This board seems to be getting cluttered with a bunch of the following questions:

"I'm starting BJJ (or whatever MA it is) and wondering what I should do for conditioning (or strength training)?"

Guys, there's already a bunch of thereads like these on the board. Do a search or scroll through a page or two of the board and you should find an answer.

Or you could post your question in the MMA Training Hub. All forms of MA are discussed there...

Thank you. This goes for the entire T-Forums really... do a fucking search b4 you ask a question so you at least come back with an informed opinion and probably a better question.

Let me go ahead and knock out 90% of those threads right now-

>> Yes I know your situation is "unique" somehow but you're still a beginner start like everyone else

>> Yes I know you want to do MMA but you're still bulking, and cutting, and doing 4 crossfit programs a week... or whatever the fuck. You might want to just focus on one of those a while

>> No your football experience really isn't going to translate all that well.

>> Like 70% of fighters wrestled, unless you were state champ or something impressive, doesn't mean dick. You can still get subbed.

>> No you can't learn from DVD's.

>> Yes you should lift weights but TMT, TBS, TNT, WIFI, TMNT, DBZ or whatever Waterbury program you're doing probably isn't going to be what you need for MMA. (not picking on Waterbury he just usually has all the acronyms).

>> To follow that last one, no you probably don't need super special secret spetnatz ninja training program (IN MOTHER RUSSIA WEIGHTS LIFT YOU!). 1 arm rows on a bosu ball isn't going to shit for you.

Thats like changing your hair color to make your tits bigger. Don't get complicated unless you know what the fuck you're doing. 90% of us could just do the Bill Starr 5x5 program and improve leaps and bounds.

>> You should train at the place with the best reputation, that has fighters it has produced (from the ground up I might add), that fits into your budget and travel arrangements. Just remember you get what you pay for.

>> Cutting weight is a lot more than sitting in a sauna. Just focus on your training and getting your bodyfat down. Sort out that other shit later...

Bump

Well this is a good opportunity to ask questions to you pro's without creating a new thread.

1) Assuming I lift 3 times a week, is it a good idea to do conditionning work on every day that I don't train or should I always schedule a rest day? I have solid recovery as far as nutrition and supplementation, could be better sleep-wise but still decent.

2) How long should a good conditionning workout take? I usually go for about 15-25 minutes depending on my exercice selection. Barely rest at all, most of my workouts are circuits of explosive moves (plyo pushups, sledgehammer, tire flips...) combined with high speed mobility work (skipping rope, punch-out drills, sprints, ect.)

3) Should I be doing steady rate cardio at all? I'm thinking it probably doesn't translate too well on the mat but is there any reason I should be jogging?


Thanks alot

I'd like to add that if you get all bent out of shape due to an argument on the internet, the best way to settle said argument would be to challenge some guy you've never met to a fight by starting a thread about it...NEVER BACK DOWN!

Have you guys thought about starting a sticky for reputable gyms? There are a TON of places out there that want to capitalize on the MMA craze and it might be a good idea to give people an idea of where to start looking in their local areas.

I have seen this for powerlifting gyms or strongman friendly gyms but I think it could work here as well. Or not. I know I couldn't add anything but I, for one, would rather not throw money away on a place that is a joke and I'm betting you guys could save some beginners some grief.

On second thought, this isn't a very good sticky thread.

In a sticky, you should have protocols to follow (do a search before asking something simple) and frequently asked questions and their answers.

This thread starts off with a complaint and turns into a rambling thread about training methods.

I use the Polar 625SX. Tracks everything down to when I should take a crap. Well not quite that detailed, but it does let me know when I'm training hard versus just being a pussy.

On the otherhand, when you are talking about MMA conditioning and compound complex training, going until you almost puke is worthy. Then train some more.

Thats fine, and provides you with a good base. As long as you're recording your lifts and getting some kind of improvement every time you hit the gym you're doing fine.

