Fighters Only

Issue 080

October 2011

He’s not heavy, he’s my training partner. If buddy body-weight workouts are good enough for TUF...

Barry Gibson BSc and MMA-CSCC is the owner/founder of GrappleFit Training, and an S&C coach focusing on combat sports

There’s a lot of talk about the training programs used on The Ultimate Fighter shows recently and, increasingly, strength and conditioning is the hot topic. When skills are equal the chances are the best-conditioned and strongest athlete will win out. Pretty much without exception.

I get asked lots of questions on the best way to train for combat sports. More often than not, it’s relating to getting strong, powerful, and my least favorite, ‘How often should I run?’ That question drives me crazy but I won’t rant here, as it’s beyond the scope of the article.

The main thing is that folks are eager to lift and go heavy. Great. But let’s not forget body weight. The athletes on TUF never really use machines, and seem to train naturally in terms of body-weight drills, sledgehammer work and sprints etc. Not bad work if you can do it.

In a previous employment I worked as a trainer to police officers and used to extol the virtues of handling your own body weight effectively through a range of motion as varied as possible. What I mean is, rather than pushing and pulling in the usual body weight conventions, try Hindu push-ups, divebombers, recline rows, scarecrows and so on. These movements add variety to the normal push-ups and pull-ups people seem to associate with body-weight training. Simply using your imagination can add lots of stability to your training, which on top of strength, is vital to your health and joint integrity.

In short, if you can manhandle yourself around gymnastic rings, dip stations and pull-up bars, then you’re laughing.

You can take it a stage further too, in your gym routine, by working with a partner. I’ve covered a lot of these in my ‘Brutal Body Weight’ seminars. The dynamic nature of MMA and combat sports, particularly grappling ones, means that athletes have to struggle against an unyielding, off-balance opponent. Barbells, dumbbells, and even the ‘dreaded’ machines are balanced and bodies aren’t. It’s that simple.

Try these exercises sequences (left) at your next MMA session. The first group is a conditioning blast-out, you can use either as a finisher to your session or as a stand-alone workout. If it’s a stand-alone workout, strive for five to eight rounds with 30–60 seconds rest. That’s a body-weight workout right there.

NO KIT EQUALS NO PROBLEM

The second routine is a partner set, which you can try and is sure to skyrocket your strength. Usable strength at that.

Perform the second workout on a one-for-one basis – you complete your cleans, then your partner does, then move into squats etc. Or you could separate the movements out, perform cleans and presses on Monday, then squat, row and suplex on Thursday for instance. What you will get from this is a massive degree of transferable strength, but also, if done rapidly, a little strength endurance thrown in too.

The fighters on the TUF series are managing without masses of gym machines so I reckon you can too. I’m not suggesting everyone cancels their gym membership (although that would be cool if I was responsible for a cellar dweller gym revolution!), but you should question convention. Grab a little functional strength, by using your partner as a barbell. Enjoy.

CONDITIONING BLAST-OUT

2 SETS

TUCK JUMPS - 6 REPS

BURPEES - 12 REPS

PUSH-UPS 24 REPS

SQUATS - 36 REPS

BEAR CRAWL - 50 METERS

Perform the above as a finisher, for two sets as fast as you can, rest only 30–60 seconds.

PARTNER ROUTINE

8 REPS OF ALL THE FOLLOWING

PARTNER CLEANS

PARTNER SQUATS