Combat Conditioning For X-TREME Fat Loss

Although some of you guys might be interested in athletic preparation methods for combat athletes, I know for a fact that you’re more interested into looking like them.

Most people will agree that fighters have the ideal body and on reason for that is because they are so lean yet are muscular and look like they can kick your ass.

It’s important for combat athletes to watch their weight because combat sports are sports separated by weight classes. If a fighter goes into a heavier weight class as a “puffy warrior”, they’re going to get asses handed to them.

That is on top of the fact that fat is just unneeded weight which then requires more energy to move yourself than a leaner person would need.

Because of this, combat athletes will go through incredibly tough conditioning workouts to not only improve their energy systems but also burn off some body fat for the fight.

Unless you’ve been living under a rock, MMA workouts are all the rage right now because of their “fat loss power” and here I am feeding more of that into your mouths haha, but don’t worry, this is actually good stuff!

Although there is a lot of use for aerobic training in an extreme fat loss program, most of your training will be anaerobic or in other words high intensity training.

So let’s get down to the good stuff.

Combat Strength For Muscular Bad Assery

During a fat loss phase, the most important thing to do is to keep muscle size and strength. Muscle size is the number one dictator of metabolism and strength levels are the number one dictator for preserving muscle.

Fortunately it is easy to keep both strength and muscle size in maintenance mode so you can focus more time and effort into metabolic circuits and other forms of energy system training.

According to Alwyn Cosgrove of Results Fitness, it only takes 1-2 heavy sets of a compound exercise to preserve muscle mass. That means you can get away with a 2 sets of heavy squats or deadlifts and get away with it haha.

From my experience, it is true but I would much rather you have 2-3 heavy sets of 2 compound exercises a workout such as squats and chin ups or deadlifts and military presses.

This helps for fat loss as well since it takes a lot of energy to lift heavy stuff. I also like to IMPROVE strength and muscle gains during a fat loss program whenever possible, so I find it necessary to leave in a couple more sets of heavy shit to carry.

Reduce rest periods between these heavy compound exercises and you’ll create a conditioning effect as well to stoke that MMA fat burning furnace.

For here, just stick to the basics which are:

-Bench Press

-Squats

-Deadlifts

-Chin Ups

-Rows

-Military Press

As long as you can hit every movement plane with heavy weights once every week (1-2 of them per workout), you’ll be fine.

With these exercises in particular, I would make sure to stay within the 5-8 rep range as that is “functional hypertrophy” area to help simultaneously improve strength and muscle mass.

MMA Metabolic Conditioning

Here is where the good stuff begins. MMA athletes are known for putting themselves to freaky circuits that leave them on the floor crying for their mom’s.

Although I’ll be the first to say it’s retarded, I do have to admit that training at a CLOSE ENOUGH intensity will make the difference between a regular fat loss program and an X-TREME one.

For these purposes, I like to use 3 methods:

-Hurricane Training

-Strongman Training

-Circuit Training

Hurricane Training

Hurricane training was developed by Martin Rooney, a world re-knowned strength coach who trains many MMA fighters to help them endure their fights. During his use of it, he realized that it also helped improve muscle size and annihilated body fat like nothing else he ever tried.

If you have ever done hurricane training, you can attest that it is probably the single hardest training session you will ever have in your life.

It’s that intense but it’s freaking amazing.

Here is a hurricane workout from Martin’s site, Training for Warriors.

Hurricane Category 3

TFW Warm-up

1a. Treadmill at 10mph and 10% grade incline for 3 sets of 30 seconds

1b. Rope Pull Crunch 3×20

1c. Triangle Pushup 3×10

2a. Treadmill at 11mph and 10% grade incline for 3 sets of 25 seconds

2b. Single DB Turkish Sit-Up 3×15

2c. Uchi Mata 3×15

3a. Treadmill at 12mph and 10% grade incline for 3 sets of 25 seconds

3b. Bicycles 3×16

3c. Knuckle Pushup 3×10

And this is only category 3. There are 5 categories in all and they will all leave you wishing you stayed home but at least you can crawl your way back with less fat on you

I would use this once a week and if later you need an extra boost of fat loss power, twice a week but no more than that.

Strongman Training

One common thing about effective fat loss programs is that they force the user to use both conditioning and strength training protocols into one workout.

Strongman training is basically that in where you have to carry heavy loads over a set distance or time and usually with short to medium rest periods, which is where the conditioning is.

Fighters use strongman training in their programs to replicate the fight sequences that happen often in a fight such as takedown attempts.

Strongman training is so extremely useful for fat loss that it could be all that you need.

There are many ways to include strongman training into your programs. Some are:

-Farmers walks

-Prowlers

-Battle Ropes

-Sleds

and many more things. It’s basically moving heavy shit for long periods of time.

Here is an example of a strongman workout you can use with a prowler, a rope, and a heavy set of dumbbells.

Suitcase Farmers Walk (Left Arm) 3 X 20 yards

Prowler Push 3 X 20 yards

Suitcase Farmers Walk (Right Arm) 3 X 20 yards

Prowler Pull 3 X 20 yards

Farmers Walk (Both Arms) 3 X 20 yards

Prowler Push 3 X 20 yards

Prowler Pull 3 X 20 yards

*Rest for 60 seconds at the end of each circuit*

It’s a toughie but once you’re done, put your hands up like if you’ve just won a fight.

On this blog, I raise champions!

Metabolic Circuits

Metabolic training is amazing for fat loss and is the hallmark of fat loss training. Three to four sessions of metabolic circuits is all you need to get real lean.

There are many ways to set up metabolic circuits. My favorite way is to blend weight training and bodyweight training into tri-sets or quad-sets.

You can also just do it with weight training or even blend it with cardio, much like hurricane training.

They are usually performed as supersets, complexes, or as I said earlier, mini-circuits or giant circuits and are almost always done in full body training sessions.