I would encourage you to write a list of very detailed things you want to improve in your combat skill and use those to direct your weight room training.**

That's what I like about heart rate monitors it lets you actually track progress. Now there are a lot of things that can influence the #'s but at least it gives you a projected level of how hard you "should" be working. So I recommend that you use one (especially with aerobic work where you can get lazy. I can't really recommend one but if you could find one that didn't need the strap around the heart that would be preferable... not sure if they even make them like that though.

If you can do some bagwork or something that really beats your ass, record that peak work rate then you can use that to assess how hard you're working on elliptical sprints or rowing sprints, etc...



**Most of the time fighters probably need to improve power endurance and maximal strength. Thus ME work and different kinds of complexes (i like singles for 15-20 sets with about 20s rest between sets) work well.

Good suggestions. I don't think that you an get a commercial HR model (unless it's a hand-held) without some sort of chest strap. I did some testing with the military years ago and they glued an ECG unit to me which gave great freedom. I'm likely going to get lung cancer or something in the future now. Anyway, they do exist if you can find them.

Consequently the hand-held models are cheap, but suck; delayed reading, inaccurate etc. Stick with Polar or Timex.

Thanks alot for the responses Imoko and Xen, this forum definitely has the most helpful members of the whole site. I'm looking into an heart rate monitor right now.

welcome dude...

great article for anyone wondering how to structure your lifting:

http://www.elitefts.com/...strategies3.htm

That really was a great article, thanks. The first two of the series were also interesting.

Right now I'm using basic guidelines and not following a precise routine as far as exercice selection, should I use one? So that I can track improvement?

I was thinking of picking up a routine, performing 5x5 on the first week with a weight I can handle for 6-7 reps, then on week 2 add 5 pounds to everything but perform 5x3 instead.

On week 3 I'd keep that same weight, but go back to 5x5. And so on.

How does that sound? Is it achievable or am I gonna plateau after 2 or 3 cycles?

As far as exercise selection I like selecting things that I know when I'm getting strong on them I'm getting strong elsewhere.

For example, any improvements I make in my OH press directly correlates to my bench press.

and whatever I can snatch pull for a double, I can power clean for a single.

That said, it will be different for EVERYONE. It is very much a journey of self discovery for you to find what works.

But so far, pick shit you like, or things you KNOW that you need to work on. And have 2-3 to rotate... hit that shit hard till you don't make any improvements on it then change it to another exercise and repeat. Whenever you get back around to the old exercise you have in your workout log what your previous numbers were.

If you were using big exercises that correlate it should just be a matter of time before you beat your old #'s.

For instance box squat, good mornings, sumo deadlifts are different but have extreme transfer so maybe it was 3 weeks since you've pulled but your box squat after a period of readjustment should allow you to pull more than you did in your previous microcycle.

You can do the 5x5 a lot of ways... I believe there was an article around here about it but i mean you can do it escalating like: 1st set was easy, 2nd harder, etc 5th set of 5reps is the toughest.

Or you can pick 1 weight and do 5x5, but if you fail (lets say you do 5-5-4-3) then you keep at that weight till you get all 25 total reps and then you make the weight heavier.

your idea works, use a weight that you can do 5x5 for, then go heavier and do 5x3, then next time use 5x5 for the weight you used 5x3 for... etc etc... you may plateau but that just means rotate exercises (one's with crossover) and continue. When you plateau on that exercise go back to the previous one and continue.

I tend to do this with Bent Rows and Chest supported rows... when I need a break i'll do 1 arm supported rows for high reps (kroc rows).

There's a shit load of ways to do it.

All that matters though is that the next time you're in the gym you're either using more weight or you're doing more reps.**

Tracking improvement is huge huge huge. The thing is you don't even have to get that meticulous... just beat what you did in the past... progress forward, develop a new stronger you... the logbook is just a record of that progress. Then you can look back in a year and say "The 2008 Kataklysm was weak compared to the 2009 edition".







**obviously this isn't necessarily true for speed work or power endurance or jump training, etc, but eventually it would still ring true in that as your maximal strength improves you should be able to handle heavier weights for your speed work. Which is WHY absolute strength is so important to train... it truly (imo) has positive effects on all other forms of strength.