'Natural Born Killer' Carlos Condit talks through his training strategy with MMA journalists Gary Alexander and Paul Quigley.

One particular aspect Carlos Condit has been working on diligently in recent years is his size and strength. “It's something that I've always worked on but I’ve been giving it extra focus recently. It's been years since I was in the WEC and I've had lots and lots of time to work on all that stuff.

"And yeah, obviously, I was working on that stuff when I was in WEC. But it's definitely more of a priority for me now,” he adds. The efforts of the lean mean New Mexican fighting machine have clearly paid off as he has achieved victories over a string of leading UFC contenders, including powerful wrestler and former US Marine Jake Ellenberger.

GOOD STRATEGY

When you are continually facing the cream of MMA competition, it is always a good idea to construct a solid gameplan, and Carlos Condit, much like his head coach Greg Jackson, always has one or two good ideas kicking around in his highly-tuned fighter's mind. In fact, he even lists legendary Chinese military general and battle strategist Sun Tzu as one of his favorite historical figures.

When asked if Jackson's penchant for strategy had influenced him in his career, Condit explains: “I think I'm that kinda guy anyway so that's just common ground that Greg and I have when we're working together and game-planning for fights.” With Jackson's extensive team of fighters boasting an incredible win rate of around 80%, the highly successful UFC welterweight couldn't ask for a better strategic partner than his head trainer.

Here are three key aspects of Carlos' training regimen at Jackson Wink MMA.

RESISTANCE BIKE

A Resistance bike provides two workouts in one. While you work the foot pedals as you would on a normal exercise bike, the arm handles move back and forth giving the user a cardiovascular as well as an upper- and lower-body workout which also helps with weight loss.

PULL-UPS

The benefits of pull-ups cannot be emphasized enough. You'll develop a strong back and enviably muscular arms. A good benchmark for strength is to be able to do a few series of five pull-ups with 10% of your weight attached to your body (as extra weight). Or if you want to go hardcore like Carlos, attach some Grapple Grips to the bar. Holding these free-moving rods will give you super-human crush strength.

GOOD SPARRING

Approach each sparring session as an opportunity to improve some aspect of your technique. Work on your jab, counter punching, or your defense and spar with different opponents as often as possible. The more sparring you do, the more experience you will have against different styles.