Fighters Only

Issue 155

July 2017

Cross train with these swimming pool drills to fire up your engine for the fight.

When it comes to offering poolside strength and conditioning advice for mixed martial artists there can be few coaches on the planet with the credentials of Joe Pascale. As well as being a part of the Auburn Tigers NCAA championship swim team and competitor at the 2012 USA Olympic Trials, he’s a BJJ purple belt who made his MMA debut last year. Fighters Only hooked up with the swim king for a seven-stage swimming pool program to add to a fight camp. It’s perfect for athletes of all levels and is a great way to take your strength and conditioning routine away from the gym’s sweaty mats.

Bodyweight work

1. Ladder dips

Out of the water, hold the ladder handles, elevate your body, bend your knees and cross your ankles to dip low.

2. Ladder spider-mans

Lie out of the water between the ladder handles, raise your arms up and place hands on the ladder handles. Keep your legs straight out in front of you and lift your chest to the top of the ladder. Keep your body straight.

3. Shadow boxing

Get to a depth in the pool where the water is breaking over your shoulders. Throw striking combinations against the resistance of the water.

Shoulder mobility series

1. Front lateral raise

Raising them up in front of you with your palms down. Break the surface of the water with each repetition.

2. Lateral raises

Raise your arms out to the sides with your palms down. Break the surface with each repetition, raising and lowering your arms with the same intensity.

3. Back raise

Start with arms at your sides, palms facing back, then push back about 60 degrees.

4. External/internal rotation

Lock your elbows to your side and bend then at 90 degrees so your forearms are parallel to the floor, palms inward. Rotate your forearms out, then back, keeping elbows in.

JOE SAYS

“I highly recommend supplementing this series into a warm-up. Have your shoulders below the water for the whole series. These promote balanced muscle strength in the shoulders. For many athletes, shoulder rotation exercises are neglected, which can lead to injury.”

Hypoxic Set #1

Breathless laps

This hypoxic set is advanced. While warming up, count how many breaths you take when completing one lap. This is your base lap number to use in reference to the breakdown below. This will build better lung capacity and endurance.

3 sets of 4 x 25m with 60 sec rest

Lap 1: base minus 1 breath Lap 2: base minus 2 breaths Lap 3: base minus 3 breaths Lap 4: base minus 4 breaths

JOE SAYS

“These hypoxic sets will be absolutely amazing for cardio, lung capacity and endurance.”

Hypoxic Set #2

Dead man float

The purpose of this set is to work your lung capacity. For 10 minutes hold your breath and float on the surface of the water. You can hold the wall to stay afloat. Just don’t hesitate to come up and breathe if you need to.

JOE SAYS

“The first time you try this, see how many times you have to come up for a breath in 10 minutes. When trying this set again, find your ‘happy place’ and challenge yourself to beat your previous record. When coming up for a breath, you’re only allowed 10 deep breaths before returning to the dead man float.

Sprints

Freestyle sprints

This set can also be done as a kick set using a kick board to strengthen your leg muscles and hip flexors.

3 sets of 4 x 25m with 30 secs rest