A Peek Into A Fighter's Routine

So far this is how my training is set up. Nothing is taken to failure. I make every rep and slowly progress each week. You can always progress slow over time rather than push it too fast and get stuck too quickly. I get up at 5:30 each morning to head to work so attempting to get enough rest each day is a challenge. So far I’ve been progressing nicely. If my progress peaks, I’ll decrease the weight and slowly work up again.

Monday: Strength (A, Heavy)

Tuesday: Muay Thai, Jiu Jitsu

Wednesday: Strength (B, Light)

Thursday: Muay Thai, Jiu jitsu

Friday: Strength (A, Medium)

Saturday: Freestyle, Greco Roman

Sunday: Rest day/Sleep in like a lazy bastard

My strength training looks like this:

Workout A:

Main:

Hang Cleans

Squats (front squat until it gets too heavy and change to back squat…usually last set)

Bench Press

Supplementary:

Incline press

Dumbbell rows

Romanians

Workout B:

Main:

Hang Snatch

Front Squats

Close Grip Bench

Supplementary:

Overhead press

Chin-ups

Plyo’s

The rep schemes change each week for the main exercises. My main goal is to maintain strength so I cycle through 4 week strength phases. The first phase cycles through reps of 3-5, starting high and working low. The second phase works in the 2-4’s. Then I repeat back to the first strength phase. I’ll keep the singles for pre-competition when I get to that point. Maintaining strength is key! A good strength to weight ratio in MMA, like any sport, is very important…lose that and you are sure to lose in competition.

I really listen to my body. If I don’t have the gas I just get the main lifts in. As long as I progress on those I’m happy. The Supplementary lifts are done for 3 sets of 8-10 (except plyos), and done just to add a little hypertrophy. Nothing intense, I’m not too worried if I progress too quickly with those.

You might be wondering where the conditioning is? I’m a big believer in using your sport and practice as a mode to improve your conditioning. Any extra conditioning would be overkill. If 2-3 hours three times a week of intense practice doesn’t increase your work capacity, something is definitely wrong.

If you had extra time throughout the week (aka you don’t have a job or you aren’t going to school) I would add sprint work and med ball tosses in the mix during the mornings on practice days. If I ever get enough time I’ll be doing this, but for now I’m keeping to what is absolutely necessary. I might even add it in during pre-competition instead of the assistance hypertrophy work I’m doing at the moment.