Mixed Martial Arts Workouts

If you plan on stepping into the ring, you’ll have to be more than just strong if you want to win. Fighters don’t necessarily come out on top because they’re the smartest, the quickest or the strongest; it takes a precision blend of all of those characteristics to be a champion. So the best place to start is by working on your physique which is achieved by strength training, endurance building and mental conditioning. One huge aspect of fighting that is overlooked by a lot of newcomers is the mental element. Not only do you have to know how your opponent operates, but you must anticipate how he will expect how you will react. It’s easy to summarize how you should think while in the ring, but the reality is that this is a skill that can only be developed and sharpened over time and with much practice.

Believe it or not, one of the easiest parts of a mixed martial arts workout is the working out portion of the equation. At first you will feel your muscles aching, your ego crushed and your confidence in your skills diminished, but as you achieve milestones you will quickly progress. If you have even the slightest inkling of stepping into the ring you’ll need to have the stamina to last. Start off by building your endurance with an hour of cardio five days a week at a minimum. This can be done through jogging, aerobics and just about any other strenuous activity that will get your heart pumping. Don’t misjudge just how much this will do for your body and muscle tone. Cardiovascular exercises will build strength, and at the same time they will help you to be able to fighter longer and harder.

Frank Mir’s fighting career has been afflicted with troubles and drama on his way to the top. From a major motorcycle accident, criticism from fans and journalists and a littering of recent defeats, Mir had to totally rethink his fighting strategies. After taking a step away from the spotlight, Frank came back with a totally different body and a repackaged attitude. His mixed martial arts workout no longer focused on keeping his physique slim and streamlined, instead he got to packing on pounds of pure muscle by using the principles of the strongman technique.

Plenty of good heavyweight fighters are familiar with the strongman method, but it is seldom executed in the manner that Frank did. He started by getting away from bodybuilding principles, basically slowly building up lean muscle by way of grueling weight pumping sessions. Strongmen want to get much, much stronger in a shorter period of time. They may hang out in the gym, but they don’t put a lot of stock in fancy machinery or timed sessions. Instead, they just utilize whatever they can get their hands on, whether it’s lifting cinder blocks or chucking wheel barrels. Frank was literally able to melt away most of his excess body fat, giving him a considerably stronger and bigger body as a result.

Brock is big, really, really big. For fighters of his size and stature, keeping their massive bulk from turning into excess mass is as much of a challenge as it is a struggle. Lesnar uses an approach when working out that is similar and familiar to most of his fellow fighters.
His mixed martial arts workout is really a simple back and forth routine that goes from him hitting the mat to hitting the mitts. For the most part, Brock uses a cycle thatfocuses a particular type of exercise for a few weeks, then switches to another type for a couple of weeks as well. Not only does this help to keep Brock fresh, but it also helps him stave off boredom and lack of progression.

Lesnar will begin a cycle consistently mainly of strength conditioning exercises like running and using exercise machine. After getting in a healthy cardio workout, he’ll take a break before shifting over to a conditioning routine. This routine is repeated over the course of a few weeks until the power cycle is completed. The next cycle, focusing on strength conditioning, will begin with a lighter mix of cardiovascular exercises and slowly build in intensity. Lesnar has used this same routine to successfully keep his massive body strong and free of excess weight for years.

To say the Least, Randy Couture has been working out, looking good and slamming his opponents for many years. Based on Randy’s size alone, it’s safe to say that anyone foolish enough to challenge him hasn’t left the ring happy. Just to get to his size, you will have to eat all the right things and consistently execute a carefully planned mixed martial arts workout plan. What Randy does to build and maintain his size and muscle isn’t complicated, but it is a careful blend of power lifting and strength training.

Randy is a wrestling first and foremost, but while his style is based heavily in take downs and grappling, many of his exercises focus on maintaining muscle tone and building endurance. Focusing on using barbells to execute simple exercises, Couture gets his blood pumping with multiple reps done in a rapid fire succession. Each individual muscle group is targeted, like the biceps, triceps and shoulders, then extended and pumped with a set of barbells. Repeat this process with each muscle group, being careful not to overwork or injure yourself. Power lifting blended with strength training is an excellent means of getting in twice the work in half the time.

St Pierre is pretty tight lipped about exactly how he trains. What is apparent is that he was able to get a very strong but fast technique down packed by lifting weights and getting his stamina up. Most fighters swear by the merits of a cardiovascular based mixed martial arts workout combined with supplementary strength training, but Georges works in the exact opposite way. He keeps his exercise schedule jammed packed with explosive moves and high energy activities. If St Pierre isn’t lifting the afternoon away, he’s going to be climbing a rope or practicing his take down technique.

The really incredible thing about how Georges trains is that he doesn’t do it for long. Many other athletes will devote their entire days to training for hour after hour, day in and day out. Like many things in life, St Pierre and his trainer want to milk the absolute most they can out of every workout. To do that, they know that a fighter will only be able to give it their all for so long. Not only does that make complete sense when it comes to building stamina, but it also explains why so little time is dedicated to what can become lengthy cardiovascular exercises.