How Should I Set Up My Lifting Routine For MMA?

[Kpro86]

So I made up a program for myself but I think I'll just end up overtraining. How should I set up a lifting program so I can incorporate Strength, Functional strength and Plyos?

Lifting for mma is so confusing for me, i get great results from just bodyweight workouts but feel like it's not good enough and i need to get to the next level.

[Mr.Serpent]

Post the one you designed up, I'd like to see it.

I'm trying to change my routine up for a kickboxing match and I'm not entirely sure what I'm doing either. But IMO you should focus a lot on compounds. Do 5x5 for strength and then higher reps for more conditioning.

Also, if you don't already, add in some olypmic lifts. Especially clean and jerk IMO, oly/strongman lifts are without doubt the best for explosiveness.

Hope that helps in some way.

[rickaysurvive]

Try 5 workout circuits one day pull one day push

Circuit one should look something like this for push

bench 5 reps
front squat 5 reps
standing military press 5 reps
clean and press 5 reps
ball slams 24 reps

do this 5 times thru in under 30 mins definitly helps with power, muscular endurance and also cardio.

Feel free to sub in whatever exercises you like, remember versatility is key to help condition your body and other muscles that your barely use.

[judoboy]

Try super, triple and quad set so it intense
And a max of 8 exercises so your not doing to much

[joejenwanner]

E how, there is very good videos out how to work out for MMA, I know I have train and fight, and state champ in high school wrestling. Light on WT High reps and heavy picks, like dead lifts and squats, But for arms and chest defiantly you want light your chest get to big easy to pillow choke you and if your arms get to big easy to biceps cut you. Get it, Cardio is the biggest thing in fights and the how to. So repeat your moves and have a couple for each body parts, At less 4 moves for arms bars figure fours, legs etc, So you can set up for your next move. And working with body wt will build all the muscle you need to be a good fighter.
I hope this helps,
Joe

[JAGERBOY]

E how, there is very good videos out how to work out for MMA, I know I have train and fight, and state champ in high school wrestling. Light on WT High reps and heavy picks, like dead lifts and squats, But for arms and chest defiantly you want light your chest get to big easy to pillow choke you and if your arms get to big easy to biceps cut you. Get it, Cardio is the biggest thing in fights and the how to. So repeat your moves and have a couple for each body parts, At less 4 moves for arms bars figure fours, legs etc, So you can set up for your next move. And working with body wt will build all the muscle you need to be a good fighter.
I hope this helps,
Joe

This.

[Mindi912]

This.

His grasp of the English language is exquisite.

[awkwardturtle22]

Everybody is scared of over training, very few people are working hard enough to actually do it. Just ease into your routine at first, and read the MMA training FAQ to see how it matches up with the routines in there. Sleep right, eat right, focus on being technical in sparring instead of "winning".

Personally I think most amateur fighters will get the most benefit out of a strength cycle before trying to work on endurance or high rep training. Unless you've got a fight coming up of course.

[m41a]

So I made up a program for myself but I think I'll just end up overtraining. How should I set up a lifting program so I can incorporate Strength, Functional strength and Plyos?



Lifting for mma is so confusing for me, i get great results from just bodyweight workouts but feel like it's not good enough and i need to get to the next level.


you want help you got it, first off to answer your question you need to balance bodyweight exeirsizes with weight lifting and even more. but prepare to read this if you want to understand how it all works. training for any fight should involve strength training, but not as much as you would think. 3 weeks before i a fight you shouldn't touch a weight , only body weight exercises. you should have it divide in to 3 different phases . 2-3 weeks for each. i have designed a recent program for mma fighter at my gyms and so far iv been getting great feedback from the, here it is


as long as your not strength training on the same days as you grapple or do stand up, you should be fine. mixing grappling and stand up with heavy lifting on same day can impact the joint, the joint after a workout is very suspetable to being injured , mixing together can guarantee injury. many have learned this lesson especially heavyweight boxers. circuits are ok on mma days, but if you do strength train, do it on separate days. i had noticed you had 1 exercise for your back that was considered a vertical pull, but your missing the very most important part of the back, that is used in grappling/bjj/wrestling especially, horizontal pulls which is pulled directly toward your chest such as rows, throw that in with vertical pulling motions such as pull ups, chin ups and pull downs , now the science of the body's motions are complete. thats what you want.

i try to lift 4 days a week, 2 days strength train on days off, and 2 circuits in between. the idea in mma is get strong in the beginning , but the goal is to lose the weight , but carry the stregnth over and have for fight night. the mma routine goes by 3 phases 6-8 weeks outs, 1.strength training 2. circuit endurance training. 3. body weight exersizes/plyometrics. but this routine i had designed is to have a balance of all phases in one which is a program you can train year round. but unless your a well balanced overall and want to concentrate on just strength alone, or explosive power alone or circuits alone, then i can modify the routine by taking away other things and adding more of what you need.

i try do the push , pull, squat and bend method for strength training, those are the key components of the bodies muscles being used for just about anything. then its push,pull squat,bend and twist for circuit conditioning. now the body is hit from all angles with strength training, explosive training, plyometrics training and circuit training. its what any fighter needs or any athlete. doing compound movements with heavy lifting involved with long rest periods will give you great power for shooting, slaming and striking. plometric can really help a more explosive punch,kick and shooting. light circuit lifting is best for going the distance in a fight. isometric training is really good for defense in grappling, whether its defending from a submission or defending a take down from a wrestler or just holding positioning for bjj, especially developing strength for side controll. best way to train for weight training in my opinion.

things you will need.

strength training. develop over all strength

plyometric training: develops explosive twitch

endurance training . develops muscle endurance and cardiovascular

isometric develops the stability of the muscle; holding position

interval training : helps overall conditioning, you will get most of this conditioning as warm ups
in mma class, and at the end of class, its given to athletes in all sports at typical practices.


