If there is a group of athletes physically prepared to perfection in the world, MMA fighters have that position more than assured.
As its name implies, mixed martial arts (MMA), mix the combat characteristics of various disciplines in a single confrontation, which means that a fighter of this type must have at the same time the speed of a judoka and the explosive force of a boxer.
To have the physical level of these athletes, you have to put your whole body in tune: plyometric movements and strength or speed exercises, are just some of the types of exercises that a good MMA training should have.
10 exercises for MMA fighters
1. Plyometric pushups
You can perform this exercise in two ways: guided by time (25 or 30 seconds) or by the number of repetitions (15 or 20 repetitions).
Instructions
- Start in the typical push-up position, with your arms spread across the width of your shoulders.
- Begin to do a traditional pushup, inhaling as you descend.
- When you go up, push yourself strongly with your hands to separate yourself from the ground. The feet remain supported.
- It is important that when descending again, you allow your elbows to bend slightly, to cushion the impact.
- The abdomen must maintain a certain pressure throughout the exercise.
- As you progress, you can add other variations, such as clapping your hands or touching slightly elevated surfaces at the time of the ascent.
2. Jumping lunges
This plyometric exercise is ideal to do by time, dedicating between 25 and 30 seconds.
Instructions
- Start in a closed position, with your feet shoulder width apart and your knees bent.
- From this first position, jump and land in a lunge position, with one leg forward and the other back, with the back knee at a 90 degree angle.
- Jump again and, once you are in the air, change your legs position, so that you fall back into the lunge position, but varying the position of the legs.
- Repeat the movement until the exercise is complete.
3. Plank with knee twist
The knee twist plank or corkscrew plank is ideal for strengthening shoulders, chest, triceps, and obliques. You can do it for time or until you complete between 10 and 20 repetitions on each side.
Instructions
- Start in a high plank position, with your hands spread across the width of your shoulders.
- Keeping your arms extended and your back high, rotate with your hips bringing your right knee toward your left elbow.
- Return to the starting position and repeat the exercise varying the knee, until the exercise is completed.
4. Box jump squat
This plyometric exercise will put your entire lower zone to work, especially glutes, hamstrings, and quads. To begin with, you can do between 8 and 12 repetitions, and then increase.
Instructions
- Start by standing in front of a box or a relatively high surface that you can land on with both feet. Feet should be shoulder width apart.
- Shrugging slightly and bringing both arms back, pull up and jump into the drawer.
- To land on the box you must do it in a squat position, with your feet flat on the surface.
- Once you’ve performed the squat on the box, reverse the movement until you return to the starting position.
- Repeat the entire movement until the exercise is complete.
5. Squat and chest pass with medicine ball
This exercise helps build explosive strength in your arms , chest, and legs. The recommended time to do it is three sets of 30 seconds.
Instructions
- Start by standing in front of a wall, with your feet shoulder width apart and holding the medicine ball at chest level.
- Lower yourself into a squat position.
- In an explosive move, come up again and throw the ball with both hands against the wall, so that it bounces back to you.
- Back in the starting position, repeat the entire movement until the exercise is complete.
6. Up and down with dumbbells
The Up-Down or up and down is a typical Pilates movement to train arms and abs. You can make it even more challenging by adding a pair of dumbbells.
Instructions
- Begin standing in an upright posture, with your feet shoulder-width apart and holding a relatively light dumbbell in each hand.
- Squat down into a squat position, bringing your hands with the dumbbells in front of you.
- Always supporting yourself with your hands on the dumbbells, do an explosive movement to extend your legs back so that you are in a push-up position.
- Jump immediately bringing your knees to your chest, and reverse all the movement done so far until you reach the starting position.
- Repeat the entire movement several times to complete about 3 sets of between 25 and 45 seconds.
7. Side shift with knee raise
By doing about three 45-second rounds of this exercise, you get improvements in speed and agility .
Instructions
- Put about three cones on the ground, forming a straight line, with a separation between them slightly more than the width of your hips.
- Stand sideways to the cones, and from there begin a lateral shift, raising your knees to pass between them. The idea is to take two steps in the middle of the cones, and then three steps outside of them to regain the rhythm and go back.
- It is important not to move by jumping but by taking quick steps, like when we jog.
8. Sprint with reverse scrolling
Nothing better than sprinting training to improve lung capacity and strengthen the lower body; If we add a reverse shift to this, we will be increasing profits and acquiring more agility.
Instructions
- Put three cones on the ground, at a considerable distance, so that they serve as a guide to perform the sprint.
- Start sprinting by going from the first cone to the second quickly, in the traditional way, leaning a little when you reach it to touch it.
- Return to the first cone by scrolling back. Once there, run again until you reach the third cone this time and from there go back again to the starting position.
- Go through the entire circuit several times for about 30 seconds.
9. Dragon walk
The dragon walk is a similar exercise to the traditional pushup, but with the addition of an external hip twist that tests shoulders, chest, abs, triceps and obliques in an incredible way.
Instructions
- Start in a traditional push-up position, with your hands shoulder-width apart.
- Execute the push-up, but at the moment of descending turn your right hip out a little, so that you can touch your right elbow with your right knee.
- Go up with your arms, while bringing your right knee back again, until you are in the starting position.
- Repeat the exercise, this time with the other side of the body.
- Continue alternating sides for about 30 seconds to a minute.
10. Overhead medicine ball throw
This exercise works the abdomen, arms and legs through an explosive and simultaneous movement.
Instructions
- Start standing with your feet shoulder-width apart and your knees slightly bent, holding the medicine ball in front of you with both hands.
- To start the throw, carry the ball over your head, while taking a somewhat more vertical stance and inhaling air.
- Quickly throw the ball to the ground in front of you, so that it bounces back into your hands.
- Return to the starting position and repeat the exercise for 30 to 45 seconds.
Reference
- Watson, Kevan. 14 Moves to Build the Strength and Stamina of an MMA Fighter. For Livestrong. [Revised March 2017].
