Strongman Training For Combat Sports

(article that i wrote for http://www.fightingfitmagazine.com/)
Strongman training for Combat sports

Any strength and conditioning program must follow a certain set of rules to be effective. The program must prioritise the strength qualities that are dominant in the sport, address the time frames in which the sport allows movements to occur, address the planes of movement and the speed at which movements are executed and on the conditioning side , mimic the specific movements under appropriate work dynamics (work : rest).
For a Strongman training program to be effective as a strength training tool for mma, it must either increase force production, power output or velocity output at the joint angles appropriate to the sport. My suggestion is that if the strongman training consists of the ‘events’ that are used at competition then I think it may well be a bit misplaced. It is also worth bearing in mind that the strongman competition that are seen on TV are only the competitions, the athletes competing in these events have training programs that underpin their competition performance. In a sense it would be like watching rugby and assuming that the players only do rugby as their training. The likelihood is that the strongmen will have based their strength training around the classic strength training methologies but added in their ‘skill’ aspect, which in this case would be the practising of the event they are likely to come up against.
MMA is multi planar sport
It is essential that fighters develop strength through a range of joint angles and planes of movement, the nature of the wrestling and jiu jitsu components mean that fighters need to be able to apply force at multiple angles. As well as this they need to be able to apply force through multiple planes, for example a traditional ‘shot’ in wrestling is a horizontal movement but up against a cage there are times when a fighter is required to lift in a vertical plane to execute a takedown. Does the strongman events allow for maximal recruitment in these aspects ? For example, to develop peak force over a full range in the vertical plane, is a stone lift and better than a barbell back squat ? Or are there so many grip, stability and technique issues that maximal recruitment of the key lower limb musculature is unlikely to occur.
Parts of MMA a velocity dominant
As we know strength and force development is only part of the story, the striking aspect of mma is clearly a velocity dominant action and therefore needs to be trained as such. In order to evoke a increase in the recruitment that will transfer to punching speed and power, fighters need to be able progressively overload an action that can be executed at <200m/s. This is where strongman is not going to be useful as a training tool. Tools such as light med balls or other types of implements that can be released at the terminal end of the movement will be more appropriate. This is particularly useful if they can be attached to a linear coder that enables a velocity reading to be taken.



Strongman as conditioning
To be effective for sports performance, conditioning programs need to include the movements of the sports matched with the work to rest periods likely to occur during competition. Once these are established, the rest periods can be manipulated while the work is maintained, to ensure overload and therefore progression. This essentially means that a fighter can perform ‘work’ specific to his sport but needs less and less rest to be able to maintain his output. Unfortunately if strongman is used for conditioning it fails to address one of the fundamental principles of strength and conditioning which is ‘specificity’. In my opinion, apart from the point below, conditioning using the strongman event will essentially condition an athlete to be good at doing the strongman events, the cross over will be minimal.
The nature of the strongman event also means that the conditioning will be executed at lower speeds of movement than will be required at competition, fighters need to be able to produce fast explosive movements under fatigue, strongman is not dynamic enough to help with that quality.

On the flipside
Having said all of the above, I do believe adapted strongman training is probably the best way to train core stability and core strength. Essentially by using the strongman techniques the core musculature is receiving a very significant exposure to high load strength endurance. This type of exposure will always translate better to sport when compared to traditional ‘core’ work like crunches, bridges etc, as it mimics how the core muscles will be recruited in sporting situation. To be functional for sport the core needs to be able to stabilise under high levels of force repeatidly and often under metabolic fatigue. Strongman carrying event like the farmers walk are ideal tools to achieve this, especially if they are completed unilaterally and with set / rep schemes that evoke the correct metabolic response. These methods expose the core to very high recruitment levels and force them to stabilise under high levels of fatigue.


Checkout the documentary below...... eye opening !

Gas masks !!!!!!!!!!!

Here is an article that i wrote for Fighting Fit magazine..... (http://www.fightingfitmagazine.com/)

It seems the ‘fitness’ industry aren’t satisfied with polluting the profession of strength and conditioning  with kettlebells, bosu’s and all the other kinds of circus equipment , gas masks are now the latest commercial scam that seems to be everywhere at the minute.

Lets break down the supposed reasons for using such a piece of apparatus for the training of athletes.

The main phrase banded around on this subject without due thought is ‘hypoxia’.  Levine, B High Alt Med Biol 2002 describes hypoxic training as ‘ the discontinuous use of hypobaric hypoxia, in an attempt to reproduce some of the key features of altitude acclimatisation, with the ultimate goal of improving sea level athletic performance.’ However too fully look into this type of training it is necessary to understand that there are two implications for hypoxia training, hypoxia at rest and hypoxia during training.

