Issue 061

April 2010

I’ve been training for a couple of years now, and I feel that I’ve hit a bit of a plateau. Do you have any tips for things I can do to help me improve?

Everyone goes through periods where they feel that their rate of improvement has slowed down, or even that they seem to be going backwards. It’s always worth discussing this with your coach and training partners, because often your perception that you’re not getting anywhere may not match up with the opinion of other people! If you have reached a sticking point then there’s lots you can do to give your training a kick-start. Here are some ideas.

Train with some different people 

Sometimes getting the chance to work with some new coaches and training partners is enough to give you a fresh perspective and shake you out of your training rut. When you train with the same people regularly, you get used to their game. Sparring with someone new can draw your attention to things that you might have been missing. 

Focus on a specific area for a few weeks at a time 

As MMA fighters, we have a lot of different areas to train. Sometimes we can find ourselves spread a bit too thinly, trying to get everything in. By the time you’ve covered your boxing, Muay Thai, freestyle wrestling, clinch, cage wall work, BJJ, ground ‘n pound and strength and conditioning, you may find that you’re not doing enough of any one thing to really progress. Try focusing on one particular area for several weeks at a time, while just doing enough to maintain the other areas.  

Concentrate on your weaknesses in sparring 

It has been said that the fear of losing in sparring is one of the biggest causes of stagnation. Once you get to a certain level, it’s easy to slip into a comfort zone. You know what you do well, so whenever you spar that’s what you do! Unfortunately, this means that you’re not getting to work on your weaker areas. If you struggle with takedowns, the temptation is to avoid doing them, and so they never get better.  

Experienced fighters know they don’t have to win every round in the gym! Sparring is there for you to improve, not to show how good you are. You’ll improve much faster if you go into every round with an objective, or at least an idea of what you want to work on, and voluntarily put yourself in bad positions.   

Do your own video analysis

Do you ever find yourself thinking “But my hands ARE up!” when your coach yells at you yet again? Often, there’s a difference between what you think you’re doing and what you actually are doing. Looking at video of yourself sparring or drilling is one of the fastest ways of picking out your bad habits and correcting them. It may come as a shock at first – you’ll probably find that you’re making all kinds of mistakes that you were completely unaware of. But watching yourself from an outside perspective can give you valuable insight. Get into the habit of doing it regularly, so you can see the effects of the adjustments you’re making. Keeping a record of your sparring is also a good way to watch your progress over time, and to remind yourself how much you have actually improved.  

Professional fighter Rosi Sexton is a sports therapist and osteopath-in-training. She has fought in countries such as Russia, Canada and the USA, and is ranked as one of the top competitors in her weight class. Go to www.rosisexton.wordpress.com