This is because full body sessions burn the most calories while also preserving helping to preserve the most muscle mass and even increasing it.

In general, 8-15 rep sets are used to both stimulate muscle mass growth and calories burned both during and after the workout. Short rest periods are also used, usually from 30 seconds to 60 seconds.

Here is an example of a solid “met-con” circuit:

3A) Goblet Grip Bulgarian Split Squat 4 X 8

3B) Chin Ups 4 X 6

3C) Hip Flexor Stretch 4 X 5

4A) Single Leg Glute Bridges 4 X 8 Each Leg

4B) Pushups 4 X 20

4C) No Money Drill 4 X 5

*Rest 45seconds in between mini-circuits*

I like metabolic circuits as you can include heavy strength training easily so you can also improve strength levels in more straight forward way than strongman or hurricane training (although can still be programmed into them).

MMA Energy System Training To Kick Fatty’s Ass

I like to add some extra energy system training at the end of a fat loss workout to burn off some extra calories while there still is time and energy to use.

I also use it to break up the monotony of circuits and throw in stuff like sprints, gymnastics, heavy bag work, pad work if there is a partner, and stuff like that.

My favorite is to use the heavy bag and set up rounds as if I were in a fight. Going hard for 3 rounds of 3 minutes breaks me apart and burns off some serious flab.

Although you shouldn’t try to exhaust yourself every session, there is no going around the fact that smart, consistent hard work will always lead to fat loss results.

If you choose to do hurricane training twice a week, there is no need for anymore sprints though.

On off days, I would recommend some short aerobic work to help improve conditioning levels, burn off some extra calories you wouldn’t have normally have, and help speed up the recovery process.

3 Hard energy system sessions a week plus 1 or maybe even 2 aerobic sessions a week will do wonders for fat loss.

Conclusion

To look like a fighter, you have to train like a fighter, with a few modifications but keep the intensity. Every training session is a fight that you must win.

My favorite split is to have one circuit day, one strongman training day, and one hurricane training day a week with energy system “finishers” on the circuit and strongman days.

From there, maybe add an extra aerobic sessions of tempo runs or even just regular roadwork and there you have it, a fighter inspired fat loss program designed for X-TREME results.

At the end of every session, don’t you dare sit down. I want you to stand up, look up, and raise your arms up in victory.

It’s time to burn off some fat and breed some winners!

On Becoming A Pushup Beast

I remember back in the 7th grade when performing just one pushup was an absurd challenge. At an all time high 178 pounds standing at a fluffy 5′ 5′ at the time, I went down, got into position, repped out half a rep and proceeded to fall flat on my chest due to exhaustion.

I was so embarrassed with myself that I worked on pushups everyday till failure and in 2 weeks, I got to 10 straight reps. I felt a lot better about myself but I still wasn’t satisfied.

Ever since then, I have prided myself on pushups and for the past few months, handstand pushups as well.

It’s the mark of every fit man to get down and hit a set of 50 like if it was nothing. Nowadays, I can go 50 reps deep and once in a while with enough intensity and rest prior to the set, go up to 80.

Pretty good considering I actually don’t focus on going such high reps during my actual workouts.

There was at one point in my training that I would focus on high rep pushups. Although it was difficult and took many month, I was able to get to 50 straight reps – this was a few years ago.

Now I try focusing on different pushup variations and protocols and stuff like that to keep myself at 50 without trying nearly as hard.

Thank you sub-maximal training (y) – that means thumbs up by the way.

Just a few months ago, I kept my regular pushup volume to below 30 reps a week to focus on handstands and other gymnastic maneuvers.

One day during that program, I decided to rep it out in front of other people for a prize and I got to 30 pushups in my fastest time ever and I knew I had it in me to do 100 that day. I didn’t because I had no incentive to, but I knew I could do it.

Now without any practice or even any training for weeks, I can do at the very least 3 one arm pushups on each hand or multiple handstand pushups (against the wall) or get down and rep out a set 50.

It’s pretty cool knowing that I can do such things without any real effort and now here I am to teach you how you can become a pushup beast too, using much smarter and better methods than I did (y).

So here we go:

1. Assessment

With this step, all I want to know are my postural and movement deficiencies (to look for weaknesses) and for my performance in the pushup.

There is a lot that can be done here but the most important thing that I found was to look for kyphosis.

For those that don’t know, kyphosis is the “hunchback” look that is now prevalent in modern society due to the exaggerated amount of computer use and overall sitting (I should know, I’m competent in both haha).

The postural changes that come from kyphosis vary, but as long as you don’t actually have scoliosis, it’s safe to say that you can “fix it” to keep you healthy.

When you see that hunchback look, many things are going on in your body because all it’s trying to do is adapt to the stimulus to keep you safe.

Kyphosis primarily means that you need to:

-Mobilize your thoracic spine (upper back)

-Release tension from your pecs (Through SMR & Stretching)

-Increase core strength and stability

Sometimes there are other factors but those are the main ones to focus on. The bigger the kyphosis, the more you have to focus on working on that pre-hab stuff.

Now for the performance, it’s as easy as getting a timer and then repping out as many perfect pushups as you can and then recording everything.

In this step, choose the pushup you would like to improve the most and give you the most bang for your buck as well. For example, if you want to do one arm pushups and you can’t do one perfect rep, I would rather have you do elevated one legged offset pushups, lever pushups, or some other difficult pushup where you can actually progress on.

This will be your indicator “lift”. You want to do everything possible to strengthen that lift and in this case it is important because you want to avoid failure (there are exceptions though).

The reasoning behind this is that if you take the lever pushup for example and in the first assessment you can only do 5 reps each arm, then your goal should be able to increase this number within the next month or so. By getting stronger with the lever pushup, you will automatically become much better prepared at completing multiple one arm pushups without ever having to try so hard and that is the beauty of sub-maximal training.