Gas mask training is clearly aimed at the later form of hypoxia training. This however, maybe where the confusion with regard to the benefit on performance has arisen. There is plenty of research (Mazzeo 1991, Wolfel 1993 ) to demonstrate that subjectively, similar training stimuli are perceived to be harder and   heart rates, ventilation rates and lactate levels are found to be higher, when performed under hypoxic conditions. However there is also large volumes of evidence to suggest that there is little or no demonstration of improvement to functional measures of performance:

Both, Vogt et al in 2001, Terrados et al in 1988 and  Vallier et al in 1996 found no difference in VO2 max or maximal power outputs.

Loeppky and Bynum 1970, Roskamm et al both found no effect on VO2 max and more importantly on heamaglobin / hematocit levels.

Sutton et al 1988, 1992, Cymerman 1989, Hochachka 1989 and Reeves et al in 1999 all demonstrated that ‘neither the cardiovascular system nor the metabolic state of skeletal muscle are ‘stressed’ to a greater degree’ during intermittent hypoxia training.

Even when idea of making an athlete train ‘harder’ to make them feel like they have pushed their mental and physical boundaries is considered, more research has been done to dispel that idea. Levine et al in 1992, Levine and Stray-Gundersen 1997 and Bronson et al in 2000 all quote that, ‘Although hypoxic exercise may feel harder, athletes of many different types self select work rates that are significantly less during hypoxic exercise compared to under normal conditions’.  This is not really to suggest that athletes are consciously opting to train at a low intensity but the conditions do not allow them to replicate the same training outputs that they would at normal altitude.

Even if there was some physiological benefit, it is well know that to adapt to a training stimulus there must be an initial decrease in performance before the supercompenstatory effect. However training with a gas mask for very small amount in the day  (1 hour in 24) will not provide enough of a stimulus  to evoke a change in an athletes basic physiological homeostasis.  For this to happen the stimulus must be longitudinal and consistent.

The other type of hypoxia training, is hypoxia at rest. Levine refers to this in his review and states ‘Continuous exposure to hypobaric hypoxia at rest, either as real or simulated high altitude, stimulates the process of acclimatisation which includes a number of physiological adaptations that improve the ability to work at altitude but may well be advantageous for exercise performance at sea level.’

Because an athlete and their physiology is being consistently exposed to conditions that are outside of their regular threshold, there is a basic need for adaptation. This usually comes in the form of increased haemoglobin and hematocrit. Ekblom et al, Buick et al, Williams et al, Berglund and Brikeland et al have all researched and demonstrated increases in this physiology and its associated improvements in oxygen carrying capacity and aerobic power. As well as this, the negative effects on the down regulation of skeletal muscle structure and function associated with training under acute hypoxia, are avoided.

In practical terms, the ‘live high, train low’ model popularised by Levine and Stray-Gundersen is the most efficient way to get the benefits of the physiological adaptations that occur at altitude.  From personal experience, a live high, train high and compete low’ protocol for a period of 16-21 days at altitude is an excellent way to prepare for competition at sea level. The time scale allows for the initial decrease in training output, the acclimatisation phase and finally the physiological adaptation before dropping back down to sea level 3 or 4 days before competition.

(not included in the article)

Many of the beneficial adaptations to altitude training are because of the decreased partial pressure of oxygen in the air. One of the key adaptations of altitude is that the decrease ppO2 stimulates in increase in 2,3 diphosphateglycerate which in turn allows for an increase in oxygen dissociation and a rightward shift inthe oxyheamaglobin dissociation curve. This increase in 2,3DPG actively promotes oxygen unloading at the muscle and therefore increased oxygen utilisation. HOWEVER, this is NOT what happens ina gas mask. The partial pressure of the air in the gas remains the same and only the VOLUME of air is changed. Total air volume is not a limiting factor for performance, the content of the air available is the key issue.

The above review should help to dispel this latest trend of training. Gimmicks like the gas mask are designed to make money off the general public and off people who aren’t in the position to research all the different modes of training. Just because it looks crazy, and hard, and there is lots of sweating and sickness DOES NOT mean that it is an appropriate methods of physical development. Unless of course there happens to be a gas attack happening while someone is training, then I fully endorse the use of a gas mask.

Functional vs Non Functional Hypertrophy in Relation to performance.

