Issue 090
July 2012
Barry Gibson BSc and MMA-CSCC is the owner/founder of GrappleFit Training, and an S&C coach focusing on combat sports. Let the warrior elite lead you into battle with their pro-standard strength and conditioning fight camps.
When it comes to fight-camp preparation there are lots of ways to structure your training. The skill lies in not peaking too early, not overshooting the event and not burning out.
When pro athletes try this for the first time it almost always ends badly. I’ve had many clients come through the door for training, after following my videos on YouTube and reading my articles in here and THFE mag for a while, but they still state they need to follow a prescribed plan.
The internet has allowed many people to better themselves, however the wealth of information leaves some fighters bewildered at best. It’s awesome to see how our UFC heroes train and what evil workouts they go through, but it’s much more important to know where a workout belongs in a fight camp and what it actually does! As such, many fighters seek out a fitness professional of some description to aid in their training plan. If it seems like a shameless plug…
You’d be amazed at the training programs some MMA fighters follow even now: German Volume Training, Escalating Density Training, Westside Barbell Method, and they are some of the good ones. Some fighters think it’s OK to join ‘chrome and fern’ health clubs to train like bodybuilders and jog for fight fitness. Yes, even now this happens.
The idea of training in a series of phases professionally can be dated back to the first Olympics – athletes began training 10 months out from the month-long games. The recent models of periodization (dividing your training into periods which accomplish different goals) came about in the ‘60s. People like Tudor Bompa formulated and organized training plans and structured work phases to allow the athlete to peak at an appropriate time. Now people like (my fellow THFE contributor) Martin Rooney, Ross Enamait and JC Santana lead the way.
There are several types of periodization that athletes follow, specifically linear periodization, concurrent, conjugate, and undulating to name but a few. Some involve specific phases for certain attributes while others use a more ‘hybrid’ approach training several attributes at once in a training week over several sessions.
I’m not going into too much detail here as I’ve covered the subject of periodization in depth over a few issues previously, suffice it to say that MMA fighters and other combat athletes in general, will benefit massively from seeking out a professional’s input into their training camps.
For example, fighters such as UFC featherweight Ross Pearson go through a series of stages that look something like this: strength phase (four to six weeks), power phase (four to six weeks) and, finally, fight conditioning/metabolic conditioning or power endurance (four weeks) depending on which label you attach to it. This is in ideal circumstances, however. Sometimes it isn’t possible to have the luxury of that much time between bouts, especially for the pro fighter who isn’t signed exclusively to one promotion. This fighter needs to be as close to ‘fight shape’ as possible in order to fight at a moment’s notice. This athlete will need to be getting strength, power and power endurance in one training cycle as is the case when I train two local fighters, Andrew Fisher and Liam James. Their fight camps contain a training week which includes strength work, power development and metabolic conditioning in the same five to six days – remember, that is alongside their MMA skills work too.
PRO TRAINING WEEK
MONDAY - MAXIMUM STRENGTH AM; SPARRING PM
TUESDAY - INTERVAL TRAINING AM; PAD WORK
WEDNESDAY - REST
THURSDAY - GENERAL PHYSICAL PREPARATION AM; WRESTLING/SPARRING PM
FRIDAY - EXPLOSIVE STRENGTH AM; BJJ PM
SATURDAY - SLED PULLS AM; SPARRING PM
SUNDAY - REST, OR PAD WORK LATER
Above is what a professional’s training week may look like.
All that is assuming the fighter is only training twice a day. Some fighters hit three sessions per day of varying intensity – that is key. Alternate high intensity with low intensity for your sessions to prolong your career – it is essential not to go ‘balls to the wall’ constantly.
If your desire to turn professional is strong, you need to take your training seriously enough to seek out help in formulating a training plan. Surround yourself with the best possible training partners and never give up.