If in week one you can only do 5 reps each arm and no one arm pushups, and in week 6 you can do 15 reps each arm then I can guarantee that you will be able to do 3 or more one arm pushups when you try it out again.

2. Fixing Kyphosis For Beast Like Results

So as I said before, fixing a severe kyphosis posture seems to be the best thing to focus your pre-hab work on. Fortunately, there are only a few things to do to “fix it” and keep in mind in when creating a program.

The very first thing I would do is massage the upper back and pecs (especially the pec minor), otherwise known as self myofascial release (SMR).

Here are two videos to show you what I mean:

And at beginning and end of your workouts, add in a pec stretch

Some other things to point out:

It will take about 4 weeks to get really noticeable results but as long your working on it, you shouldn’t really have too much of a problem with it.

Also, always make sure to set up your workouts in favor of pulling over your pushing. Since you’ll be doing a lot of pushups, make sure you keep the volume of pulling to pushing at least 1:1 or 2:1.

3. Power Training

At Westside Barbell, Louie Simmons has developed some of the strongest guys in the world and one of his “secrets” has been his use of power training.

One way (and I think the best way) to improve pushup performance is to just get stronger. Power training, although not maximal in terms of overall intensity, will improve strength levels through velocity.

With that said, that is why it’s important to add in some power training near the beginning of your workouts to take advantage of the neuro-muscular stuff that happens.

For our purposes, I would stick to either (or combination of) different variations of plyo pushups or medicine ball drills.

Things like Clap Pushups, Chest Clap Pushups, Quad Clap Pushups work well. Medicine ball throws to a wall for speed or for distance work well too.

It’s important to keep in mind though that overall number of reps should be kept low and rest periods should be kept high as power training will fatigue the central nervous system faster than regular work that just targets the muscular system.

3-5 sets of 3-5 reps for 60-120 seconds in between sets repeated twice a week is a good template to follow.

4. Core Training

Any variation of the pushup is basically a moving plank, so everything that involves planking such as core stability and strength has to do with the pushup as well.

Just doing some extra planks at the end of a workout can get you to squeeze out another load of reps on your pushups.

Depending on your goals, there are different things you can do such as focusing on endurance work if you’re trying to get to 50 pushups or core strength when going for one arm pushups but generally like anything, I would start with endurance and then as the weeks pass by, focus more on strength while keeping that stability.

I always make sure to be able to keep a regular plank for 3 sets of 60 seconds and side planks for 3 sets each of 45 seconds.

From there, I like to use many hanging core exercises such as hanging leg raises and focus on “strength protocols” (5-8 reps with 60-90sec of rest).

Obviously set up your core training intelligently by progressing through exercises slowly.

I like to keep 1-2 direct core exercises a workout but no more.

5. Sub-Maximal Strength Training

One thing about improving pushup performance is that it is much as a skill as it is about strength, so “practicing” pushups often is important.

Other than that, I generally focus on improving strength sub-maximally.

To get to 50 pushups in a row, I would work on getting my one arm pushup up and to get my one arm pushup numbers up, I would work on lever pushups and modified one arm pushups.

There is no point to max out every time you go out as it will only lead to overtraining and probably worsen any kyphotic posture.

I find that it’s important too to work pushups at multiple rep ranges too. Most of my pushup work will consist of going for 5-10 reps and sometimes I’ll add sets of 20.

Now add in the performance assessment that goes on every 3-4 weeks and there is more than enough volume to worry about.

For me, pushups three times a week and done once a workout works best. I like to keep pushups to 3 sets max and as said before, from 5-10 reps before progressing to the next pushup.

That plus your power and core training will lead to major increases in your pushup numbers.

6. Performance Assessments

The point of this is to increase your performance on a certain pushup so it’s logical to assess yourself every so often to make sure what you’re doing is actually working.

I know how I respond to different stimuli so I actually don’t use regular assessments often as I know that an increase in my indicator pushup automatically improves the actual pushup I want to do so what I like to do is just practice maybe 2-3 reps of the pushup I actually want to improve at a random day and see how it goes.

For example, if I want to improve my one arm pushup and my “indicator lift” is the lever pushup, most of my workouts will include lever pushups. When I feel like I should assess myself (which I usually do after 3 weeks), I’ll do my warmup, core, and power training first and then try my hand at a set of perfect one arm pushups.

If things go well, I’m doing things right. If not, something is wrong so I change things up.

I also like to assess myself on off days to get some form of exercise in without killing myself or taking much time at all.

On off days, I’ll just drop down and do 1 set of low volume pushups. For me, my performance on these vary a lot but if everything goes right, I can tell if I’m improving or not.

At around 4-5 weeks or so, I’ll get curious and just drop down and bang out as many reps as I can with the pushup I want to improve, in this case one arm pushups and classic pushups.

The key here is to just to see where you are with your progress without killing yourself.

Pushups, even ones that require a ton of strength or endurance on your part, can be done every single day as long as it’s done extensively. In other words, as long as it’s easy enough for you to recover quickly for the next session, then you’re good to go.

Conclusion

Becoming a pushup beast can take some time and effort but it will pay off at the end. Eventually, you’ll get to the point where you’re strong enough to cycle through many different pushups without worrying about progressing or burning out to quickly.

There are a ton of ways to go about this but I prefer to do the least work necessary to improve so I go with what I said above.

I think you’ll appreciate that so have fun kicking ass and taking names (y).

The Strength Coach’s Guide To Energy System Training For Combat Athletes – Part 4: Simple Program Designing

To end this series of posts, I’ll be creating a simple but effective program for the energy system training component of a UFC fighter. Namely, Clay Guida because he is know for his high levels of conditioning and because even at 5’7′, he’s the biggest bad ass in the UFC.

He is my favorite fighter because he is a true warrior. The dude won’t stop fighting no matter how many times he’s knocked down. I swear, he has to be insane or something. His conditioning is freaking phenomenal too. He spends more energy walking to the octagon, bouncing up and down, and running around before his fight than most people spend in a day.

