February 17th, 2017 | by Yas Parr, BSc
When certain people see something written about S&C improving a fighter by making them stronger and faster, they will argue their case about technique, leverage, etc. Nobody thinks that making someone more powerful will turn them into a high-level fighter if they are not already proficient. The fact is, regardless of someone’s current technique level, improving power will make that individual better than they previously were.
If someone were to examine the strength and conditioning of an MMA fighter, there is a chance that they would be impressed, obviously not with all fighters, but there are some fighters out there who are on top of their performance training. Excellent strength coaches are working in the sport, and since the sport is relatively new, both coaches and fighters are eager to adopt and learn any training concepts that can elevate them to the next level.
The observer watching the training of a fighter that does have a real Strength & Conditioning Coach would see periodized programs working on body composition and correction of imbalances, improving strength, energy system work, and training to increase Rate Of Force Development (RFD).
If the same person were then to examine how 99.99% of combat athletes from other sports or disciplines train, they would see a totally different picture, mainly because they are so old-school and something is done because it has always been.
It does seem that times are changing though as far as western boxing goes dependent on geography, British and Eastern European boxers are stepping up their game and are training to become much more powerful, they now seem to have got the message that training to improve power takes them to another level while their American counterparts are still swimming and doing 10 mile runs while in camp.
There may be a shortage of top Australian boxers, but those that are doing the business also seem to be employing high-quality strength and conditioning coaches who know better than to have their fighters doing out-of-date training that has no benefit to performance enhancement.
Because boxing, Muay Thai, etc. are so ‘old school’ in terms of the philosophies in the sport regarding training, it’s difficult to bring the programs up to a level where they are comparable to other elite-level athletes. It’s quite shocking when you consider what’s at stake in terms of potential serious injury or even death, and also the vast sums of money that are involved in these sports, boxing especially.
For those combat athletes who are ‘skinny fat’, typically due to poor or a lack of strength training combined with excessive aerobic work, being in better condition would mean that the fighter could either come in lighter by retaining the same level of muscle, but be leaner. Alternatively, they could fight at the same weight by replacing excess fat (useless weight) with high-quality, functional muscle.
Trained correctly, a fighter in good shape with a low body fat percentage can easily become lighter while also becoming stronger by focusing on Relative Strength and increasing explosiveness once a good foundation of strength is established through training for an increase in rate of force development (RFD). Generally, these fighters have experience with resistance training, but it tends to be of the type typically found in a gym, performed by non-athletes.
There are still old school boxing trainers around that have their fighters doing absolutely no strength training, they believe that the best conditioning for a boxer is standard boxing training in the gym combined with long steady paced runs early in the morning. These trainers imagine that if a fighter is lifting weights, even if done correctly, he is bodybuilding. There is a significant difference between bodybuilding and strength training in terms of enhancing athletic performance. What if a fighter can fight at the same weight but be faster and much, much stronger? Everyone in the fight game talks about power; the definition of power is force x velocity.
Strength training will improve power in both the untrained and moderately trained athletes, so simply increasing strength will also increase power.
Some fighters understand the need for strength and conditioning, but the majority of them are way behind where they should be. Doing battling ropes or a little weight training programme in a commercial gym or the local park isn’t the level that any combat athlete, let alone a potential world-class fighter, should be at. It is pleasing to see an effort being made by those who want to progress using methods such as Modified Strongman Training (MST). However, there is still a lack of understanding in how it should be programmed and also what the correct technique is.
Another problem with the training of the majority of fighters is their road work, which typically involves a long, sub-maximal run. During a bout or match, a fighter does not perform at a continuous sub-maximal intensity nonstop for 30 minutes or more; it’s the complete opposite. Some fighters even run 10-15 miles a day, believing that if they are conditioned to last longer, they can’t go wrong. The goal should be to be a superhuman for the duration of the fight, not a low-level long-distance runner; A fighter should not practice being proficient at 90-minute sub-maximal runs to be powerful for a much shorter time frame.
However, it would also be a HUGE mistake to think that no specific aerobic conditioning should be done and that HIIT will take care of everything. It is very true that the aerobic system becomes better conditioned from performing intervals, but there’s a big but: it is aerobic power that improves, not aerobic capacity. When the tempo is slowed down, the fighter who has not specifically trained their aerobic system will feel as though they are dying. However good you think you are, there is always someone who can change the pace of the fight and slow it down or speed it up, taking it out of your hands.
Boxing is largely an anaerobic sport, it’s high intensity bursts of fast combinations, the slower component between these intense bursts is the aerobic part of the fight. Combat sports such as Muay Thai, MMA, and BJJ require great strength and the ability to be explosive to compete at a high level. However, the longer the contact between combat athletes, the greater the aerobic demand. Grappling involves contact for much longer periods, but even the clinch in Muay Thai means that contact between the fighters is significantly greater than in Western boxing.
