The 7 Conditioning Secrets
...of Successful Combat Athletes
by Jason Ferruggia
Fighter or Runner?
It never ceases to amaze me that there are still combat athletes
out there using outdated conditioning methods that have long been
proven ineffective and useless. The methods I speak of include
hours and hours of long distance running and other unproductive
forms of aerobic activity.
Folks, please understand this: neither wrestling nor any form of
mixed martial arts are aerobic sports. Therefore, aerobic training
of any kind is a complete waste of your time.
Yet every single high school or college wrestler I've ever come
across is still running each and every day like they're training
for a marathon instead of a six or seven minute bout of high
intensity grappling. How is thirty to sixty minutes of low
intensity jogging going to prepare you for six to seven minutes of
absolute hellacious combat?
It isn't. It makes about as much sense as trying to become
a world champion skateboarder by practicing your golf swing for
eight hours a day.
Well then, if that's not the approach to take, then what
is? To answer that question let's briefly take a look at what
occurs in a wrestling match. At the high school level, there are
three periods consisting of two minutes each. At the collegiate
level, there are three periods as well, the first consisting of
three minutes and the final two consisting of two minutes each. At
the Olympic level, there's one five-minute period and a three
minute overtime period, if needed.
During these two to five minute bouts you'll find yourself
squatting, pressing, pulling, lunging, twisting, and bridging.
You'll make explosive movements, slow grinding strength-based
movements, and you'll hold isometric contractions a lot longer than
you can comfortably stand.
For your off-the-mat training to have any carryover whatsoever,
you need to be sure you're doing all of these things in your
conditioning program. The exact same holds true for any kind of
martial art or no-holds-barred fighting. While some of the time
periods and rounds may be different from one organization or sport
to the next, the same general principle applies.
So, let's get right into my best conditioning methods for
these athletes.
The Top 7 Conditioning Methods for Combat
Athletes
1. Strongman Training
Strongman training incorporates the use of odd objects such as
stones, logs, tractor tires, sandbags, kegs, sledgehammers, anvils
and just about anything else you can think of. The basics of
strongman training are to lift and carry or drag heavy shit;
that's the gist of it.
Strongman training can be used as a conditioning day all on its
own or at the end of a regular resistance training workout. There
are endless amounts of exercises and events to choose from when
putting together a strongman workout.
Those who are new to strongman training will have extreme
difficulty with many of the exercises and will be winded quite
quickly. Eventually, after getting used to this type of training,
the goal will be to lower your rest periods and do more work in a
given time period.
If you opt to have an entire training day dedicated to strongman
training, I recommend that you pick five or six exercises that
offer as much variety as possible. Below is an example of a good
sequence of exercises for a strongman workout:
A) Car push
B) Tire flip
C) Keg clean & press
D) Sledgehammer swing
E) Farmers walk
F) Hand-over-hand row with thick diameter rope
You can do the exercises for straight sets or in a circuit fashion.
When your conditioning improves and you continue to try to get more
"sport specific" with your training, you should aim for
two to three straight minutes of work (or whatever length of time
the rounds or periods last in your chosen combat sport) followed by
a brief rest period.
For example, you could do one exercise for that long or you
could do each exercise for 20-30 seconds and then move immediately
to the next. While most matches don't last nearly this long,
the strongman workouts should take anywhere from 30-90 minutes.
If you choose to use strongman training as a finisher to your
normal weight training workouts, you'd be best served to pick one
or two exercises and perform them for ten to fifteen minutes
straight with a brief rest period every 30-120 seconds.
2. Bodyweight Circuits
Using your own bodyweight in a way that will resemble what you
do in a wrestling match or no-holds-barred fight is an outstanding
way of improving your conditioning. I usually like to go outside in
the fresh air to a park and perform these.
Grouping together four to six bodyweight exercises such as
wheelbarrow walks, push-ups, single (or double) leg squats, squat
thrusts, crab walks, inchworms, and mountain climbers and doing
them in a circuit will get you in great shape in no time. Again,
try to eventually work your way down to using work to rest ratios
similar to that which you'll face in competition.
The squat thrust, shown here with dumbbells, but very effective
with just bodyweight!
3. Sled Combos
A dragging sled is one of the most valuable tools any hard
training combat athlete could have in his arsenal. The
possibilities are limitless with the sled.
To choose an effective sled combo, try to pick movements that
will work the body from as many different angles and in as many
different ways as possible. Here's an example of a highly effective
sled combo:
A) Forward sled drag: 30 seconds
B) Face pull: 30 seconds
C) Backward sled drag: 30 seconds
D) Chest press: 30 seconds
Repeat for two to three minutes straight followed by a brief rest
period similar to what you'll face in competition.
Accueil 
