Issue 111

The UFC welterweight giant exposes the secrets to how he became one of the most powerful 170lb’ers on the planet.

Johny Hendricks announced his retirement from the cage in 2018, but he sure left his mark on UFC. With his high-caliber wrestling skills, he had the ability to simply drag his opponents to the ground and grind out victories. However, on his route to the top Hendricks quickly realized he has another weapon: some of the most powerful and destructive hands that the 170lb division has ever seen.

Having knocked out the likes of Jon Fitch, Amir Sadollah and TJ Waldburger with his fists of fury, in 2012 the Bigg Rigg revealed the exercises he used to help him generate so much power.

BIGG RIGG POWER TIPS

1: Baseball

“I try to do a bit of baseball, because it's all about explosion. You're turning your hip when you're throwing the ball or hitting the ball and it generates a lot of power. Wrestling also focuses on the explosion from your legs and hips. It's all exploding power, which is very important for me when it comes to MMA.”

2: Play Spar

“I do this for accuracy. Basically, you fight at 10–15% and you see if you can hit somebody going that slow. I consider that to be like accuracy training, because you have to acknowledge that you have the power, but you need the accuracy to land your strikes, too.”

3: Hot Yoga

“It keeps your body flexible. Being flexible means you've got power, too. You've got to keep your muscles loose. One thing I'm learning now is just because you're tight and you look strong, doesn't mean you're actually strong. What I'm trying to do now is loosen up my muscles so I can become even more powerful.”

4: Push-Ups

“I know it sounds dumb and kind of easy because you've been doing them all your life, but it's something that's very good to do. I like to do weighted push-ups as they really give your upper body a good workout. I like the fact you can do them pretty much anywhere at any time.”

5: Circuit Training

“I utilize a lot of functional weights and I do them in a circuit. I'll do a rep of eight squats, then I'll grab a medicine ball and do a rep of 10 squats with that. Then I'll go and work on my core for 12 reps. Then I'll start the entire thing again. It really works your entire body, and means it's conditioned to do lots of powerful movements during fights without getting too tired.”

LEGEND

Johny Hendricks' moniker, 'Big Rigg', is derived from his jiu-jitsu coach's comment that Hendricks hit like a Mack truck, having also owned a Ford F350 truck.

The Bigg Rigg retired from MMA with an 18-8 record, eight of those wins by TKO.