Experts make their predictions about the future of fitness so that your physique stays at the top of its game.

Cyborg sparring partners? Plugging in your brain to download the skills of a tai chi chuan master? Running shoes that don’t cause blisters?

The future of MMA training may be an uncertain beast, but there is one thing that is certain: there’s going to be an onslaught of trends, tech, multi-media and equipment vying for your cash.

And, like its attire (we pray headbands don’t make a comeback), MMA is always in a state of flux – making it tough to know what to expect. 

That’s why we hit up our top-tier experts to read their tarots and predict the shape of things to come for the future of fighting.

Their prophecies will arm you with the knowledge of what to expect and how you can apply it, so you never have to waste your dosh, performance and time on stuff that won’t stand the test of time.

THE WOMEN’S FIGHTS MOVEMENT

You’ll start to see more women at live events but they’ll be wearing mitts, not cocktail dresses. “Women are still fighting an uphill battle in this arena, one similar to what men faced 10–15 years ago,” says Kevin Kearns, is a strength and conditioning coach who works with the likes of Kenny Flroain. “Currently not a lot of sponsors want to get involved, but that will change and the female side of the sport will soon have its own superstars.” After all, you’d be hard pressed to find someone who wouldn’t want to watch Gina Carano slug it out. 

USE IT:

Rope in your missus – or the girl vying for that position – when you go for a run or do any kind of MMA training. She’ll be excited to get an insight into what you do and research at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine found that teaming up with your other half to do exercise makes you more willing to stick to it and can help you lose 5% more fat than if you did it on your own. It’s the perfect arena to exploit her talkative nature to your advantage.

What’s more, research in the Journal of Sports Science found that when teammates were encouraged during exercise, every 20–60 seconds they instantly improved their V02Max (a marker for aerobic fitness) and the exercise seemed easier. A word of warning: you may want to avoid sparring on your first romantic exercise outing – black eyes are not foreplay, unless she’s the one dishing them out. 

YOU’LL FIND YOUR LIMITS 

“Before you set out to exercise you’ll get scanned to find out what capacity you have to exercise at that exact time,” says Dr Mark Bellamy, a sports psychologist who invented Powerbags and the Powerbag Training System of resistance training by throwing a soft sandbag-like weight around to build explosive power. 

You can already get your doctor to give you electrocardiograms, which will test your heart and lung’s ability to exercise at specific levels.

“More advanced and accessible versions of this machine will become commonplace in gyms. These will tell you how tough your session should be and the kind of food you should eat afterwards.” 

USE IT:

Listen to your existing inbuilt computer: your brain. “If you feel sluggish or unmotivated then shrink your planned training load by 30% and mop up your efforts afterwards with a massive vegetable and protein fix, like a Caesar salad,” says Bellamy. If you’re pumped, try to smash past old limits and personal bests – but that’s not a license to clean up at McDonalds afterwards. 

YOU’LL CHALLENGE YOURSELF HARDER 

Even your run-of-the-mill, non-MMA specific gyms will become performance centers focusing on improving skills. “They’ll be littered with a mix of traditional Olympic lifting apparatus and unconventional equipment such as: sandbags, tires, ropes and chains with areas for sprinting and sled dragging,” predicts Paul Collins, the strength coach to the Australian karate team and author of Speed for Sport (Meyer and Meyer). 

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When you’re shopping for a new gym or dojo, don’t let the hot chick quota be the decider – rather look for open space and novel equipment you haven’t seen before. “A cramped training space limits the exercise options you can do and the same humdrum equipment will eventually stifle your progress.” Never let your gym banzai your progress. 

ATHLETES WILL BE YOUNGER, FASTER AND STRONGER

Last year two of Brock Lesnar’s bouts secured more than two million pay-per-view purchases. Only Tyson was able to equal that, so it’s safe to say MMA’s popularity is on the up. The UFC is already loaded with young, fresh talent from Rory MacDonald to Edson Barboza, and it's only going to increase as well-rounded child prodigies break through. “You’ll start to see an increase of younger fighters on the big fight cards,” says Kizzito Ejam, a Florida-based taekwondo and krav maga instructor and bodybuilder.

“I already train students aged 18 and younger who are aching to make it big in the MMA world. You may even see junior MMA competitions at grassroot levels. Age may bring experience, but youth comes with unpredictability that’ll see fast paced and continuous action from the young guns.” 

USE IT:

Younger fighters have testosterone in their corner because research in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism found this muscle building and aggression-yielding hormone declines as you age. Fortunately, even if you’re tussling with father time, you can still gear your training to bump up this hormone and your endurance using these drills. 

“Your typical high-intensity training sessions (currently using 5–12 seconds of work to 60–120 seconds of rest) will start to use 15–30 seconds of 120% effort followed by 10–20 seconds of rest to increase in fight recovery rate,” says Ejam. “In the gym instead of doing 4–6 reps on power lifting moves – such as power cleans – you’ll do 12–15 reps to build strength and muscle endurance, while keeping fighters light and quick.” Youth might come once in a lifetime, but there’s no reason you can’t strong arm it into making a comeback. 

YOU’LL HELP YOURSELF

While UFC light heavyweight Jon Jones admits he learned a number of his skills from watching YouTube videos, this may just be the beginning of fighters teaching themselves how to annihilate their opponents through 'coach interweb.'

“There will be a rise in self-skilling as fighters get better informed thanks to the internet and a growing number of MMA books,” says Collins. “Ordinary fighters will do interactive exercise courses to get unfiltered information so they can decide how to achieve their goals, rather than pay somebody else to do it for them.” 