I get exhausted just from watching him, let alone actually doing what he’s doing! Ha!

For the purposes of this post, I will act as if I’m preparing him for his fight against Diego Sanchez, which although he lost, it was the GREATEST fight I have ever seen. For those that don’t know who he is, watch this and you’ll understand what I mean:

With that said, let’s get down to the good stuff.

The Situation

My client is Clay Guida, a UFC fighter, and is scheduled to have a fight in 5 months against Diego Sanchez.

Here are Clay’s stats (from UFC.com).

Nickname: The Carpenter

From: Round Lake,Illinois USA

Fights Out Of: Albuquerque, NM USA

Age: 30

Height: 5′ 7″ ( 170 cm )

Weight: 155 lb ( 70 kg )

Total Fights: 17

Record: 29-9-0

Summary: Wrestling, solid chin, great flexibility, endurance, quality training partners

His fight history shows that 20% of his fights consist of striking and whooping 80% of his fights consist of ground fighting, specifically 25% from submissions and 55% from takedowns.

So basically, he has great conditioning and loves being on the ground. Improving his conditioning to improve his grappling will be the main emphasis of the program as that is his strength.

Now for his opponent, Diego Sanchez:

Nickname: The Dream

From: Albuquerque, NM USA

Fights Out Of: Albuquerque, NM USA

Age: 30

Height: 5′ 10″ ( 177 cm )

Weight: 170 lb ( 77 kg )

Total Fights: 20

Record: 25-5-0

Summary: Excellent grappling skills

His fight history shows that 36% of his fights consist of striking and 63% of his fights consist of ground fighting with 34% coming from submissions and 29% coming from takedowns. He is also really adept in his ground game but on paper, Guida has the edge and Sanchez has the edge on striking.

Some more info here: Guida avoids 65% of strikes and 75% of takedowns while Sanchez avoids 59% of strikes and 54% of takedowns.

Guida’s fight history also shows that every one of his fights have either gone the distance or ended by submission. Almost all of Diego’s fights have ended by submission or by unanimous decision. Guida also has a higher percentage of wins by submissions than Diego has.

Although Diego has great conditioning and ground game, it is not on par with Guida’s. He is also taller and heavier than Guida. This means it’s in Guida’s best interest to take this guy to the ground and stay there.

Again, that is even more reason to improve his conditioning specifically for all the wrestling and ju-jitsu that will occur.

The main energy systems we will focus on are aerobic capacity, aerobic power, and anaerobic alactic capacity.

The Program

5 Months Out: Aerobic Capacity

- Road Work: 3 X’s A Week (Jogging)

- Little Skill Work

4 Months Out: Aerobic Power

- Tempo Runs: 3 X’s A Week (Jogging, Tumbling, Footwork, Some Skill Work)

- Some Skill Work

3 Months Out: Aerobic Power/Capacity W/ Anaerobic Alactic Capacity

- Hurricane Training: 1 X’s A Week (Category 2-3) (Mostly Sprints, Some Skill Work)

- Tempo Runs: 2 X’s A Week (Prowler/Sleds)

- Road Work: 1 X’s A Week (Jogging)

- More Skill Work

2 Months Out: Anaerobic Alactic Capacity W/ Aerobic Power

- Hurricane Training 2 X’s A Week (Category 3-4) (Sprints, Some Amount Of Skill Work)

- Tempo Runs: 2 X’s A Week (Prowler/Sleds, Skill Work, Jump Rope)

- Even More Skill Work

1 Month Out: Anaerobic Lactic Capacity W/ Aerobic Power

- Hurricane Training 1 X’s A Week (Category 4-5) (Strongman, skill work)

- Aerobic Circuits: 2 X’s A Week (Circuits W/ Skill Work)

- Mostly All Training Is Skill Work

Why I Did What I Did

5 Months Out

Keeping in mind that MMA is sport that relies heavily on the aerobic system, I started out the program by developing the aerobic capacity system.

Because of its simplicity and effectiveness, I opted for regular, old school road work. At 3 X’s a week, it is enough volume and frequency to develop the aerobic capacity system maximally.

4 Months Out

With last month being totally about aerobic capacity, this month will totally be about aerobic power. This specific system will be extremely important in Guida’s training program, especially because he’ll be on the ground most of the time.

With these tempo runs at 3 X’s a week, it will also be enough volume and frequency to develop it maximally. Also, now more specific work is included such as tumbling, footwork, and even some skill work.

3 Months Out

Things change a little now that the fight is only 3 months away.

Here I kept aerobic power as the dominant energy system being trained but now I put back in some training for the aerobic capacity system and anaerobic alactic capacity system. I did this because:

A) Aerobic power is the most important system for Guida

B) I wanted to have some aerobic capacity work to keep it in check

C) It’s a good time to add low amounts of anaerobic training

Also, here is where I would start progressing aerobic power work to fit the protocol of the fight, which at the end would be 3 rounds of 5 minutes

2 Months Out

Now the fight is 2 months away and it’s time to ramp things up. Here I went for 2 days of anaerobic alactic capacity work and 2 days of aerobic power work.

Although I would have done it starting month 3, here is where a low-high intensity approach comes in handy. Basically, you split training sessions (including skill training) between high days and low days.

The hurricane training would be placed on 2 high intensity days and the aerobic training would be placed on 2 low days.

I find it important to develop the anaerobic system to high levels again as Guida’s fighting style is usually fast paced. As stated before though, it’s important to develop his aerobic power system just as much but with a large amount of his time doing skill work, he will have a good amount of aerobic training on top of his tempo drills.

With a total of 4 conditioning sessions, there is more than ample amount of time placed for his conditioning work.

1 Month Out

It’s 1 month out from his fight, so I have to be sure he is ready to last all ever single minute of every round.

