In this episode, Mike discusses his basic template on evaluating and programming fighters. He goes over everything from the FMS screen, table assessments, performance assessments and program design. Connect with Mike: Mike Perry on Instagram Mike Perry on Facebook Skill of Strength: Skill of Strength Online Training Contact Skill of Strength Skill of Strength Instagram … Read More
Saturday night, January 20, was pretty special for me. Three of the MMA athletes who train at Skill of Strength fought on the UFC 220 card at the TD Garden in Boston. Yup, that’s our home town! I have prepared athletes for some pretty big fights in the past, but three of them fighting in … Read More
When I was younger trainer, I used to snicker when people said that the big toe played a large role in movement. When other coaches wrote about the big toe, I honestly thought they were just trying to write a complicated blog or sound smart to impress others. There’s no way you have to worry about the … Read More
It’s been awhile since I’ve written. Life has gotten (even more) crazy, but it’s no excuse. I’ve been spending a ton of time writing training programs, looking back at old training programs and researching new ways to improve the performance of my athletes. Today I’m going to share with you what I believe are the biggest … Read More
Lets imagine this scenario for a minute. Two fighters are in the cage ready for battle. They have equal skill, reach and training background. Fighter #1 doesn’t strength train much, isn’t very strong and doesn’t do any extra conditioning besides sparring. Fighter #2 can deadlift more than 2x bodyweight, he can perform strict pull-ups with 50+ … Read More
Qualify. Pattern. Grind. Practice/train. When it comes to exercise selection, you would think that common sense would go a long way. Unfortunately, that’s not always the case. Let me start with this. If an athlete is constantly getting injured due to workouts with his/her strength coach, the athlete should fire the coach immediately. Strength coaches should help you … Read More
Every time you watch a fight on television, you will hear similar phrases from the commentators. He was a D-1 wrestler but needs some work on his stand up. He gassed out early in his last fight, lets see how he looks tonight. To the average person this may sound normal MMA small talk, but … Read More
Evaluation/Assessment I am not a fighter. I am not your MMA coach. I don’t pretend to know every nuance of the sport. The MMA world needs clarity when it comes to strength and conditioning and hopefully I can help. It amazes me that fighters can have a wrestling, boxing, BJJ, and Muay Thai coach, yet … Read More
MMA might be the most physically demanding sport in the world. The best athletes are explosive, strong, agile, resilient, consistent and incredibly dedicated. Even if a fighter has all of these qualities, it’s still easy for him to obtain poor information when prepping for a fight. It might not be the fighter’s fault; often times, he’s just … Read More