to running in 85 degree weather on the track, you don’t necessarily have the same conditioning as required to run in 50 degree weather on the beach.

There are a LOT of other factors in the cage that many mma fighters don’t take into account in their training.

Things like weight cutting, the anxiety of fighting in front of the big screen that naturally speeds up your heart rate, taking REAL blows to the head and body, to name a few.

Fighters who are smart will take many of these things into their account in their mma conditioning workouts.

It is not enough to just run, throw tires around, do 100 push-ups, and spar sporadically or arbitrarily.

There has to be a METHOD to the MADNESS.

So how can you make sure your mma conditioning workouts have specific and measurable results so that you don’t end up sucking wind halfway through the first round?

Your best bet is to follow an already proven program that is designed specifically for mma fighters.

Following a workout from a  body building or fitness magazine is the worst thing you can do.

In most cases, if a conditioning program is NOT geared towards mma fighters it will actually be counter-productive.

For reviews of some good (and some not so good to be aware of) mma strength and conditioning programs specific for mixed martial artists on the web today, be sure to check out www.BestMMATrainingWorkouts.com

I’ll just be honest right now and suggest my number one recommendation that I currently suggest to all mma fighters in the making: Eric Wong’s

Ultimate MMA Strength and Conditioning Guide.

Eric has trained many professional fighters, including current APEX champion welter weight champ and veteran UFC fighter Jeff Joslin, so he knows his stuff.

You can find out more details here:

Ultimate MMA Strength and Conditioning Guide

Hope this helps fellas, I’ll talk to you soon.

Derek Manuel
MMA Workouts