USE IT:

Find courses that’ll teach you all the skills you need to be fitter, faster and leaner – for the price of a month of one-to-one instructions. You’ll buy the fishing rod instead of the fish. 

FAST FOOTWORK EMERGES 

Power, technique and skills all come off second best against speed.

It’s now more and more the pace of both your hands and feet that count. In fact, your feet are soon to be in the driver’s seat. “We’re already starting to see a growing trend of fighters using their footwork and mobility as their number-one weapon,” says Dion Riccardo, MMA coach. “Speed training will need to be a big part of any serious fighter's regime and former UFC champ Pat Miletich teaches that a fighter’s offensive and defensive techniques are limited to how fast they can move their feet.” 

He’s not alone because almost 70 years ago Bruce Lee predicted that footwork is the key ingredient that allows you to deliver your technique well before your opponent can deliver his.

For evidence just look at Dominick Cruz’s success thanks to the haste of his heels. 

USE IT:

The first step is the skipping rope. “Do 3–4 rounds lasting 2–3 minutes each, before and after each session,” says Riccardo.

TRAINING GOES ONLINE 

“Data from fighters will be constantly recorded via a monitoring device worn on your body,” says Kearns. “This will remove the guesswork for trainers who are trying to figure out how the fighter is feeling and take into account both training and nutrition.” Prototypes for this are already being tested at California University, which use flexible body suits loaded with sensors that measure the efficiency of human muscle movement. “These kind of monitoring tools will help you make micro adjustments to your training form so you can work a muscle at 100% of its capacity.” 

USE IT:

The tech is almost here already in the form of the Bodybugg.

This is ideal for fighters as traditional GPS-based watches track the distances you’ve covered, but the average fighter expends a huge number of calories in a small space: the cage. The bugg is lodged in an armband you wear that measures motion, skin temperature and heat. This info can then be downloaded to your phone or computer to analyze the efficiency of your sweat sessions. Now if only it could mix your post workout shake.

DECODE YOUR GENETICS

The film Gattaca may just become a reality. “You’ll get your DNA tested to see if you’re likely to suffer from physiological imbalances (such as weak knees), diabetes or cardiovascular disease,” says Allan Collins, a strength coach and technical director for Juice Performance Training. This will tell you what your risk factors are so you can take supplements to safeguard your weaknesses and do specific exercise to even out any potential imbalances. 

USE IT:

The price of DNA testing has come down dramatically to a few hundred dollars. For a cost-free option, ask your parents and grandparents what ailments run in your family. Then get your doc or coach to tell you how to shore up your ‘blackspots.’ 

THE FUTURE IS NOW

Whatever your fitness past, you have a leaner and stronger future with these futuristic products available today.

> Dynavision D2 

With a hefty price tag you’re better off sweet-talking your gym to buy one because the results are certainly worth it. This tech is made up of a sphere of buttons that light up in random succession which you have to try and hit or kick.

This is designed to measure, track and improve explosive reaction time, peripheral awareness and hand-eye coordination. “I had already been fighting in UFC for a long time when I contacted Jim Leo at PitFit Training,” says UFC fighter Chris Lytle.

“He found some things I needed work on, and my reaction and vision response were at the top of the list and I’m blown away how much improvement I have had since using the Dynavision D2 and I-SPAN. When they are incorporated into a fighting-type circuit, it makes it that much more specific to a bout.”

So if you’re copping a few too many strikes then this is the reboot your reflexes need. 

> I-SPAN 

The I-span looks like a huge window that’s in a free-standing frame that has LED lights mounted all over it, which are actually controlled by your trainer on a computer. These light up at different times to improve your agility, explosive reaction times and vision.

It can be used to improve your performance in every sport and records what times you’re completing the drills in so that you can improve each week. So if you’re a second off on your kicks or takedowns, then this is the tool that’ll put you ahead of your opponents. 

> GoPro HD Helmet HERO 

Attach this camera to your sparring headgear and you’ll be able to capture exactly how you responded to your partner’s attack and defense. And if you fix it to your opponent’s head then you’ll get a first-person view of how good your stand-up technique is.

The footage is stored on a memory card, which you can plug into your computer, watch your practice bout and immediately work on any faults. And even if a rogue punch cops your camera, it is sturdy enough to keep on documenting your smackdowns. 

> Firewire Sweet Potato 

What does surfing have to do with MMA? It demands upper-body endurance, balance, the ability to be calm while holding your breath and agility, which are all the hallmarks of a good fighter.

Trouble is, in small waves these skills aren’t required because you won’t be able to get on the tiny swells. The Sweet Potato lets you ride any size wave – big or small – and is stable enough for a beginner to use, yet loose enough for the experienced surfer to get into the water more often because it rides like a dream in every condition. 

> Skullcandy Fix Headphones 

Everyday problems can turn into an unsolvable nuisance: the location of the remote, shoes that don’t stink, a cure for a cold, headphones that don’t drop out when you exercise.

We can’t help you with the first three, but Skullcandy have solved the headphone dilemma with inner-ear headphones that refuse to leave your wingnuts. They’ve used multiple soft contact points so that the buds are wedged in and you can enjoy your favorite tunes while you pound the bag uninterrupted. 

> Multipower Multicarbo Energy Palatinose

This energy gel has a newly patented ingredient called palantinose, which is a timed-release carbohydrate. So you only have to drink it before you start training and don’t have to reload your energy mid-session. Research in the Forum of Nutrition found that your body digests it slowly, so that midway through your exercise session you’ll get a burst of energy. Think of it as eating a baked potato in the middle of your session without having to move your mouth.