MMA workout review: Take 2

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Just recently posted an mma workout thread on this forum and have come to the conclusion that there would be a very strong possibility of overtraining so here is take 2:
STATS:
17 years old
5'11" 136 lbs.
Bench:185
Dead:215 (would be higher but cant hold anything much higher than that)
Squat:300

Will be working out twice each day. most likely having the ab and forearm circuits in the morning with main workouts later in the day

Sunday/Tuesday/Thursday:
Road Work: at least 1 mile (weighted or non-weighted)
Jump Rope: 30 minutes (4minutes on x 1minute rest until can do for 30 minutes straight)
Bag Work: minimum of 30 minutes punch and kick work on 75lb. bag (5minutes x 1 minute)
Speed Bag: 15 minutes to improve coordination along with focus pad work

Monday/Friday:
1/2 mile jog to warm up
Clean and Press: 2x8
Squats: 2x10
Barbell Pullovers: 2x8 (supersetted with squat)
Bench Press: 2x6
Good Mornings: 2x12
Chin-Ups: 2x15
1/2-1 mile jog for cardio


Wednesday: Circuit Style training (1 minute each exercise x 1 minute rest after circuit)
Push Ups
Burpees
Box Jumps
Drop Jumps
Weighted Punches (5lb db or lower)
15-30 minutes on stationary bike

Saturday: If there is no sparring repeat sunday. If sparring repeat sunday without bag work
5 rounds of sparring (if partner will go for it)

Daily Ab and Forearm circuits
Abs: x4 Forearm: x4
Leg Pull-In x25 Palm-Down Wrist Curl Over Bench x20
Lying Leg Raises x25 Behind Back Wrist Curl x20
Barbell Side Bends x25 Hand Grips x35

Will be practicing forms based off of prior MMA experience until i find suitable classes to attend. any ideas or possible improvements would be appreciated. also I am not trying to gain weight any weight gained by this workout is appreciated but is not any part of my weight training regimen.

I would scrap the whole program in favor of something much simpler.


i understand your point but ive been lifting for almost 5 years now and none of the set workouts (5x5, 5/3/1, etc.) have seemed to have any effect on anything (weight, strength, etc.)

Joe DeFranco has a good saying, "you can't flex bone". You have a sub 5% body fat and you're very thin for your height. I think you mentioned you have seen a physician. I'm assuming he cleared you for exercise. You also mentioned that you think you may be consuming too many grains (per the recommendation of the CR group). Also, you don't wish to gain weight which seems odd unless you want to compete in the 130 lbs weight division. If I was in your shoes, I'd forget about lifting at all. I would focus on getting all my calories from vegetables, fruit and meat. Plus getting 8-10 hours of sleep. Then I would do my MMA skill work. Lastly I would work on my lifting. Phone Post

by eating too many grains i was not implying that i dont eat enough protein, vegetables, or fat. My doctor told me he encouraged lifting for football and anything else but that was not because of anything except for high blood pressure which due to working out is much lower now, 4 months later. As of right now I eat around 40, 40, 20 which is 40% calories from carbs (whole wheat and vegetables), 40% from lean meats (chicken, fish, and a little beef if i drain the fat) and 20% from fats (i cook with olive oil). I was simply stating that from what i read from others posts on this site i may have been eating more grains than someone on the CR diet which I am not old enough to do safely so i scrapped that idea anyway

and to top that off any doctor i have seen says that my weight is in the healthy range for my height and body type and i was even able to give blood earlier in the week. the doctors had no qualms about my low bf% and encouraged my efforts in attaining it as they said it "was very healthy". any other reasons to scrap the program?

Interesting that you had high blood pressure at such a young age. I guess my point is that you might have trouble achieving your goals on a 5x5 or Wendler style program because of your relative mass. What made you think you 1st workout proposal would possibly lead to overtraining? Phone Post

need more rest days

actually you're 17 you can probably handle working out 7 days a week

i'd still take at least a day off if i were you though

Im one of those people that reads up on something alot and i made that as kind of an effort to fit in every type of training regimen that seemed effective and trying to put them into a workout so i could do all of it. after thinking about it for a second i figured it was a little much and focused more on the 1 circuit, 2 full body weight workout scheme shown above. also this way more bag and technique work could be done.

turducken that was uncalled for. i never implied that i have tried everything and i was just hoping for some insight from people who have been doing this longer than i have. i have high squat from football, low bf% from diet and cardio. I put this up here to see if anyone like dizz had some kind of constructive criticism or anything to point towards some workouts that would be less focused on getting stronger at a lift and more of a functional strength. I havent tried everything its just that the things i tried i didnt gain very much weight on and even my noob gains werent very good on a 5x5 workout plan.