One of the common misconceptions and falsehoods that confuses the profession of Strength and Conditioning, is the idea that all weight training is the same and same outcomes will be achieved. One of the 1st issues you have to face as a coach working with fighters is persuading them that weight training will not make them muscle bound and make them run out of steam quickers. These issues are easily avoided but there is underlying physiology that backs up their worries and also explains (once again) why bodybuilding is a terrible training method for mma fighters.
The purpose of bodybuilding is to develop hypertrophy (and possibly hyperplasia, although the research seems sketchy) (1) at all costs. Force production, power output and ballistic qualities are all predominantly irrelevent to competition. And so there needs not to be any decrepancy between whether the hypertrophy is sarcoplasmic or myofibrill in nature.
Dr Siff (2) describes sarcoplasmic hypertrophy as the growth of non contractile proteins and semi fluid plasma between the muscle fibers. This is in stark contrast to sarcomere (myofibril) hypertrophy which refers to the size increase of the actual contractile components. Clearly there is no place for non contractile hypertrophy in weight class guided sports such as mma. This would just be wasted 'weight'.
Failure to address this will lead to the classic idea of an mma fighter who looks like a body builder but 'gasses' very quickly in a fight. The physiology that brings this about is best described by Zalessky and Burkhanov (via Supertraining)

'Other research has found that hypertrophied muscle fibres need a
significantly larger tissue volume to perform a given amount of work. With
the development of non-functional muscle bulk (sarcoplasmic hypertrophy), the
increase in muscle mass outstrips the development of the circulatory system,
resulting in decreased nutrition and oxygenation of the muscle, slowing down
the metabolic processes in the muscle and less efficient disposal of
metabolic waste products from the musculoskeletal system'

In order to avoid this happening a strength program that is aimed at developing strength by training for predominantly neural adaptations is paramount. In order to avoid cellular adaptations (sattelite cell incorperation and subsequent fusing)(3)(4), limiting the overall volume of the training program is key (5).

With the Roughouse fighters, we rarely perform an exercise that is at an intensity lower than 85% 1Rm and limit the total number of reps performed per muscle group to < 12, usually over 4 sets.

(1) Kadi F: Adaptation of human skeletal muscle to training and anabolic steroids. Acta Physiol Scand, 2000

(2) Siff M: Supertraining

(3) Hawke and Garry: Myogenic sattelite cels: physiology to molecular biology. J Appl Physiol, 2001

(4) Machida and Booth: Insulin-like growth factor 1 and muscle growth. Proc Nutr Soc, 2004

(5) Frobose et al: Z Orthop Ihre Grenzeb, 1993

On a seperate note........ please support this good cause....... i'd rather pay than pray, it just kind of makes more sense.......http://givingaid.richarddawkins.net/

Found that hypertrophy is better stimulated by higher volume‐loads

Conditioning Specificity

Specificity of conditioning......

Friend of the Roughouse, Greg Loughran came to our saturday morning conditioning session this week. The regular team members have conditioned with me for a while now so i never really have to explain why we do things the way we do things. So it was good to explain the reasoning behind the session content.
I explained the idea of the specificity vs objectivity continuum to Greg and why we choose to be very specific.
Basically, the more the session replicates the sport, the more transfer to competition performance will occur, however, the harder it is to get objective measurements of output and progression. For example, completing a conditioning session on a treadmill will have very little transfer to mma, as it does not replicate the movements, performance dynamics or energy systems of competition, but it is very easy to be objective (fixed speed, incline, work to rest periods etc.) So for any strength and conditioning coach, they have to make a decision about which they feel is more important.
For me, specificity is key and the transfer to the sport is vital, otherwise you are just doing 'work' and work with out direction and transfer is a waste of any professional fighters time. There are so many training requirements in mma, it is not acceptable to just do work.
We also talked about the intensity of conditioning training. If there is going to be an impact on competition performance, the conditioning sessions must be at or above the level of intensity likely to be experienced come fight night. Eg, a higher volume of punching, wrestling a fresher partner and isolating a few exercises that build up fatigue in key musculature that are likely to effect competition performance.

If you can set up sessions with these principles in mind, you are much more likely to influence a fighters ability to perform for longer in competition.
Be specific and work at or above competition intensities.

Greg was a warrior and went hard at the session and dug deep especially when things got tough.

Vern Gambetta put it best when he said, 'Just because its hard doesn't make it good'

Sam Harris

Had a great trip down to Bristol lastnight to watch a talk by Sam Harris about his new book, The Moral Landscape. Good trip with Dean Amasinger and well worth the trip, Sam is a very engaging speaker and talks alot of sense.

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

Heavy Bag                                                           30s (consisting of multiple 2-3s efforts with 2-3s intraset rests)

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.

Worst Jitz at the BBQ

Good times.....

Great Minds !!

I wish i could talk half as well as hitch !