Gymnastics for MMA

[Feral]

Hi Guys!

Im new to strength training although i have been training MMA for years. I have of course been doing the sportspecific things like hitting the pads and spar, but no conditioning in the gym or by using rings etc.

But now i will give it a chance! I wont be doing so much gymnastic exercises in the beginning, but i think i could get allot of good advices from gymnastics that i could implement in my training.

I have a couple of goals in mind, some ideas how to reach them and last some questions. I would be glad to here your opinion! :-)

My goals...

- One goal is to get better endurance so that i can perform on high intensity all rounds of the fight. By reading the book and here on the forum i have discovered, if im not wrong, that a good base of strength will give you a better capacity to develop endurance.

- Another goal is to get stronger in grappling/wrestling, like for example that i can hold on to a person so that they cant escape or that i could, by being stronger, get the upper hand when grappling/wrestling for position.

- My last goal is to get more explosive in my striking and my tackling take downs.

My thoughts on reaching my goals...

- By reading the book and surfing around the Internet i have come to the conclusion that i should first build my maximal strength by doing dynamic and static exercises (by gymnastic or barbell exercises).

- When i have done that i should put more focus on explosive/power/speed strength and endurance that is my main goals.

- I should do a full body workout every time i.e. a push, pull, squat and core exercise. I should switch exercise every workout for example military press instead of benchpress.

Questions

- Shouldn't i be doing any explosive/power/speed strength and endurance training in the beginning, only build max strength?

- Doesn't gymnastic practitioners put any time into specific strength endurance or cardio training? In the Book Coach summer seemed to have great endurance and cardio by only doing the exercises presented in the book. If there is some strength endurance training in gymnastics, how do they train it?

- When do i know to cut back on maximal strength training and put more focus on the explosive/power/speed strength and endurance training? If i cut back on the maximal strength training, wont i be weaker than?

- In static training together with bodyweight exercise, should i do the exercise like presented i.e. 3-8 sec for a total of 60 sec?

Thanx in advance! :-D

[Joshua Naterman]

Wow, too much thinking. I fight as well. So, from a fighter to a fighter, gymnastics is the way to go for the bulk of your training. Deadlifts and squats are important too, but most of your strength will develop better from the gymnastic training. The endurance comes from the time it takes to do your sets. There is no muscle fiber in the body that can fire continuously for more than 90 seconds or so, so don't get the idea that you need lots of time to develop extreme endurance. Once you get past that point what is actually happening is that motor groups are taking turns holding the load, so some pieces of your muscle are just hanging out while others do the work, and they trade off every so often. You don't fail until they are all crapped out.

At first you will be mostly working strength. Work your front lever, back lever, planche, wall handstands, ring support, and your pushup progressions. After about two months, you'll be ready to start doing things like ring support for 10 seconds, then a few dips. Drop down, from dead hang move to front lever, hold. flip around to back lever, hold, dismount. At that point you are working for about a minute, and that DOES build endurance. That's the basic and uninvolved way that these skills develop your endurance, even though you are really focusing on strength. Then you can also do your handstand, and then immediately get to pushup support, do your pushups, and end with a planche lean. Two or three sets are all you'll need. As you get better and move through the progressions, you will start to string together more and more moves until you are literally doing your own routine! It's really fun and it develops freaky strength.

[kombatmaster7]

Hey Feral!

I am a fighter as well. I have 3 years experience and I believe that Coach Sommer's Steady State Cycle has halped me the most out of any other program/methods I have tried to gain more strength or endurance.

Endurance is something I have a lot of experience with. I would describe as one's pain threshhold. Although all endurance is the same and there are carryovers, I believe that endurance in basketball is very different than that of swimming. It all comes down to how familliar you are with the techniques and how well you breathe.

If you want to build endurance I highly suggest you swim. Since you are woking out in a substance that is way heavier than air. You will breathe better and easier. After doing a few months of competitive swimming with my friends we all agree that it has greatly helped our endurance. You definently see the differance in my friends who play soccer. They last way longer after swimming.

Check out this thread for great information on stretching and most importantly how to set up your workouts. This stuff is legit I highly suggest you skim (or read) through it:

http://www.martialartsplanet.com/forums ... hp?t=85373

Thats a lot to chew on so get back to me if you have more questions.

-kombat

[Blairbob]

Ahh, I like lurking on MAP sometimes.

Gymnasts can get plenty of strength endurance due to the fact they work out for 150 to 300 minutes a day. Yes, there are lots of little breaks since it's all in spurts but still it's lot of volume for a workout besides just the warmup, conditioning and snack time. There are dozens of swings on the apparatus and kicking up to HS or this or that.

Gymnasts do not need to train endurance over strength. That's what I'm coming up with especially as I've been watching what goes in the women's for a few years, especially at our club and after seeing their test scores.

You can easily split per week your lower body stuff into 2 strength workouts per week and 2 power workouts per week. One day focusing on ample rest for SLS ( and weighted ) and the other day using depth jumps, jumping deck squats/pistols, box jumps, sprints, sled pulls ( which you could also do for strength ). Of course you can add stuff like burpees and mountain climbers, jump rope, thrusters, KB swings, runs whatever into that as well.