I've been posting on the Canada forum, but a certain Mr. JKennedy (I'm told he's both handsome and handy) has suggested that I post here as well. Apologies for repeating myself but . . . here we go:
Y helo thar,
When I joined this forum, my initial (oh so grand) plans were to turn out semi-regular articles on fitness. I've been on a bit of a hiatus, though, since I've been so effing busy. There's a good reason, though. Not only have I been putting together a blog for Bang Fitness, I've also been working with our other trainers to put together a strength and conditioning scholarship program for Toronto-area fighters. We'll be announcing it soon, including the rules of eligibility, so keep your eyes peeled.
We do have some new content, though, including the article below on why conventional sport-specific training just won't cut it for MMA athletes. We also have older articles (and some content you haven't seen yet) on the site, so please check it out.
And no, we don't have any articles on stevia. Ok, bring on the goods:
A Great Big Baby: Why Sport-Specific Training for MMA is in its infancy
When it comes to most sport-specific training, knowing the position of a player is generally enough for a basic plan. In football, an elite-level offensive lineman, for example, will be expected to weigh in between 280 and 330 lbs, demonstrate decent relative strength, explosive starts, excellent footwork and great agility. Done and done. Training them for performance may not be easy, but it is relatively straightforward. You’re working with a specific body type and set of attributes. Not so for MMA athletes.
While the first UFC introduced MMA to North America in 1993, it’s only been over the past few years that it’s began to gain widespread attention as a sport. It’s still young enough that we see a wide range of natural physical ability (with world-class genetics still being the exception, not the rule). Likewise, the sport-specific training necessary to maximize MMA performance is still a veritable baby. Training methodologies from Olympic lifting, wrestling, powerlifting, boxing and many more have infiltrated the scene. However, the best way to string things together is a challenge that no one seems to completely agree on. There’s a good reason for that: strength and conditioning for MMA is more challenging – and more complex — than for any other sport.
What makes training MMA athletes so different? The sheer number of variables for starters. Let’s break it down a bit.
Physical Base
Before we even get started, we’re going to have to look at an athlete’s physical status. A lot of people assume that you should jump right ahead to maximizing existing physical attributes. What’s missing from that equation, however, is a hard look at injury prevention. The truth is that sports generally emphasize certain attributes out of proportion to others. Are you a boxer? You’re doing a lot more pushing (that is to say moving your hands away from your body) than pulling. Are you a boxer that works behind desk (slumped shoulders and all)? Well, guess what? Before we get to even more of the same, we’re going to have to counterbalance both your training and lifestyle factors. That means increasing range of motion and balancing strength in all planes. That’s assuming that there aren’t existing injuries to rehab on top of everything else.
Mobility and injury prevention/recovery don’t make a lot of highlight reels, but they’re an essential foundation. Once established, they’ll contribute to the lifetime of an athlete by minimizing breaks in training due to injury. Only with this base can an athlete really begin to make dramatic improvements in their sport-specific performance.
Technical Base
Is our fighter starting out with a set of technical skills specific to a particular sport? What physical attributes are worth emphasizing and maintaining? What types of motor patterning have to be revamped? How can we assist this process? For example, if we were working with someone with a wrestling background, we may wish to emphasize maximal power through a range of motion that synchs up with their go-to takedowns and throws. However, we may find them working from a deficit in the area of striking. Perhaps they have persistent difficulty in not leaving their punches hanging in mid-air. An over-emphasis on pulling (from maximal to power-oriented) in the same plane may help them overcome unfamiliar or unnatural movements. However, it’s a fairly delicate matter when it comes to deciding whether a temporary diversion from a fighter’s primary gameplan will be worth the time and effort in the long-term.
Physical development
A fighter’s technical development typically sets the pace for strength and conditioning. Sometimes, though – just like in judo – things (and people) get flipped on their heads. We occasionally find that the physical attributes of an athlete are substantial enough to supersede previous technical gameplans; instead, it becomes worthwhile to maximize development of a specific attribute and adapt their game to that. A good example is Georges St. Pierre’s transition into wrestling. Although his background was in Kyokoshin karate and Brazilian jiu jitsu, he demonstrated a natural explosiveness that arguably lent itself best to wrestling. Continuing to emphasize this aspect of his conditioning, his coaches also made wrestling an increasingly important part of his game. In this case, St. Pierre’s technical skill set changed substantially to emphasize his physical abilities . . .
The rest of my long-ass article won't fit in this post, so please continue reading here.