For his anaerobic training, I kept the frequency down to once a week but upped the intensity and duration to better replicate the fight and action during ground fighting.

For his aerobic training, I kept his aerobic power work to 2 times a week as his skill training volume increases, which also works his aerobic system.

By now, both the anaerobic and aerobic training sessions follow the same work to rest ratio as his fight will be with an emphasis on his ground game. Which means that the duration of every training session has increased to 3 rounds of 5 minutes in total.

What You Could Have Done Differently

There are so many different things anyone could have done. A couple of things from the top of my mind are:

1) Simplify each month to only 1 energy system

2) More roadwork

3) Less Hurricane Training and more aerobic power training

4) Having less variation in training methods such as all aerobic training through tempo runs and all anaerobic training through hurricane training

5) Leave out/include an energy system such as taking out a month of anaerobic alactic capacity training and instead train the aerobic power system only and maximally.

There are a ton of methods to get Guida from point A to B. Whatever and however you do it, just get him there.

Conclusion

It doesn’t matter what you do or how as long as it works but when lost, keep it simple stupid.

I personally like to change up a guys training because it allows for more variation, which includes the pro’s and con’s of every method. My go to methods are tempo runs and hurricane training but obviously I use a lot of other things too to get the job done and that is what matters.

It doesn’t matter how complicated or simple something is, as long as it achieves the desire result, then you’re good. There really is no right or wrong answer to any of this stuff. There are no rules to programming, just get him to win his freaking fight.

I personally think that Guida would have done pretty darn well in a program set up similar to mine haha. What do you think?

If you haven’t seen the rest of the series, check it out now:

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The Strength Coach’s Guide To Energy System Training For Combat Athletes – Part 3: Anaerobic Training

In the past few posts, I really emphasized the importance of aerobic training in combat sports. Although I said before that direct aerobic work is critical for the development of a fighter, there is also a strong anaerobic component as well.

As a fight carries on and the aerobic system becomes the dominant energy system, the anaerobic system still plays a part of the energy production as well. By the nature of combat sports, there are spurts of high intensity and high velocity movements that often need more oxygen than the body can take in.

The purpose of developing the aerobic system is to increase your fighter’s rate of recovery during the fight. During “slow” times of a fight, such as after a high intensity bout, or during the rest periods in between rounds, a developed aerobic system will mean a better rested fighter. That fighter will then have more energy to fight harder and longer than another fighter with low levels of aerobic system development.

The anaerobic system on the other hand is used DURING those periods of high intensity/ high velocity movements. As any fighter (and just about everyone) knows, the real stuff happens during the actual fighting and if you can’t perform during the “real fighting” then what was the point of all the aerobic training?

You see, although a fight may last for 3 rounds of 5 minutes of whatever it may be, it only takes 5-10 seconds of hardcore action for the fight to completely change.

This is how comebacks are made. This is what a warrior is BUILT to do. It’s extremely important to be as fresh as possible during a fight but when push comes to shove, I want your fighter to kick his opponent’s ass.

With that said, let’s look at how we can make sure that it will happen.

An In-Depth Look At The Anaerobic System

There are two processes that allow for energy production in the body. They are the aerobic and anaerobic processes. Just as with the aerobic system, the anaerobic system also plays a part in trying to keep the body in homeostasis during movement by producing more ATP to match the expenditure.

Specifically, the anaerobic process:

-Regenerates ATP through non-oxidative processes only

-Can utilize ATP, phosphocreatine (alactic) or carbohydrate (lactic) as substrates

-Produces ATP at a much faster rate than the aerobic system, but also causes rapid changes in cellular environemnt, leading to large disturbances in homeostasis.

-Able to support maximum power output, but only for very brief periods of time

The biggest thing to keep in mind is that the anaerobic system produces ATP at a very fast rate but only for a short period of time, while the aerobic system produces ATP at a much slower rate but for a much longer period of time.

A Look At The Different Anaerobic Energy Systems

There are 4 anaerobic energy systems.

-Anaerobic Alactic Power

-Anaerobic Alactic Capacity

-Anaerobic Lactic Power

-Anaerobic Lactic Capacity

As described before in part I, the power of the system is the rate at which energy is being produced. In other words, the faster that your energy system can generate the energy needed by your muscles, the faster those muscles can contract and relax, which will ultimately mean the more power that they can generate.

The capacity of the system is the duration at which the energy is able to be produced. Basically, it is how long one is able to generate energy for.

The difference between alactic and lactic is that in an alactic zone, you won’t produce a high amount of lactic acid and in a lactic zone, you will. This forms the energy continuum as shown above which starts at alactic power and ends at lactic capacity.

Specifically, the anaerobic alactic power system is used during the first 10 seconds of high intensity movement. It increases the number of creatine kinase, which speeds up the breakdown of phosphocreatine so that you can regenerate ATP at a faster rate.

It also improves muscular contractility. The faster that your muscles can contract and relax will play a huge role in how much power your working muscles can generate with the alactic system. A work interval at this energy system would last 0-10 seconds per rep and have a recovery interval of about 2-5 minutes per rep. Maximum intensity is used during the rep.

The second system, anaerobic alactic capacity, is used from 10-20 seconds during high intensity movement. This energy system improves how much ATP and Phosphocreatine the muscles can store.

A regular work interval would last from 10-20 seconds a rep at a very high intentisity (91-96% of max) and the recovery interval would be around 3-4 minutes per rep. In other words, the recovery ratio would be around 1:15 but can be from 1:12 to 1:18. For recovery heart rate, it should be less than or equal to 120 beats per minute.

The anaerobic lactic power system lasts from 20 seconds to 45 or even up to 60 seconds. Training of this energy system leads to increases in glycolytic muscle tissue, glycolytic enzymes, and improvement is the nervous systems ability to activate and coordinate so that your muscles will play a large role in your power system.

