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 doing what he’s told by his coaches.
There are many errors I see fighters make when prepping for their upcoming fight.
Hopefully my insights will help you be better prepared for your next fight.
1. Training at Only One Speed
Sparring or interval training at 60-70% of your PRE (perceived rate of exertion) is a huge mistake. This is like telling a marathon runner that he needs to add more jogging into his regimen.
Sparring heroes are great but it’s a different story on fight night. While sparring and interval training at 60-70% of your RPE are great for developing an aerobic base, this type of training won’t prepare a fighter for an all out battle in the cage. There are times when when a fighter needs to go all out, I mean 100% all out, for 30 to 60 seconds. It’s not fun, but it’s necessary. Training this way helps fighters prepare to either finish their opponent or survive a round.
2. Being Impatient
Strength requires patience. Training at a high intensity with short recovery all the time is a recipe for disaster. If you want to get strong, I mean really strong, you have to wait. Let’s say you are deadlifting and your session calls for 3 sets of 3 @ 90% of your max. For strength, you should take 3-5 minutes of rest between each set. During this rest, your creatine phosphate levels will be replenished which will allow you to lift heavy successfully.
If you’ve ever pulled a 2.5 bodyweight deadlift, you know exactly what I mean. Be patient when it comes to strength.
3. Training for Aesthetics First
Listen, everyone wants to look good. There is nothing wrong with that, but it shouldn’t be a priority. Looking good should be the by-product of a quality training program.
Train for strength, condition all of the energy systems, eat properly and your physique will come. Stay away from the pec-dec and 10 other chest-fly variations just because you want to look buff.
I once heard Pavel Tsatsouline use the phrase “Look like Tarzan, play like Jane.” Don’t be the fighter that steps into the ring jacked out of his mind, but hit’s like a 12-year-old girl and has the conditioning of a chain smoker.
If you only want to look good, go enter a fitness competition or become a bodybuilder.
4. Crossfit
Ok, I am not here to bash Crossfit at all. There are some very good coaches out there, but here are a couple issues I have with Crossfit:
Certification Process
For $4,000 and one weekend of training, you can open your own gym. This happens all the time! Would you want your BJJ, Muay Thai, or wrestling coach training you to defend yourself after a weekend course? Probably not!
It’s just too easy to open a box these days. Anyone can do it, and that’s scary.
Risk/Reward
You should NOT get hurt during your strength and conditioning workouts! The goal is to make you stronger, more durable and a better overall conditioned fighter. If you blow out your shoulder doing 100 kipping pull-ups, will that help you in the cage? Listen, fighters get literally beat up when they get in the cage, why beat them up even more in their workout?
Just be smart when choosing a strength coach. Ask a ton of questions and if your new strength coach cannot give you a good answer, just leave.
I forgot one more thing, the best crossfitters in the world don’t actually train using the crossfit workouts posted on the site.
5. Not Conditioning All Year Round
Cramming rarely works. Fighters should never be out of shape. In my opinion, you should be able to peak for a fight in 4-6 weeks. This means that your strength, overall energy system development, MMA technique and training habits should be above average at all times.
Don’t take a month off at a time and expect to get everything back the first week. Becoming a strong, well-conditioned fighter takes months, even years, for some. Again, it seems obvious, but all of these things really do add up. It’s about being consistent! Even if you have an injury, there are still ways to train and stay fit. Get creative and don’t make excuses. Keep on the straight and narrow and reap the benefits.
Here is my favorite quote when it comes to strength training. It’s from Mark Reifkind’s blog, and it has changed the way I teach and train!
And in those simple beautiful movements I remembered what was really important in training; that consistency trumps intensity; all the time. That intensity is born from consistency. That one cannot force it, one has to lay in wait for it, patiently, instinctively, calmly and be ready to grab it when Grace lays it down in front of you.