Strength Training for the Combat Sports Athlete.

The training method that I use for the combat sports athlete is pretty simple. It is based around their specific sport training. For the combat athlete (and for those critical of the term "combat athlete" it is a simplified term that I use when referring to the various jiu jitsu, MMA, wrestlers and other martial artists I train) their sport training is the primary training. All other physical training must enhance the sport training.

An important point to consider is that all physical training that is not martial arts training is considered general physical preparation (GPP). Specific physical preparation (SPP) is the training of the martial art itself. One of the biggest mistakes people make is trying to make GPP SPP. This is often seen when an athlete overloads a specific sport movement pattern. Often, overloading a specific movement pattern will actually distort the biomechanics of the movement. Instead what we try to do is strengthen the muscles and movement patterns from a general approach, for instance if hip extension is important for the sport we will perform exercises like deadlifts, kettlebell swings and reverse hyper extensions with the goal of making the athlete's hips stronger. The athlete will then be able to create more powerful movements when practicing or competing in their sport. One of the things I regularly hear from fighters I've trained is that within a month or two of beginning out training program they are punching and kicking much harder without "trying" to punch and kick harder.

Another consideration for training is recovery. If you cannot recover from your training you need to reduce the total training volume. This tends to be an issue with most competitive martial artists. Most of the time they train too hard too frequently.

What I've found is that the best approach for strength training is to have two primary training sessions. One maximal effort workout where the goal is to build absolute strength and a dynamic effort workout where the goal is to improve the athlete's rate of force production. Other less stressful workouts may be implemented throughout the training week to strengthen weak points, develop aerobic capacity, and improve joint integrity or anything else based on the individual's needs.

Here is a very general overview of the training sessions and methods I use with my combat sports athletes. There is always individualization based on injury, training experience, if they are in a fight camp or preparing for a competition, etc.

Max Effort Training Session

• Jumps x 20-40 reps (We begin every workout with some form of jumping as it is a great way to build explosive power. We rotate variations regularly, some examples being box jumps, jumps from a kneeling position, jumps from a seated position, broad jumps, bounding, with and without external resistance.)
• Max effort lift. General a deadlift, zercher lift, or good morning variation. Occasionally we use a squat variation either with a safety squat bar or in our belt squat machine as both of these put no stress on the athlete's shoulders and shoulder health is something I pay a great deal of attention to with my grapplers and fighters. Most of the lifts we utilize are sumo deadlift variations either from a deficit, a pull from the ground against bands, deadlifts with the plates on blocks or with the bar on the pins in a power rack. Good mornings can be done normally or suspended in special straps. Most of the time we work up to a 1 rep max in the deadlift, squats and zercher lifts, and a 3 or 5 rep max in the good mornings.
• Upper body press variation. We do not do a lot of bench pressing, particularly heavy benching, since heavy bench presses can be tough on the shoulders. Most of the barbell work is done with a specialty bar that allows the lifter to use a parallel grip which tends to be easier one the shoulders than using the regular straight bar. A lot of the time we use the floor press as our barbell lift. Some other favorites are single arm dumbbell bench press, all manners of push ups, and overhead presses with dumbbells or kettlebells. We typically work 5-8 reps for "heavier" sets on the barbell work, and higher reps for muscular endurance on the other variations.
• Upper body pull variation. Here we always work some variation of rows or pull-ups. Single arm rows with dumbbells or kettlebells, barbell rows, cable rows, inverted rows, and pull-ups with a wide variety of grips are worked regularly. Another thing we like to do to build grip strength simultaneously is to use an old gi top hung over the bar for pull-ups and inverted rows.
• Posterior chain exercise. Strong and powerful hips are important for combat sport athletes. For this we work many different "hip hinge" exercises with some of our favorites being glute-hamstring raises (GHRs), reverse hyper extensions, 45 degree back raises, and kettlebell swings.
• Torso exercise. We do a lot of torso work, mostly static or rotational exercises. We do a lot of standing ab curls and static holds against heavy bands or the lat machine, we will hold an extended static position on the GHR bench and do alternating punches against bands, leg raises and dragon flags, ab wheel roll-outs, full contact twists and Russian twists are all regularly performed.
• Finisher. We generally like to finish the workout with some belt squat walking drills where we walk for various durations while doing different types of loaded carries or even pummeling drills, mitt work, and shadow boxing. Sled dragging is done as well or in lieu of the belt squat work.

Dynamic Effort Training Session

The dynamic effort training session is the same format as the max effort session except for the main lift. On the dynamic effort day the main lift is usually a box squat, either with the safety squat bar or more commonly in the belt squat machine, using between 50-60% of a 1 rep max with an additional 23-35% band tension. Occasionally deadlifts are performed with the same loading pattern. For work sets 5x5 is common. We use the same format for all the other exercises, but we do different variations from the max effort workout.

Those are the two primary workouts our athletes perform weekly in addition to their martial arts training. Outside of this extra workouts are performed based on the individual's weaknesses and specific needs. Usually things like kettlebell and bodyweight circuit training to improve muscular endurance and anaerobic conditioning, extra grip/neck/abdominal work, and aerobic conditioning are performed for 2-3 extra workouts weekly.

In addition a lot of my athletes perform specific joint integrity exercises for elbow, shoulder and knee health in particular. Exercises are usually different type of club swinging for the shoulders and high rep band exercises for the shoulders, elbows and knees. The goal is to perform very high reps, upwards of 200-300 per workout, with very little muscular stress. This increases circulation to the connective tissues to improve joint health and resiliency. These joint integrity exercises may be performed after primary workouts or as their own mini workouts 3-4 times per week.

Flexibility and joint mobility exercises should be performed daily. Often joint mobility is utilized as a warm up for training and flexibility exercise are performed at the conclusion of the training day.

As far as periodization goes we max out weekly and just rotate to a different exercise variation the next week. For the dynamic effort day we follow the 3-week wave recommended by Louie Simmons of 50% in week 1, 55% in week 2, and 60% in week 3, then starting a new 3 week wave with a different squat or deadlift variation. We keep this up year round and generally implement a specific 2-3 week taper going into a major competition.

This may sound like a lot of work but keep in mind most of the combat sport athletes I work with compete at some level, some at a very high level, so they are training harder than most who do not compete.

Remember, this is a very general overview of our training plan. There is a considerable amount of deviation from the plan sometimes based on the individual I am working with and their specific needs at the time.

Hopefully this article gave you some ideas of things you can implement in your own training and if you have any specific questions feel free to email me at scott@eptsgym.com or if you are in the Atlanta area come on by the training center.

Stay Strong!

-Scott