Any fighter requires an aerobic base. What most do incorrectly is still perform these long aerobic runs during camp; this is the time to become powerful. A fighter will always have a good aerobic base because there is a very good chance that throughout their career, they have done way too much aerobic work, unless, for some reason, they haven’t run for a long time, but still, this fighter would get the base back in a matter of weeks. Once the base is built, only maintenance is required; once a week, max, is all that is needed. The traditional way of carrying out daily long runs during camp will significantly hinder the development of power. The opposite is also true; when the goal is creating exceptional aerobic fitness, training for power gains will hold back the process.
A S&C coach working with a fighter should be able to identify the key factors that affect strength, power, and performance, as well as the principal adaptations that occur in these systems as a result of a strength and conditioning program. It’s the coach’s job to identify the key fitness components of the sport or art and analyze the optimal methods to elicit positive adaptations in these systems. The competent S&C specialist will integrate fitness components, resulting in adaptations in strength, speed, power, endurance, agility, and flexibility. A grappler’s training would be in many ways different to a stand-up fighters and the coach of an MMA fighter would need to combine what each does to make a more rounded fighter, if done correctly the performance training of an MMA fighter can be more difficult to get exactly right, but that is the big statement IF DONE CORRECTLY.
After performing an individual analysis of the fighter, the coach needs to program, monitor, evaluate, and finally adapt. A program must be written with the end in mind, starting with a needs analysis, so that there is a solid base for evaluation. The needs analysis looks at the sport and at the fighter as an individual, at his/her training age, physical capacities, stress tolerance, and psycho-motor skills.
A fighter should work on strength performance:
Max Strength – the peak force produced in a single maximal voluntary contraction.
Reactive Strength – the ability to rapidly change from an eccentric contraction to a concentric contraction.
Speed Strength – the ability to produce the greatest possible force in the shortest possible time frame.
Starting Strength – the ability to generate maximal force at the beginning of a muscular contraction.
RFD – measure of the rate at which force is developed.
Strength Endurance – the ability to tolerate muscular fatigue.
Relative Strength – maximum force that can be generated per unit of body weight.
Also, for the grappler, Isometric Strength and Explosive Isometric Strength, along with the ability to absorb force, would be of utmost importance.
The training must be specific, replicating the demands of the sport, and there must be a high degree of transfer.
Bioenergetic – Energy patterns/systems used: intensity, duration, work-to-rest ratio.
Kinematics – Description of motion. Direction and range of movement, speed of movement, and muscles involved.
Kinetics – Relationship between forces and movement. Which muscles and the recruitment pattern? Force patterns, e.g., RFD.
Mobility – The ability to move easily and without restriction.
Methods
Maximal Effort Method – superior for inter- and intra-muscular coordination. Max # motor units (MU’s) recruited.
Dynamic Effort Method – trains RFD—trains explosive strength.
When training for performance and not aesthetics, certain principles should be used.
- Use free weights.
- Ground-based exercises.
- Compound movements.
- Multi-planar movements.
When choosing exercises to improve combat performance, they must be those identified in the needs analysis. For example, it’s a safe bet to use the BB bench press, incline BB bench would be an even better choice as the angle would be closer to the angle of the body when throwing a punch, and incline DB bench would be better still because the stabilizers of the shoulder joint would be worked more. Although maybe not an obvious choice, the standing overhead BB press would also be an excellent exercise for the simple fact that it is floor-based and power is generated from the floor. This is also the reason why boxers should never neglect leg training.
Sometimes isolation exercises may be written in a program to correct an identified imbalance, but generally, multi-joint, compound exercises are most productive. A fighter’s program should be built around a few key primary exercises and their variations, which have been identified in the needs analysis.
Explosive exercises, such as Olympic lifts, should always be performed first in the workout. Large muscle groups should be trained before small and multi-joint before single-joint.
Strength is always the mother of all qualities; if a fighter has high strength levels, then everything else becomes easier, as they are always working at a lower percentage of their maximum. Additionally, when a fighter has a solid base level of strength, their RFD can be effectively focused, resulting in significant power.
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About Yas Parr
Yas has been in the health & fitness industry since 1996 and has been a strength & conditioning coach since 2005. He has a BSc in Sports Performance (Hons) and many certifications in Strength & Conditioning, fitness and nutrition. Experience includes training trainers, royalty, executives, and athletes from child to adult Olympic and professional. He earned his degree at an Academy of Sports Excellence in the UK under the tutelage of Professor Ian Jeffries, PhD, which enabled him to gain academic knowledge and experience working with elite athletes daily while learning from world-class coaches. 2006 Yas flew to the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs to obtain USA Weightlifting’s ‘Sport Performance Coach’ certification.
He is lucky enough to have traveled the world teaching for the Poliquin Group and now resides in Long Beach, CA, operating Guv’nors Boxing Club with his wife.