Issue 161

December 2017

How small steps every day will help you take massive strides in training

In the fight game, it can be difficult to make long-term improvements. You can only get so much better inside eight weeks of a training camp. That’s why Ricky Lundell has pioneered the 1% Improvement Movement™. He’s used it to improve his strength by enormous amounts and helped his fighters’ abilities develop in many areas.

The idea is to make 1% gains every day. That may sound like tiny steps, but it allows you to work towards your goals in manageable amounts, which over time will add up to significant strides forward in any discipline.

You’ll have to add things into your workouts and be accountable to yourself, but by targeting a lofty goal and working towards something day-by-day, you can make sure you’re always improving and eventually surpass even your best and most experienced training partners.

1% of anything

No matter the area you’re working in, the 1% model is designed to make you grow. It’s very easy to become stagnant – whether it’s in your martial arts training, strength, cardio or whatever.

In for the long haul

If you try it for 500 days, the results can be crazy. The real thing that makes this work is the longevity and consistency. If you change the trajectory of a bullet by 1% over a short distance, it won’t change a lot, but over the course of 100 miles it’s huge. You’ve got to think about trajectory

Set your goals

You have to take it from where you’re at and start from what you have. Decide what would make you better. And when you get that, you don’t just stop. It’s good to have a realistic target, but if you aim far beyond your expectations, you never know what you might achieve.

Gradual gains

Say you can roll for five minutes. Tomorrow you don't have to roll for six. That’s a 20% improvement. But if you add 1% the next day, and the next day, eventually that time clock’s going to turn into an hour. If you’re doing armbars or kimuras, drill one more. If you’re training striking, practice one more combination.

It gets results

I took on strength model as the easiest way to prove the 1% method can do exponential things. I’ve reached a 600lb squat and I weighed in 181lb. The goal was 500lb and I thought that was impossible. Now I can’t imagine how upset I’d be if I missed 500lb.

Effort and willpower

Your willpower has to improve. Your body might hurt. If you let negative thoughts come into your mind and you express them to people, they will jump on them. They will help you decide not to pursue your goal. It’s more important to focus inward. Ask what can you do to improve, what’s holding you back.

Breaking barriers

You can rise above plateaus with a change in thinking. I started trying to

shoot for something even higher, going after that all the time to get the mind to break away from the original goal. If you want to start beating that purple belt, you can’t focus on them or you’ll never get there. You’ve got to ask how you can beat that brown belt, then you’ll get the purple belt as a by-product.

Stay patient

Don’t try and take on too much at once. It’s very important to make things manageable. If you want to get better at MMA, you’ve got to isolate something. Before you know it, you’ll get so good at one thing, your focus can change.

Learn from the best

You have to enlarge your vision. Take Conor McGregor and what he’s been able to do. That’s vision. Guys like McGregor can keep improving 1% every day. That’s how they win UFC championships and go on to be in the biggest boxing fight in history. They never get complacent and settle, and that’s why they continue to exceed expectation.