Mon

roadwork 3 mile run when wake
strength train day/barbell and dumbbell every other week
chest/back/front delt/ 6-8 sets 6-8 rep range of each muscle group.
2 sets flat bench 2 sets bent over row
2 sets incline 2 sets high bar row
2 sets decline 2 sets deadlift
2-sets power press 2 sets of pullups

TUES

3 mile run
30 min of intervals drills as warm ups, jump rope ball slams, medicine ball throws, wheel barrels , up downs and suicides.
bjj/mma grappling/sparing,technique for 2 hours.


Wednesday

3 mile run
muay thai for 2 hours, bag, technique and sparring.
1.leg/core/[arm misc.}lower body circuit circuit, consist on Wednesday of cardio wise conditioning the legs/core and arms, using 95-135lbs barbell, dumbell or sandbags. 3-5 sets with weights 10x of each exercise going from a squat, good morning, lunge, dead lift, going into bodyweight exercises.

2. body weight exercises/plyometrics/isometric mix

30 second- minute sets or failure sets for each natural body weight exercise. examples; 30 second of jump plyo/ sqauts, 30 seconds of stair climbs, ... 30 second of iso planks, {30 second of bicep and tricep iso ){btw, the bicep iso is great for giving the arm the strength to defend against a arm-bar...
reverse sit up,reverse sit up iso, then 1 minute of crunch. minute crunch iso. remember it should take you awhile to finish a few minutes to do 1 set, by doing that it simulate round time.


Thurs

3 mile run
30 minute interval as warm ups, jump rope, ball slams, medicine ball throws, wheel barrels , up downs and suicides.
bjj/mma/grapple/technique and beatdowns

Friday

3 mile run
30 minute drills
bjj/muay thai /grapple and spar
1.chest/back/core upperbody circuit ,cardio wise conditioning for the chest,back/core going from a clean and press,row, to a bench. kettle bell movements substituted for barbell, dumbell or sandbags.
3-5 sets with weights 10x of each exercise follow by 30 second body weight exercise. ( remember, the body weight exercises is part of the weight training circuit as well=a set.

2.body weight exercises/plyometrics/isometric mix

30 second- minute sets or faliure sets for each natural body weight exercise. example; 30 second explosive plyo pushups, 30 second plyo b bar row pullups, 30 second handwalks, 30 second dips [if you can last] lol 30 second plyo pullups etc,, chest press iso/ back row iso,.....even if not 30 seconds or even 20 just goto faliure. btw, the( back-row iso is great for wrestlers especially going for mid section and double leg take downs.

Saturday

strength train day 2
legs/arms/rear delts. 6-8 sets , 6-8 rep range of each muscle group
3 sets of heavy squats
3 sets of stiff legged dead lifts
1 set of hamstrings curls till failure
1 set of quad extension till faliure

2 sets of strait bar curl superseted 2 sets of tricep push down
2 sets of preacher curl 2 sets of overhead tricep extension
2 sets of dumbbell 2 sets of skull crusher with dumbbell

2 sets of side delt raises
2 sets of rear raises

Sunday rest.

this is routine i designed myself, im also a personal trainer , i have been over 7 years.
and trust me it works iv been told.

[feint15]

Kpro86,

Check out "Westside for Skinny Bastards part 3" by Joe Defranco. Just google it, it's free and it's the ****.

So far, it's taken my strength, explosiveness and endurance to a whole new level plus I've packed on some 15 lbs of muscle. It's got everything incorporated into it: strength, power, explosiveness, endurance, and it meshes really well with my grappling and striking schedule.

I feel much sturdier in the clinch, much quicker on my shot, my knees are deadly and my hops are getting NUTS! I can dunk a basketball now as a 5'11" white kid!

M4a1, your program looks sick! I'm definitely going to steal it to change things up for the next couple of weeks. Thanks for the detailed information brother. Do you have a blog or website about your training?

Also Kpro86, are you doing pistol squats, one armed one legged pushups or muscle ups as part of your bodyweight calisthenics program? I cranked out one set of 5, 7-10 times throughout the day of each of these and my pushup record went from 55 to 85, and my pullup record went from 15 to 27 in 5 weeks. I just wrote an article about it on my blog, mmafitnesstips.com check it out if you're interested!

Hope that helps you out man,

Cheers

[frost242]

In general I would incorporate more traditional power workouts cleans, dead lifts, etc on one day and then the next workout more interval training, geared toward the rounds you will competing for. If you can find a copy of Martin Rooneys training for warriors its really good. He splits up strength and interval days into a 4 day week. He eases into the workouts too so you do not get burnt out.

[Str8EdgeAthlete]

I try to keep things simple, when training fighters. Focus should be on endurance, technique-specific power and skill training. The basic split looks like this:

Mon/Wed/Fri - Stretching, Cardio, Plyometrics, Grappling
Tue/Thur - Stretching, Powerlifting, Striking/Heavy Bag

I also incorporate Parkour, or free-running. Every few days, just to change things up, I'll replace the day's workout with an outdoor obstacle course, in the backwoods. This entails running, sand hill climbing, tree-limb pullups, log jumping, etc.