Here is an article i wrote about the needs analysis of Strength and Conditioning for MMA.
Mixed martial arts, poses a huge challenge to any strength and conditioning coach looking to prepare a fighter for competition. The reason this sport poses such a challenge is the wide range of physical qualities that a fighter needs to be prepared for in order to be successful. To compete at the elite level of this sport fighters are need to be strong, powerful, fast, agile, aerobically and anaerobically conditioned, durable and skilful.
As with any other sport it is essential to understand what physical qualities limit performance and which are prevalent in athletes at the top of that sport. Once that is understood it then needs to be synchronised with the individual strengths and weaknesses of the particular athlete that is being trained.
There is precious little research into the actual physiological demands of mma, however the majority of s & c coaches can construct a program for a fighter based off the following information.
CONDITIONING
· There are 3 rounds unless it is a title fight , where there are 5 rounds. (so, 17 minutes total work or 29 minutes for a title).
· Each round will consist of 5 minutes with a 60s rest in between rounds. This is obviously a huge work : rest deficit and in reality no fighter works for the whole 5 minutes of each round. However each round will consist of extremely high intensity alactic dominant efforts followed by random rest periods. (most actual efforts will not last for more than 10s in duration without some of lower intensity period) This information links into the next point and is essential when designing the conditioning component of a fighters program.
· Each round will likely consist of striking and its associated movements, wrestling / clinch work and ground work. (in the UFC over the last 4 years in the welterweight division the striking to clinch to ground work ratio is, on average 34:5:61 (%), this is critical information for trainers and coaches when preparing a fighter for this level of competition.) Specificity is a fundamental principle of strength and conditioning and unless a fighter is being trained with the sports specific requirements in mind, then they are unlikely to get the carry over gains they are hoping for. Combining the information on duration and activities that will occur should give a good insight into what will be necessary to include when conditioning an mma fighter.
· Key areas of fatigue that have a direct correlation of performance inhibition can be classed into two categories , Peripheral Fatigue, such as deltoid fatigue (preveting a fighter from keeping their hands raised to guard their face from striking) and Central Fitigue, such as a fighters inability to re generate ATP and therefor limiting performance output. Both ideas need to be addressed and trained to enable a fighter to maintain their output throughout the whole fight.
PRACTICAL EXAMPLE:
Conditioning session: Fight Specific Circuit
Heavy Bag or Pads 30s (consisting of multiple 2-3s efforts with 2-3s intraset rests)
Clinch with a Partner 30s
Heavy Rope Battle 30s
Defensive wrestling with partner 60s
Sled Acceleration 30s (as fast and as far as possible)
Offensive Wrestling with partner 60s
Heavy Bag 30s (consisting of multiple 2-3s efforts with 2-3s intraset rests)
Rest 60s
Repeat x3
Dan Hardy and Andre Winner on Pads as part of conditioning. Dean Amasinger and World Jiu Jitsu bronze medallist Victor Estima in waiting for the wrestling and ground work components. And me and my stopwatch !
STRENGTH AND POWER
As the sport is governed by weight classes, the average weight for a fighter at competition is around 5-10kg heavier than they weighed in at. This is also useful to know as it has implications for the direction and levels of explosive strength and power that needs to be trained. As we know from published research, max power is likely to occur at around 50% of maximal capacity. There for in any training program for mma, it is critical that a fighter is trained to produce their maximum power outputs at the levels of resistance they are likely to face at competition. So for example, for a welterweight fighter , they need to develop max strength qualities of around 180kg, to enable them to elicit max power at 50% of their capacity which would be 90kg. This will mean they are more than capable of producing high levels of power at the weights of their opponent. In practical term this means selecting an exercise that you believe you can train a fighter to reach those levels of max strength through the planes of motion you believe are involved in competition.
PRACTICAL EXAMPLE:
Lower Limb max strength:Back Squat, Front Squat, Heavy Prolwer Pushes, Deadlift,
Max Strength and Max power are only part of the story, these physical qualities lend themselves more to the wrestling and groundwork components of the sport . Further down the force/velocity spectrum are qualities that can affect striking performance. As its position on the spectrum would dictate, ballistic strength is a more velocity dominant than force dominant action which is also true of the requirements of striking. For punching power and success it is not necessarily the amount of force a fighter can produce but rather how quickly they can produce it. There is plenty of research to suggest that ballistic strength is developed using 0-20% of max force capacity and therefore this must be reflected in the exercise selection and loading parameters used within training.
PRACTIACL EXAMPLE:
Ballistic exercises
Hurdle Jumps, Box Jumps, Bounding, Light Prowler Accelerations, Light Sled Accelerations.
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