Issue 124
January 2015
Forget the rest, learn from the best: If you want to be as fit as a UFC star for summer then FO has a legit fighter workout that can get you there.
While the last 12 months may well be remembered as the year of the upset inside the Octagon, 2014 was the year mixed martial arts was courted by the fitness industry outside of it.
Newsstands worldwide have been adorned with the smiling faces and ripped torsos of MMA’s biggest and brightest stars each and every month over the past year as the world fell in love with the idea of looking like a fighter.
Finally, the mainstream fitness industry caught onto the fact that professional mixed martial artists are easily some of the fittest sportsmen and women on the planet. They appreciated elite-level fight camp strength and conditioning programs were the key to unlocking real functional muscle and stamina gains.
Yet while most claimed to be the ultimate fighter workout, they delivered little more than some bag combination striking sessions among the usual plethora of deadlifts, box jumps and hill sprints that every athlete uses as their bread-and-butter conditioning.
In fact, the only publication with a truly dedicated and functional combat fitness workout is TRAIN magazine, FO’s sister publication, which hosts monthly training regimes from former UFC light heavy Krzysztof Soszynski.
‘K-Sos’ designed a fight-focused workout for this issue of Fighters Only, to ensure you’re more Tito Ortiz than David Ortiz.
COMBAT FIT
Former UFC star turned S&C coach Krzysztof Soszynski presents his 2015 fighter drill.
WARM-UP/WARM DOWN
Skip for 3 minutes with a rope.
1. SQUAT, LOW KICK
3 sets x 12 reps
Increase power in your leg muscles by combining a squat with a low kick. 1. With your feet shoulder-width apart, keep your back straight and raise both arms so they’re parallel with the floor, palms facing down, then squat until your thighs are parallel to the floor. 2. Push back up and twist your hips to fire in the low kick. 3. Alternate legs.
2. ONE-TWO SPRAWL
3 sets x 10 reps
A full body grinder this one. 1. Unload a jab-cross combination then quickly put your hands on the floor as if you were going to do a push-up and drive your legs back out as far as they can go. 2. Jump back up and repeat.
3. SIT-UP WITH PUNCHES
AMRAP* x 60 seconds
This is a great six-pack and shoulder stacker. 1. Lie flat on your back with your legs either side of a heavy bag. 2. Do a sit-up and when you reach the top, unload a left and right hook combination. 3. Finding it easy? Try unloading a six-punch combo.
4. ROPE SLAMS
3 sets x 10 reps
Another drill for your core, arms and back. 1. With your legs spread wide, take hold of both ends of the rope and drive both fists down in one motion to a spot between your legs, working the lower back like a hinge. 2. Lift your arms high and repeat.
5. HIP BRIDGE
3 sets x 10 reps
This will add power to your takedowns. 1. With your upper back resting against a flat bench, your torso slightly dipping, knees bent at a right angle and the soles of your feet flat on the floor, ask a spotter to place a barbell with a comfortable weight just below your hips. 2. Now push your hips as high as you can up into the air. 3. Hold for two seconds, then lower and repeat.
6 SQUAT, DOUBLE BODY KICK
3 sets x 10 reps
Another leg burner. 1. Stand in front of a heavy bag with your feet shoulder-width apart. 2. Perform a squat with the same technique as in drill 1. 3. When you rise, unload a body kick with your right leg and then your left before returning to squat. 4. Repeat.
7 BACK LUNGE, PUSH KICK
3 sets x 10 reps
This drill is great for legs, core and lower back. 1. Standing in front of a heavy bag, take a step back with your right leg and lower your knee towards the floor until it almost touches the mat. 2. In one movement, step back through and drive your right foot into the heavy bag – sole first. 3. Alternate legs.
8 SIT-UP, DOUBLE ELBOW STRIKE
AMRAP* x 60 seconds
One final core killer. 1. Back with your legs around a heavy bag as in drill 3, this time after you perform a sit-up drive first a right then a left elbow into the bag while exhaling. 2. Repeat at pace.
*As many reps as possible.
