MMA strength training tips

MMA is a sport created in the past couple of decades and it has become one of the most popular activities in the realm of martial arts. MMA stands for mixed martial arts, and that is what it is – techniques gathered from all martial arts which have actual appliance in the ring. This is what makes MMA so interesting; there are a lot of different styles combined into one effective form. MMA tournaments and competitions have more and more fans each year.

Strength

It is true that a skillful MMA fighter should not depend on strength only. This is because at some point, there will be a physically stronger opponent in the ring and he cannot be defeated with muscles; instead the technique is needed. Still, strength is an important part of the MMA training program because it offers some things that can be very useful. For example, strength of the arms will increase the output power when it comes to punching. Also, stamina and endurance are very much appreciated, because there are lots of situations which demand constant tension of the muscles. So, are there some useful MMA strength training tips?

Exercises

For pure strength, two things should be combined - explosive exercises with simple motions and complex exercises, which include several elements and activate more than one muscle group. An example for explosive exercise would be a dumbbell high swing. A practitioner should be in a standing position, holding the dumbbell with relaxed arms. Exercise is done by swinging the dumbbell up above the head and when it goes down, it should be stopped at the knee level (with legs widened a bit and bent in knees). When the dumbbell goes down, the entire torso is bent forward so that the weight goes between the legs roughly in the knee area. Even though leaned forward, the spine should be straight for performing this exercise correctly (which is very important because an injury might happen easily).

An example for complex exercise would be squat with additional weight in the form of barbell on shoulders. This is an excellent exercise, which can be done both fast and slowly, with different amount of weight lifted. This form activates the muscles in torso, legs and arms, which means almost all.

Even though it might not seem so important, cardio exercises should be done as well, though nothing too strenuous is needed (for example, running for about 30 minutes is more than enough). This is a good thing because it will activate the muscles used for weight lifting in a different way and make them even stronger. Cardio should not be done the same day as regular training because that might exhaust the practitioner and then the standard exercising would not be so efficient.