7 Steps to a Balanced Fighter
Building an Ass-Kicking Machine
by Chad Waterbury
No matter what kind of fighter you are, you must respect the balance
between strength, endurance, and mobility. If you focus too much on one,
others are sure to fall behind.
I've trained many different types of athletes over the years, but fighters
have always been my favorite. That's because a fighter needs to be the
total package. Don't get me wrong, athletes in most sports must possess
high levels of multiple fitness qualities, but few need those qualities
built to the extent of a mixed martial arts fighter.
Even some fighters need more fitness than others.
I'm going to outline the steps that a fighter should take to help balance
out his fitness levels. But this information isn't just for fighters.
Anyone can benefit from the following principles.
1) Identify Possible Movement Dysfunctions
First you must identify any basic movement disorders. If you skip this
step, you'll get injured in no time. There's no sense in adding horsepower
to a racecar that has bent rims, rickety ball joints, and an unstable
chassis.
This car doesn't just need a better engine, and you don't just need
to go lift a barbell.
One of the best products to identify movement dysfunctions is Gray Cook's
Functional
Movement Screen DVD. It's simple, user-friendly, and highly effective
for identifying movement dysfunctions that often lead to injuries.
This is a valuable tool for anyone, not just fighters.
2) Are You In Pain?
Don't Work Through It!
Fighters are obviously known for being tough S.O.B's. This can
beneficial at times and detrimental at others —
especially during strength training sessions. If you suffer from pain
in any joint, you should never try to work through it. If you do, I can
almost guarantee the problem will get worse.
When I started working with Rickson Gracie's fighters, many said they
were surprised at the caution I use when training athletes. I politely
reminded them that 90% of the guys were already suffering from joint
pain and dysfunction. They expected the "lift fast guy"
to force them to scream in pain and bloody agony as I zapped them with
a cattle prod. "
Faster you bastards!" is what they expected to
hear.
However, I was hired by the Gracie facility not just for my strength
training knowledge, but for my ability to identify and correct joint
injuries. After all, jiu-jitsu is designed to put a joint in a position
it's not supposed to be in.
Elbows don't bend this way? That's news to me.
Find a reputable soft-tissue specialist, such as an ART practitioner,
for starters. Just remember that you don't crank up the music until you've
got a good set of speakers, or something's sure to blow.
3) My Real Strength Guidelines
Sometimes I feel like I've been misquoted more than a hooker with a
speech impediment. At the top of the list of hyperbolic bullshit is what
I've read and heard about my own purported strength requirements for
a fighter. It's time to set this nonsense straight. (And since I prefer
clean air, I'll do my best to refrain from burning any bridges.)
First off, it's been said that I require fighters to squat
and deadlift
2.5 x their bodyweight. I didn't. I said squat
ordeadlift. If
you're tall with long femurs, you're not built for squats. You'll probably
break down your joints before achieving a 2.5 x body weight squat. That,
of course, is counter-productive to building a strong, healthy body.
Also counter-productive
to strong, healthy bodies... knee strikes.
Second, a 2.5 x bodyweight squat or deadlift is not a requirement! It's
simply a
benchmark. What I'm saying is this: if you're built for
the deadlift, it's a good idea to include maximal strength training with
the deadlift until you can lift 2.5 x bodyweight.
It doesn't mean you'll absolutely win more fights, it just means your
posterior chain will have all the strength it'll ever need, in any athletic
situation.
When you do the math, you'll see that I'm recommending a 195-pound fighter
to strive for, over time, a 485-pound deadlift. That's not excessive.
And even if he never achieves it, the effort towards the goal is what's
most important.
Third, for those who weigh over 200-pounds, the ratio starts to shift
lower. A 250-pound fighter doesn't need a 625-pound squat or deadlift.
For him, I'll shoot for something closer to a double bodyweight performance
for whichever lift matches his skeletal structure.
This exercise is not an option, regardless of their structure.
A fighter is extremely limited by the time he can devote to maximal
strength training. Few professional fighters can spend more than two
sessions per week with maximal loads.
By setting a benchmark for maximal strength with the squat or deadlift,
what I'm really doing is assessing whether or not I need to devote time
to the lifts. In a perfect world, I wouldn't need to train those lifts
because there are so many other fitness qualities they need to enhance.
If a fighter is anywhere close to a 2.0-2.5 x deadlift, I might only
train the movement with maximal loads once every 4-6 weeks.
Maximal strength is hugely important for a fighter,
especially one
with poor fighting technique. Fedor doesn't need a 2.5 x bodyweight deadlift,
because he's Fedor. Royce Gracie, when he first started competing, didn't
need one either because his technique was
far superior to his
opponents.
Fedor's post-fight snack. That's not ice cream, it's the frozen ambitions
of his opponent.
These days, however, fighters need to exhibit high levels of numerous
fitness qualities because the competition is greater than ever. I feel
that maximal strength training has been the red-headed stepchild of the
strength, endurance, and mobility triad.
In the spring of 2007, I was hired by a fighter to train him for a title
bout. Since he was a Muay Thai fighter, he never performed any weightlifting
before training with me. Therefore, we were able to double or triple
his strength with many lifts within three months.
The day before the fight, he developed a nasty chest cold. When I went
backstage to prepare him on fight day, he was a mess. He was wheezing,
coughing, and could barely catch his breath during our warm-up.
His mucous-laden lungs simply couldn't transfer oxygen to his body.
By the second round of the fight, the uber-anaerobic endurance we had
built was gone. He was exhausted. But his newfound strength allowed him
to overpower his opponent because his maximal strength was so much greater
than the other guy's. He won the belt.
Many coaches have pointed to maximal strength as being a key factor
in determining athletic performance. It's true, but many of these same
coaches blatantly disregard my desire to build high levels of maximal
strength with fighters. Fighters are power athletes, so they should strive
for a lot of strength. That shouldn't be difficult to comprehend.
Don't tell me that maximal strength is important in one breath and then
disregard my passion for building high levels of it in the next breath.
You can't have it both ways.
4) Save Your Shoulders
Many times, a fighter's shoulders exhibit a length-tension relationship
that's completely out of whack. Their pecs and lats are too short and
tight, their external rotators and serratus muscles are weak, their rhomboids
are weak, their lower trap strength is pathetic, and their anterior shoulder
mobility is sub-par. These dysfunctions lead to chronic shoulder pain
while also obstructing future strength and mobility enhancement.
I've lost count how many fighters came to me with wrecked shoulders
after including one-arm kettlebell snatches in their training program.
The "catch" portion of the exercise is the real problem for many athletes — it's
simply too stressful on the connective tissue of the shoulder joints.
But the problem wasn't the movement as much as it was the dysfunction
that preceded it. Anytime you're training an athlete, or choosing an
exercise, you must respect the risk-to-benefit relationship.
Accueil 
