When you are training for a sport such as mixed martial arts, the type of MMA strength and conditioning needed can often be misunderstood by the common fan. After all, five minute rounds may not seem like a very long time. The NBA has four, twelve minute quarters. Soccer games can go on for 45 minutes at a time without stopping. But in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), mma fighters only have to train for three to five, five minute rounds.

But these can be some of the most grueling five minutes an athlete can ever endure. Unlike any other sport, MMA fighters must constantly push their bodies to the maximum for five minutes straight, with virtually no rest and only a minute rest period in between rounds, and that’s a hell of a long to time to push your body to the maximum for.

MMA strength and conditioning programs are an absolute MUST for fighters, even if they are far superior in skill then their opponent. Aerobic endurance is simply not enough, because often time’s mma fighters have to exert maximum spurts of energy over and over again and if their anaerobic capacity isn’t developed they will still gas out.

So how do you develop aerobic, anaerobic, and muscular conditioning conducive for mma fighters preparing for five minute rounds? Beginning with the end in mind, you’ll want to mimic the physical demands of an actual mma fight.

Since no mma fight is predictable and can go so many ways, mma fighters must prepare for each and every scenario physically. This means their mma strength and conditioning program must include exercises to prepare them for five minutes of boxing and kickboxing, five minutes of clinching, five minutes of grappling and wrestling, and five minutes of a mix of all these ranges.

A progression in both aerobic and anaerobic cardiovascular conditioning is only the beginning. Without this foundation a mma fighter will be sucking wind too fast too early and will limit his ability to perform dramatically.

But muscular conditioning is just as important in a mma strength and conditioning program. This is because although your heart and lung capacity may be in great shape, if your muscles are not properly conditioned they will become limp and sluggish within seconds, and this is bad news for both strikers and grapplers.

By following a mma strength and conditioning routine that incorporates all of these elements and condenses them into five minute rounds is ideal. This means eventually developing your cardio to the point where you can run, jump rope, swim, etc, for five minutes straight at a very fast pace.

In terms of muscular conditioning, you’ll want to develop your muscles by utilizing circuit training, complexes, Tabata, etc, in five minute round formats.

By alternating both this cardiovascular conditioning and muscular conditioning training in you mma strength and conditioning workouts you will be on track to developing the capacity you require to last five minute rounds in the ring or cage if it goes the distance.