As a certified Mixed Martial Arts Conditioning Coach, I’ve spent years studying the art of not only traditional personal training and conditioning techniques, but also the basic and advanced principles of mixed-martial arts for fitness.
Mixed-martial arts style workouts are one of the most intense and effective types of cardiovascular and strength training out there. In its many different forms, the unique training routines designed to build the skills, strength and endurance necessary to perform the MMA movements properly, are also becoming one of the most popular workouts, no matter what your age, fitness level or fitness goals. The fact is, it’s a killer workout. And most of all, it’s a lot of fun.
The biggest reason mixed-martial arts training is as fun and effective as it is, is because it allows you to workout outside of the box. If you’re like many, the idea spending 45 minutes to an hour running on a treadmill, using an elliptical machine or peddling on a stationary bike can be downright daunting. Don’t get me wrong, they provide for an effective cardio and fat burning routine—but let’s face it, they can be boring! And the most common side-effect of exercise boredom is the loss of motivation, decreased workouts, and, eventually, an additional ten or fifteen pounds right around your problem areas.
So why not give these hip and high energy workouts a try? They might just prove to be the kick-start literally you need to get to your next goal! Read on to learn more amount a couple of the traditional mixed martial arts training exercises that you’re probably already familiar with, and a few more that might be new to you. Either way, give them a try! After all, you have nothing to lose except maybe those extra pounds you’ve been “fighting” to keep off!
Heavy Bag Work
A heavy bag workout is the most common of the mixed martial arts exercises and the one with which you’re probably the most familiar. But did you know it’s also one of the most versatile, intense and effective exercises PERIOD, providing you with the ultimate fat-burning and strength training total body workout. Not to mention it’s tons of fun—and a great way to relieve any of your built up stress or aggression. The key to a great workout here is technique. Master the technique of each punch and kick combination thrown, and you’re working almost every muscle in your body.
Jumping Rope
Getting in a good workout doesn’t always require giving up an hour or two. In fact, you can burn up to 135 calories in just ten minutes of jumping rope, making it one of the most intense, effective and portable forms of cardiovascular exercise. A workout staple for those training in mixed-martial arts and boxing, jumping rope not only burns fat, it also sculpts your shoulders, chest, arms, abs and legs. Put in a good hour, and you’ve just burned upward of 800-900 calories.
Sand Bags
A less traditional, but extremely effective workout for mixed-martial arts for fitness, sand bags merge a simple and old-fashioned training tool with the principles of exercise science, to bring you one of the most effective pieces of workout equipment available. As simple as it sounds, a sandbag workout is uniquely intense because as you lift it, its shape changes, making it next to impossible to develop a specific groove for any lift and adding a new layer of difficulty to every repetition. The key to its success lies in the concepts behind stabilizer training, which improves the small stabilizing muscles in your body, works your core, increases overall strength and improves performance.
Rope Undulation
Believe it or not, long pieces of rope meant to be undulated, swung, looped, anchored and thrown is one of the latest and most popular trends in martial arts training techniques. As you perform a series of difficult exercise routines with the ropes, rapidly and without rest, you’re also getting one of the best cardio workouts as almost anything out there today. This is because, despite the relatively small size of your arm muscles in comparison to the other major muscle groups in your body, vigorous upper body exercise is more work for your cardiovascular system than its equivalent lower body exercise, because of the required use of your core and stabilizer muscles, as well as support from your lower body. Since you’re working your heart out hard, in no time you’ll also be working up a sweat, all while toning your back, shoulders, arms, abs, legs and wrists.
TRX Suspension Straps
Conceived by a Navy SEAL and embraced by mixed-martial arts and fitness enthusiasts alike, the TRX Suspension Training® system utilizes two adjustable, heavy-duty, nylon strips with soft foam handles, in conjunction with your own bodyweight and natural resistance to help build power, sculpt long, hard and defined muscles, increase flexibility, balance and mobility, and prevent injuries. So effective, that with only 30 minutes, you can work your entire body by once again calling on your core muscles to keep you stable, essentially helping you to get twice the workout in half the time. And by using your own bodyweight and gravity’s natural resistance, you’re also working to prevent injury and strain common with the use of heavy weights and bulky equipment.
Tractor Tires
We’re not talking about your ordinary tires here, we’re talking about the super-sized, super-tough, industrial strength or truck tire, weighing upward of 200 pounds apiece. Trust me, you can move them; and if you don’t believe me, just give it a try, and take away from it a high intensity cardio workout that sculpts and tones your muscles unlike anything you’ve tried before. Tire routines can be designed to include practically every muscle group in your body while providing intense cardiovascular and interval training. Flipped, rolled, dragged, jumped on, jumped off, and used for pushups—as simple as it sounds, sometimes the simplest of exercises with these tires yield the greatest results.
If you noticed a pastern here, it’s that core strength is a key component to mixed martial arts training, and is in part why these workouts prove to be so effective. When you strengthen your core, it’s much easier to strengthen the parts around it, as you’re able to work out harder and longer and see those great results. In no time, you’ll have that ultra muscular and fantastically fit body you’ve been working toward much like the bodies of the fighters you see on TV and in movies. And chances are they’re working out with a few of these fun, effective and cutting edge techniques as well.