The work interval is from 20 to 60 seconds, done at high intensity with a recovery interval of 2-5 minutes per rep. The work to recovery ratio should be around 1:5-1:6.

The last anaerobic system is the anaerobic lactic capacity system, which runs from 45 seconds to 120 seconds. The adaptations that come from training this system increases the availability of energy substrates, increases the pH buffering ability of muscles, and the rate of clearance of the byproducts.

The work interval to train this system is from 45-120 seconds at a high intensity (85-90% of max) with a 3-6 minute recovery interval or 1:3 work to rest ratio.

How To Develop The Anaerobic System

The thing about training is that you cannot develop any quality/system maximally if you focus on more than one thing at a time.

This means that if you want to train one part of the anaerobic system maximally, you cannot train any other part of the anaerobic system without affecting the improvement of the “main” system your working on. This also goes for aerobic training or trying to increase both of them at the same time.

If you want, you can program the training of multiple systems but it is never maximal. When you want maximal improvements on a certain energy system, focus on that one energy system before going to the next.

With that said, to develop one part of the anaerobic system you must use the right duration, intensity, and rest periods to work it.

For combat sports, the main energy system used is the anaerobic alactic system because combat sports are generally “hit and run” in nature where combat lasts for 0-20 seconds until the fighters step away from each other to recover before going at it again.

Generally, combat sports like boxing or kickboxing will use the anaerobic alactic power system (0-10 seconds) most of the time while sports that use grappling such as MMA and Ju-Jitsu will go from 0-10 seconds and sometimes go as high as 10-20 seconds in a row of continuous high effort movement or in other words, the anaerobic alactic capacity system.

Both are important to develop and it depends on the fighter and his needs as to which of the anaerobic systems he needs to develop.

Rest periods are longer due to it taking more time to slow down heart rate to less than or at 120 beats per minute.

3 Anaerobic Training Methods

Circuits

These are the circuits that most people will see as familiar because these are ones that gas them out quick. High intensity circuits are freaking amazing for developing a fighters energy systems and muscular endurance.

The only problem is when they programmed in a less than optimal way, which is usually most of the time. Some coaches think you can just mix a couple of exercises for time and add it in anywhere. At that point, circuits can be counterproductive because it will place too much stress on the body and affect power, strength, and recovery levels of the athlete.

When they are programmed correctly though, they are amazing. Here is an example of a good circuit for the anaerobic alactic capacity system.

A1) Chin Ups – 4 X 5

A2) Med Ball Slam – 4 X 3

A3) Sled Push – 4 X 20 yards – After every circuit; rest until heart rate reaches 100 beats per minute

It’s a general workout but it’s a good starting point. Circuits are very flexible in that you can use them for just about anything and can be done anywhere.

For many coaches, this is the go to method.

Sprints

Running is one commonality between many sports as a method to train any energy system. Sprints in particular have shown time and time again that they are an excellent method in developing the anaerobic system.

What I love about sprints is that they only require space and are easily timed.

A word of caution about sprints though: be sure to always have a THOROUGH warmup before a sprint session and know HOW to sprint because they can cause injuries to “newbies” and “pro’s” alike.

A simple sprint workout to train the anaerobic alactic power system is:

8 X 10 seconds of an all out sprint – rest until heart rate reaches 100 beats per minute.

This is an advanced workout and will make any athlete wince in pain just reading the protocol. For “regular people”, a 5 second set is enough but advanced athletes can go up to 10 seconds straight.

Hurricane Training

This is easily my most favorite training method for a couple of reasons:

1. They are an “anaerobic” version of tempo runs with much of the same benefits such as in the flexibility of protocol design and implement use (pads, heavy bag, weights…etc)

2. Once you get through halfway through a session, you will ask yourself if you were mentally stable when you decided to try it out, then when you get through it, you’ll feel like the biggest bad ass on the planet.

3. Mimics combat sports very well

4. Are NOT boring at all.

Hurricane training was created by Martin Rooney, a world re-knowned strength coach based out of New Jersey. There are 5 hurricane levels starting from level 1 to level 5. At level 1, only sprints are used for a total of 9 sets of short durations. From levels 2-4, sprints plus 2 exercises are used in 3 different circuits. Level 5 uses sprints and strongman training.

Here is an example of a level 4 hurricane from Martin’s site, Training For Warriors.

Hurricane Category 4

*Do one exercise right after another for 3 sets then move on to the next group

1a. Treadmill at 10mph and 10% grade incline for 3 sets of 30 seconds

1b. Bar Dips 3×12

1c. Hip Raise Crunch 3×20

2a. Treadmill at 10.5mph and 10% grade incline for 3 sets of 30 seconds

2b. Inverted Row 3×10

2c. Bicep Curl and Press 3×10

3a. Treadmill at 11.5mph and 10% grade incline for 3 sets of 30 seconds

3b. Knuckle Pushup 3×10

3c. Knee Grabs 3×20

As you can see, it is anything but easy but it is incredibly effective for energy system training and fat loss.

You also will notice that every circuit with its three sets amount to about 5 minute per completed circuit. Essentially, it is 3 rounds of 5 minutes of high intensity action. That is the exact same “protocol” as regular UFC fight.

It does not specifically target the anaerobic alactic system but it does mimic a fight very well and works both the anaerobic and aerobic systems to very high levels.

Programming Anaerobic System Development

As explained before, a program should start from a general standpoint and as the fight gets closer, the training should become more specific to the competition.

If there is 4 months between a fight, that allows for a good amount of time for a fighter to develop his most pressing needs to optimal levels.

At such a long time before a fight, aerobic training should form the bulk of a fighters energy system work. Here is where aerobic capacity training is best implemented in a program. At 3 months out, now aerobic power can be the main energy system worked on. At 2 months out, now anaerobic training needs to form the bulk of the energy system training (but there is still some direct aerobic work to keep it at maintenance). At 1 month out, high intensity and more specific training is used while the volume of skill work goes up.

