My routine for MMA

[johniemi]

I train in MMA (mixed martial arts) as a hobby, although I plan on competing at an amateur level someday. I train MMA on monday, tuesday and thursday and I plan to lift weights twice a week; wednesday and friday/saturday whichever of the last two dates fits my schedule for the week.

I like to take the guy down and end the fight on the ground via a submission so I'm not very conserned if I lose some hand speed as I don't do standup fighting that much.

This is what I'm currently doing, please let me know if you see some flaws:

Wednesday
Power clean from the floor + overhead press 2x6
Deadlift 1x6
Chins 1x6
Bench press 2x6
Deep squat 1x20
Sit-ups 2x6
Hanging leg raise 1x10
Stretching

Friday or Saturday
Power clean from the floor + overhead press 2x6
Deadlift 1x6
Chins 1x6
Bench press 2x6
Deep squat 1x20
Sit-ups 2x6
Hanging leg raise 1x10
Rotator cuff work
Bent-over row 2x10-15
Lower back raise 2x10-15
Neck workouts, bridging etc.
Stretching

The second workout is just like the first one but with some rehabilitating and balancing excercises added. The 20 rep squat is done to failure, taking breaths with the bar on my traps between the last reps. On the 2x6 excercises the first set is stopped at 6 reps no matter how heavy or light the weight feels and the second set is always to positive failure, unless I manage to pull all six reps, which means that I increase the weight as little as possible (1,25 kilograms = 2,5 pounds) for the next training session. An exception to this is the power clean + press which I do explosively with 60% of my bodyweight and I don't even think about adding some plates until I can handle the additional weight. The deadlift is only one set and NOT to failure because I'm afraid of hurting my lower back, but to complement that I follow the dl with one set of chins to failure.

DOES THIS MAKE SENSE AT ALL? I hope to gain functional strength and maybe some mass, but mainly I want strength to help me outwrestle my opponents :)

Thanks!

-John

[ItalianStallion]

Too little sets, try using a 5x5 for most exercises and you dont really need to go to failure, its more of a bodybuilding thing and afaik for MA, it only delays recovery.

[iamraisen]

Chad Waterbury has recently bought out a series on training specifically for MMA.

Strength
http://www.t-nation.com/readTopic.do?id=1034530

Endurance
http://www.t-nation.com/readTopic.do?id=1083869


I suggest you have a read through these as they are top quality :)

[illegal entry]

It looks like you're using good lifts but like the Italian said, use more sets, 4x6, 5x5, 10x3, whatever, just do more then 6 reps then moving on.

Oh and don't forget to shave your head, get some tattoos, a goatee, and always wear Sprawl or Tapout clothing WHEREVER you go. Only then will you be a complete MMA bully. :rolleyes:

[Wilson]

I'm not sure about this, I wouldnt work my chest muscles to hard because if they get big, then they could get in the way of punching.

[cxw]

20 reps squats are brutal - heaps of DOMS. Also, I suspect that they're pretty taxing on your CNS.

As the others have said, you need more sets. It's way more time efficient for a start to do 4*6 bench, and then the other day do deadlift 2*6 the other days. The way you have things means you're going to spend lots of time adding and removing plates from the bar.

[TheMachine]

Good choice of exercises but could be made simpler. Have you read the sticky?

[ItalianStallion]

I'm not sure about this, I wouldnt work my chest muscles to hard because if they get big, then they could get in the way of punching.
:bang: You will never ever ever get that big training like this (without steriods).

[illegal entry]

I think you'd be hard pressed to find any way at all to get that big pecs without juicing.

So that's probably just an excuse for having tiny pecs.. Or man boobs. ;)

[tetsu ryu]

I'm not sure about this, I wouldnt work my chest muscles to hard because if they get big, then they could get in the way of punching. yeah i used to think that to but ever since i started lifting heavier my punches have actually gained some power. and I would suggest doing plyometric/explosive clapping pushups for plenty of speed.

[inteq9]

Oh and don't forget to shave your head, get some tattoos, a goatee, and always wear Sprawl or Tapout clothing WHEREVER you go. Only then will you be a complete MMA bully. :rolleyes:


Dang, I just gotta shave my head and get a tattoo. I knew SOMETHING was missing from my training!

In my typical routine I lift twice a week with 4x5, 5x5, 4x6, and 7x3 rep schemes. We do a pretty tough warmup so I get plenty of endurance work, not sure about your club.

Keep your workouts short and simple. Try to hit every muscle group with 5 or six exercises.