I realize there is no one size fits all to weightlifting but i was hoping for some kind of improvements anyone could offer so that i could get strength that i could translate to a fight instead of just strength that i could show off in the gym. and if you notice i only pointed out two workout routines and pointed out that this routine is based off of other routines and schemes....

 jwheeler,



Stick to functional circuits and skill training.  Get rid of those low set/low rep weight routines and non-applicable exercises like weighted side bends and forearm routines.

and eel that does make alot of sense that the reason some of them didnt work is because of that. i never really thought that being thin would be a hamper to gaining strength when working out. from an online calculator i used (i know spare me) it said that to maintain weight i should eat 2300 calories per day, as per info on bodybuilding.com i ascertained that while working out if i eat 500 calories over maintenance i can gain muscle mass without too much added fat gain.
any merit to that??

and also turducken. if you didnt notice when i posted the first workout most people said that it was too much volume and i would overtrain. so i lowered the volume and reposted. is it not possible that i am looking for the same kind of advice now?

I hate to reply by suggesting you buy a product, but in your case -- buy 'Ultimate MMA Conditioning' by Joel Jamieson.

You're not making progress because you don't understand the effect training has on your body.

That book does a pretty damn good job of explaining what goes on 'under the hood' and how you can manage the process of training to get results.

MMAReview could you give an example of a circuit like that? and i realize that the forearm circuit is a little much but i have a weak grip so i feel that a forearm circuit to increase grip strength would be a good idea. or am i completely off? also i kinda lowered down the circuit training after reading some of martin rooney's articles about it.
the link to the one im referring to is
http://www.t-nation.com/free_online_article/most_recent/11_myths_of_warrior_training

hmm i may have to look at that harry. is that sold at any martial arts or MMA supply type store? or would i have to order it online?

 Well, I'm torn because I personally believe the best base for MMA is not strength but skill.  So are you wrestling or doing BJJ or anything?



Look at MMA fights and model them in your s&c.  Are you going to be using burst strength 6 times?  Or are you going to need muscle endurance?  I believe the latter.  Now, it's not going to be like Lance Armstrong muscle endurance, but I think that "power" is not as important as endurance when it comes to MMA.  



I mean, just for the hell of it, keep your mon/fri routine as far as exercises, but lower the weights way down and do it as a circuit just like you do with your bodyweight routine.



Also, try to skip jogging for warming up.  Do warm ups that hit what you'll be working.  So maybe just a 10 second of bodyweight squats, push ups etc.  It's been shown that you must warm up the specific muscle group you'll be working.  Jogging for instance doesn't warm up your chest etc.



It's going to be VERY difficult for you to judge your progress, because you aren't applying it to anything.  How do you know how well your workout is helping your mma, if you're not doing mma?

i see your point because i agree that skill is the most important thing with MMA. but no as of right now I am not, Im looking to get back into it but I need to find a school i can afford first. The idea of the workout was to strengthen certain body parts to be able to take a hit in that spot(pullovers), limber up(good mornings), and then explosive strength(squat/clean and press) but again thats only a theory.
I would still like to jog at least a mile every day would you recommend doing the entire thing after the workout or just at a different time?
honestly i feel like this program for me is to just help to build some strength and speed so that when i do get find a school for MMA i wont be going in completely out of shape and huffing and puffing after the first 10 minutes.

 haha.. I know what you mean.  I hate that feeling of going back to train and being totally out of shape.  But once again, I feel that it's the lactic acid buildup that will kill you.  Just give it a shot for a couple weeks of going low weight/high volume with a weight circuit.  Can't hurt.  Get plenty of rest and stay hydrated too.