In terms of frequency, at 3 months out there can be 1 session a week. At 2 months out, there can be 2 sessions a week. At 1 month out, there would probably be only 1 session a week because the increased volume of skill work will take place of the energy system work.

In terms of how workouts are done, say we use hurricane training. At 3 months out, we would use sprints and regular bodyweight exercises. At 2 months out, sprints and strongman training. At 1 month out, strongman or sprints and skill work.

An important thing to keep in mind is that as the fight gets closer, the training needs to become much like the fight itself. At 3 months out, it’s ok to have sessions at 10 sets of 20 seconds or something but at 1 month out, if the fight lasts 3 rounds of 5 minutes, then the training session should also be 3 rounds of 5 minutes.

Conclusion

Understanding and programming energy system training can seem very complicated, but it really isn’t.

In essence, you work on aerobic work at the start of a training program. Once you get to anaerobic work, you keep aerobic training on maintenance by decreases volume and frequency while increasing anaerobic training. The other option is to work on aerobic power the majority of the time, depending your fighter’s needs and what works for them. From there, you keep improving and little by little, mimic the work to rest ratio of the fight itself.

For every month, focus that month (or phase) on a specific energy system you want to improve maximally. On the last month or two, mimic the exact “protocol” of the fight.

Basically, as long as you have a good reason for everything you place in a program then it’s a good program.

If that still confuses you, check out part 4.

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The Strength Coach’s Guide To Energy System Training For Combat Athletes – Part 2: Aerobic Training

Alongside with other dogmatic beliefs that seem to rock the fitness industry every couple of years, aerobic training in particular seems to be one of the, if not the most, bashed topic around.

Some coaches love to point out the research that says how aerobic work leads to lower power and strength levels in athletes while anaerobic work can help increase it. They argue that if a sport is anaerobic, then its training should be entirely anaerobic as well.

That’s funny because combat sports are NOT purely anaerobic sports at all. Furthermore, neither are sports like football or basketball. Only sports such as Olympic lifting and Powerlifting are truly anaerobic because they demand high amounts of energy, for a short duration of time, and then are given tons of rest after their activity. A sport like MMA is different because although fighters use high amounts of energy, they are repetitive, sub-maximal, and last for long bouts of time such as a UFC championship fight that can last 5 rounds of 5 minutes.

An In-Depth Look At The Aerobic System

Our cells run on chemical energy called ATP. The purpose of all of these energy systems is to maintain energy homeostasis by producing this chemical energy and the body does this by transforming the food we eat into that energy to allow us to do muscular work.

Energy homeostasis is all about energy production versus energy expenditure. Energy production is the amount of ATP that can be produced and energy expenditure is the amount of ATP that is used. As higher intensity movement increases, the more ATP is used. To balance things out, the body tries to increase ATP production to match the expenditure.

To do this, the body uses three energy systems which can be categorized into aerobic and anaerobic. Specifically, the aerobic system

-Regenerates ATP through oxidative metabolic processes

-Can utilize fat, carbohydrate, and amino acids as substrates

-Produces the most ATP per given substrate (but also takes much longer to do so than the anaerobic system)

-Capable of sustaining moderate power outputs for very long durations

As much as HIIT addicts like to say that combat sports are purely anaerobic, fact is that once activity starts (in any sport), all three energy systems including the aerobic system all “turn on” at the same time to help produce ATP and keep the body in homeostasis.

At the highest point of activity, even the anaerobic system alone cannot produce enough ATP to keep the body in homeostasis. The aerobic system has to come into play. This is why even at short durations; the aerobic system is heavily involved in the process of ATP production. The longer the duration of the activity, the greater the percentage of total energy comes from the aerobic system while ATP production from the anaerobic system drops.

Although every sport requires a different balance of aerobic to anaerobic development, the best athletes show strong central aerobic development, even in highly anaerobic sports

In other words, developing the aerobic system is a good idea when you want your athletes to stay at the top of their game throughout the entire fight.

Aerobic Power Versus Aerobic Capacity

Specifically, there are two systems for the aerobic system, namely the power and the capacity systems. The power of the system is the rate at which energy is being produced and the capacity is the duration that energy can by produced.

Aerobic power training is sometimes called the Cardiac Power Method. Developing the aerobic power system increases the body’s ability to perform a high volume of effort with moderate intensity without lactic acid in the muscles and blood. Through aerobic metabolism, it clears away lactic acid from the muscles and blood.

It also does a number of things such as:

-Increase in the contractile strength of the cardiac fibers along with a corresponding increase in mitochondria

-Increases cardiac output

-Improves the respiratory system

-Increases the number and size of slow twitch muscle fibers

-Improves the oxidative abilities of the fast twitch fibers

In general, the aerobic power system is trained with maximum intensity and maximum velocity for 2-4 minutes at a time with a recovery interval of 2-5 minutes or until your heart rate reaches 120-130 beats per minute. Your heart rate during activity should not go above 150 beats per minute.

This will be the main aerobic energy system a fighter will use as a fight will last around 3-5 minutes with a rest period between rounds.

Aerobic capacity training is sometimes called the Cardiac Output Method. Specifically, cardiac output is the amount of blood pumped by the heart in 1 minute. The aerobic capacity system is designed to allow the body to perform for a long time with low intensity. Generally, aerobic capacity can be trained by continues movement from five minutes to hours at a time although 30-90 minutes is generally sufficient enough for combat sports. Your athlete’s heart rate should also stay within the 120-150 beats per minute range.

How To Develop The Aerobic System

Developing any energy system is about using the right intensity for the right amount of time.

In general the aerobic system becomes the dominant energy system from as early as 15-30 seconds of continual movement to hours on end like marathon running.

When programming aerobic work, it is best to keep your heart rate from 60%-75% of your max heart rate. Any lower percentage does not help the aerobic system develop and any higher now requires more anaerobic involvement. Depending on what you do, the duration of the exercise changes.

