Sandbag Conditioning for Combat Sports
September 14, 2009
The simple sandbag is one of my favorite conditioning tools for combat sports conditioning.
Simple. Effective and easy to understand. Fill up a canvas seabag or duffle bag with sand and lift, carry, throw and slam that thing in just about any direction.
Here’s a short clip of one of my favorite sandbag exercises for combat sports:
Be Physical
September 2, 2009
Be Physical! A few weeks back I listed some tips that BJJ specialist Mario Roberto suggests for all combat athletes and submission fighters. You can see it here: Mario Roberto
Mario’s 1st tip is “Be Physical!”
Hearing his 1st tip was music to my ears…being a strength and conditioning coach for MMA fighters, BJJ and Judo players I’m always concerned with the physical conditioning of my athletes. I leave the technical development up to their BJJ and mma coaches.
As you’ll see in the video below, being in top condition for your BJJ or MMA matches is under your direct control and is one of the easiest elements to improve.
Under a well designed strength and conditioning program for combat sports you’ll be able to see improvement and progress in your conditioning within a few weeks, where as technical development may be a much slower process.
Also, at the highest levels of combat sports competition,technical skill is mostly equal and the element that determines the winner is usually the conditioning levels of that combat athlete.
5 Minute Post BJJ Workout
September 1, 2009
We use this workout as a finisher after BJJ (Brazilian Jiu- Jitsu) class. Tim Hart, owner of Gracie Jiu-Jitsu 360 and BJJ Brownbelt is getting ready for an upcoming no gi competition.
Every minute for 5 minutes we start a new round of:
- 10 Gable lock Pull-ups 5R/5L
- 10 Hindu Push-ups
- 15 sit-throughs
The faster you work the more you rest. Most BJJ athletes usually end up with 45 seconds of work/ 15 seconds of rest.
We consider this a Specific Physical Prepartion workout for BJJ and perform it closer to competitions.
Kettlebell Training for Grappling Martial Arts
August 18, 2009
In the kettlebell training video below Ivan Ivanov performs a kettlebell exercise that he refers to as “Kettlebell Pummeling. I teach a similar exercise in my Free Kettlebell Training For BJJ Course.
But my variation is nowhere as fluid and cyclic as the “Kettlebell Pummeling” exercise highlighted and is a more taxing variation. I have seen this variation on a U.S Olympic Wrestling training video as well.
I’ll be adding this variation to our program and monitoring how well our grapplers respond as well as how much they like the drill.
My guess is that they’ll love it:
P.S. Click here like to receive my Free 7-Video Course on “Kettlebell Training for BJJ.”
P.P.S. Click here to check out my DVD “Kettlebell Training for Combat Athletes” package and learn hundreds of kettlebell training exercises specifically designed for comnat athletes.
Authentic Russian Kettlebell & Sambo Training
August 7, 2009
My friend and mentor Martin Rooney of Training For Warriors just got home from a recent around-the-world trip where he studied and trained with some of the best combat athletes and coaches in each country.
Martin told me the story of these Sambo athletes throwing around 32kg kettlebells like they were baseballs so I simply had to post this video.
I must admit…I’m little jealous of Martin but I’m psyched to see all the information that he came home with and will share in an upcoming book.
Deadlifts for Combat Sports Conditioning
July 21, 2009
Barbells are a very common tool within Combat Sports Conditioning circles.
However, there are many ways to use barbells when conditioning for combat sports that are often times are out-of-the-box variations that have direct carry-over into combat sports athletic development.
This combat conditioning exercise is known as the Angled Deadlift and Press and came to me via my good friend Nick Tumminello of PerformanceU.net.
Specific Physical Preparation for BJJ & Judo
July 8, 2009
One huge problem within BJJ circle is the lack fo drilling. Take any other combat sport and examine a typical training session.
90% of the training time will be spent drilling the basics. Rehearsing and refining combat sport skills until they become absolutely second nature and take all thought out of your actions and reactions.
We’re going to take a small step back in time to revisit one of the 1st post on this blog to check out an article on Specific Physical Preparation for Combat Sports, specifically BJJ & Judo.
The video that follow also rocks! Check it out here: Specific Physical Preparation for BJJ & Judo
If You’re a Submission Fighter…then
July 8, 2009
I’ve recently been introduced to Mario Roberto, a BJJ Specialist. Mario has some great DVD sets available on BJJ and other areas of submission fighting.
Below are his 10 Tips for Submission Fighting:
1. Be physical. Always aim to be more flexible, faster and stronger than your opponents. Technique without power and conditioning is like an arrow without a bow. Train to squash and manhandle your opponents!
2. Be mentally strong. Train your mind like you would train your body; you must beat yourself before beating your opponent. Develop a strong, relentless goal-oriented positive attitude that’s committed to success. Don’t be a whiner or a quitter — real men find SOLUTIONS, not excuses!
3. Be serious about your practice. Get a training journal, keep notes, set goals and follow through with your plans. Train as hard as you can and stay focused during class. Slackers are losers!
4. Fight aggressively and force your opponent to react to your actions instead of reacting to his. Attack, attack, ATTACK! When in doubt, charge!
5. Positional dominance is the name of the game — ALWAYS fight from the top position whenever possible. Take the top and punish your opponent!
6. When fighting from the bottom, be relentless in your pursuit of submissions and reversals. Never be passive. Don’t defend the guard, attack from the bottom!
7. No grip, no fulcrum. No fulcrum, no leverage. No leverage, no Jiu-Jitsu. Develop a strong, vise-like grip and use it — lay HEAVY HANDS on your opponent!
8. The gi is an unreliable friend and will not always be there. Wear the gi in sparring, but ALWAYS favor no-gi grips. The gi->no-gi transition should feel natural and automatic!
9. Cross train. EVERYBODY benefits from learning Boxing, Muay Thai, Judo, Freestyle and Greco-Roman Wrestling. Expand your arsenal!
10. A fighter is a combat sports athlete and should act, live and behave like one. Good nutrition, no smoking, no drinking, no drugs and exemplary behavior inside and outside of the gym is a must.
P.S. I actually printed these out and carry them with me inside of my training journal. I suggest you do the same.
P.P.S. Mario suggest that you add one other tip to that list…”Keep it simple, basics will always win fights.”
P.P.P.S.These tips can easily be adjusted to fit your own individual combat sport or martial art.
Kettlebell Exercise: A Different Type of Get-up
June 22, 2009
The Kettlebell Turkish Get-up has become a staple in many combat sports and martial arts conditioning programs…and I don’t think that it’s going anywhere any time soon.
Combat athletes love their Turkish Get-ups..and I completely understand why!
This Get-up variation showed up while I was working with a small group of wrestlers. Even though I taught and showed the traditional Turkish Get-up numerous times there was one wrestler who revert back to the variation I demo in the video below.
I’m not convinced it’s any better or any worse than other Get-up variations…I just found it interested so I thought I would pass it on.
Enjoy.
Kettlebell Exercises..Breathing Ladders
June 17, 2009
I picked up this kettlebell training technique from friend Rob Lawrence, it’s called a Breathing Ladder. Basically you match the numbers of breaths you take with the number of reps you’ve performed.
I believe Rob actually placed the kettlebell down while taking his breaths but I’ve found this variation on Rob’s principle great for combat sport athletes and martial artists that need to keep a clear head while in a fatigued state.
Play around with different kettlebel exercises such as the Clean and Jerk/Press or Jerk alone. Let me know how it goes in the comments section below.