For example, if you’re making your athletes do tempo runs then they only need 15-20 seconds of continual movement before another tempo run. If you’re fighters are doing roadwork, then it can last for an hour or more if you need it too. When at rest, your athletes heart rate should not go below 120 beats per minute.

This requires the use of a heart rate monitor and personal programming to each and every athlete. This is important because if you just make every fighter train for 30 seconds on and 30 seconds off, every fighter will react differently to the training. Some will have their heart rates jack up to 170 and others will have their heart rates at 150. During the rest periods, some will get to 120 beats per minute a lot faster than others. This is all due to differences in their conditioning levels.

3 Aerobic Training Methods

Roadwork

Just about every great champion that has ever fought has used roadwork in their training. For those that don’t know, roadwork is the typical jog you see a lot of top boxers like Muhammad Ali do every morning.

Yes, it is the same thing Rocky does in like every movie. He wakes up at like 5 am, opens his fridge, cracks open some raw eggs, drinks them, and then heads out for a run in Philly. Whether it was to help outlast Apollo Creed or kick Drago’s ass, roadwork proved to be pretty useful. No doubt it’s probably one of the reasons why Paulie tells Rocky “you’re all heart Rocko”.

You get it? Aerobic system and “all heart”? Haha.

Yea…lol.

Moving along, roadwork is basically just putting in your miles. It might not be the best method for every single fighter but it is tried and proven to work. It’s one of those things you can never go wrong with.

Tempo Runs

One problem with roadwork is that it can potentially be too catabolic on the body for some guys on top of the fact it just takes a very long time to do.

A tempo run is basically a jog for a short distance in a tempo fashion. For example, a 100 yard jog that must be done in 20 seconds every time, hence the word “tempo”. At the end of every 100 yard jog (or whatever distance), some low intensity exercises like low amplitude planks or regular pushups are performed. From time to time, longer distances with longer rest periods are used.

Here is an example of a tempo run workout:

A1) 100 Yards X 3 in 20 seconds; 30 seconds rest

A2) 200 Yards X 3 in 40 seconds; 60 seconds rest – After last run there is 120 seconds rest

B1) 100 Yards X 3 in 20 seconds; 30 seconds rest

B2) 200 Yards X 3 in 40 seconds; 60 seconds rest – After last run there is 120 seconds rest

*At the end of every run, perform any low amplitude abdominal movement of your choice*

That is a very general workout but it’s a good starting point. As you improve, you can either add in more distance, reduce rest periods, or both. Heart rate monitoring can be used in place of the rest periods, which would be a much better choice but it’s not the end of the world if a heart rate monitor is not available.

The cool thing about tempo runs is that they don’t have to be runs at all, making them super flexible. They can be done with other implements like pad work, jump rope, heavy bag training, shadowboxing, biking, and gymnastics movements.

Aerobic Circuits

Usually when people think of circuits, especially those made for combat athletes, they usually think of drop till you’re dead training sessions.

Not all circuits have or even need to be that way. By keeping your heart rate in check, not only can you directly train your aerobic system but also work on muscular endurance, not put as much stress on the body as running usually does, and be done in-doors without much use of space.

Like tempo runs, aerobic circuits are another very flexible method to getting in some conditioning. A simple aerobic circuit can look like this:

Pushups – 5 X 5 Reps

Sprawl – 5 X 5 Reps

Chin Ups – 5 X 5 Reps

Jump Rope – 5 X 30 Revolutions

*Rest at the end of every circuit. Rest lasts until heart rate reaches 120 beats per minute*

As you can see, it’s very simple and can implement many things at one time making it a great choice for many athletes. As long as your heart rate stays within 60% – 75% of your max heart rate during activity, you’re good to go.

Programming Aerobic System Development

Since the aerobic system is present at all times and becomes the dominant energy system within 15-30 seconds of maximal intensity, it’s obviously is important to develop it.

Although many coaches say that the anaerobic work they do also works the aerobic system, it is not nearly maximal. With such a high importance, direct aerobic work needs to be used at one point of a program and then maintained for the fight.

In terms of program planning, a program should start off general and as the fight gets closer should become more and more specific. This means that everything from the exercises to rest periods should change over time to mimic the fight as it gets closer.

If the fight is in October and right now it’s July, that allows for 4 months of preparation. At 4 months out, things should be very general. This is otherwise known as the GPP phase. Here is where your base will be for the next fight.

For aerobic development, let’s say we use tempo runs. At 4 months out, we do tempo runs with actual runs. At 3 month, it changes from runs to in-cage footwork and tumbling. At 2 months out, pad work. At 1 month out, heavy bag and pad work.

For frequency, at 4 months out it would be at 3 times a week. At month 3, 3 times a week again. At month 2, 2 times a week. At month 1 out, 1-2 times a week. This happens because as the fight gets closer, an aerobic base was already built and now higher intensity conditioning forms the majority of the athlete’s energy system training.

Now since there are two categories of aerobic work that are vital to combat sports, one being capacity and the other being power, both need to be developed. Taking MMA as an example, aerobic capacity is not a major system used but does help provide the “base of the base” or the starting point of energy system training. Aerobic power is much more intensive than aerobic capacity and one that is much more closely related to a fight than capacity is.

By definition, that means aerobic capacity should be developed at the very start of a program as it provides the base for all future energy system training. Aerobic power on the other hand should be focused on later in the program and since it is such of high importance, should be the most worked aerobic energy system in a fighters program unless it is not the most pressing need of your fighter of course.

Conclusion

Aerobic work will help the body recover faster during rest periods allowing for more energy during the actual fight. It’s pretty simple.

It’s funny because as strength and conditioning has gotten more and more advanced over the years, people seem to try to re-invent everything. It’s time to realize that aerobic work has always and forever will be a critical part of a fighters training regimen.

Stop hating and go do your roadwork.

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