Fight Camp Conditioningā€™s Top 20 Posts from 2015
By Corey Beasley
2015 has been one heck of a year! Coaches from around the globe have shared their knowledge and provided incredible insight as to how elite fighters and grapplers train to improve their performance. Below you will find our 20, most popular posts from the past 365 days. You'll find a variety of topics, ranging from recovery to develop speed and power.
FCC's Top 20 Posts from 2015
#20
These days everybody is training hard…Some athletes run, lift, and do up to 2-3 skill sessions per day. But randomly going through tough workouts is a recipe for disaster, so you must develop a plan…but where do you start? Read More...
#19
Heavy Complexes: The Solution for Speed and Endurance
While most would assume strength reflects simply how much you are able to lift, that is probably an oversimplification for most athletes, especially for those in fighting sports. Why? Let’s look at strength, fighting sports have athletes developing force at all sorts of different angles and positions, most that are not reproduced by classic gym exercises. Just as important though, fighters need to learn to resist force. Read More...
#18
Is Powerlifting Beneficial for Combat Athletes?
Combat Athletes are not power lifters hence they should not be trained as such. However it certainly does not mean that including elements of power lifting training in s&c for combat is bad. I personally cannot imagine a decent and effective s&c program without the 3 power lifting staples – squat, deadlift and bench. It is not the use of the above 3 exercises that should be questioned, it is their application. Read More...
#17
5 Most Popular Podcasts from Fight Camp Conditioning
We have been incredibly fortunate to talk with some of the best strength coaches in the game. These guys work with Olympic athletes, UFC Champions, BJJ World Champs and more. Learn how they develop programs, interact with other coaches, build strength, develop power and prepare their athletes for competition. Read More...
#16
Ultimate Guide to Speed and Power
Speed and power in what highlight reels are made of... Fast hands, fast feet, powerful takedowns, quick transitions, etc are all the result of 1000s of hours in the gym and the right training program. Speed and power CAN BE DEVELOPED...but in order to develop more power and speed, we must alter our workouts. Read More...
#15
FRC Mobility Drills from Dr. Andreo Spina
It’s more important to control the ranges [of motion] that you have than to extend ranges. To extend ranges must ensure that you are in control of those ranges. If you just have passive flexibility it’s not going to help you move and its not going to prevent injury. Read More...
#14
One of the most overlooked or under appreciated aspects of training is nutrition. I’m not sure if its because of our emotional attachment to it, habits or people’s unwillingness to prepare it, but eating good quality foods can make a huge impact on your health and performance. Read More...
#13
Is Gymnastics Training Good for MMA?
Gymnastics training can actually be a great tool to help to understand how to use the body efficiently and powerfully, engage it from the tips of your toes through the mid-section to the top of your head. It should not replace the s&c work in the weight room but certain elements of gymnastics supplement it very well, resulting in great progress, strength, power and stability wise. Read More...
#12
Ask Coaches: What are Your Favorite Exercises?
Choosing the right exercise for each athlete, is like finding the right tool for the job. Every athlete has different needs, goals, ability levels, body shape, etc. That being said, we wanted to ask some of our coaches and see what some of their ‘pillar’ exercises were for most athletes. Read More...
#11
5 Exercises to Develop Stability, Strength and Power in Your Hips
The glutes are an incredibly powerful group of muscles, yet they’re often neglected in standard strength training programs. MMA is a highly versatile sport, and the glutes are heavily activated in most important actions in an MMA. The glutes contract forcefully when standing up and striking, during take downs and throws, and even with escapes and submissions. As you can see, it is advantageous for a fighter to possess strong, powerful, and well-conditioned glutes. Read More...
#10
Fixing Fighter's Posture: Can You Pass the Pencil Test?
Many fighters report neck, back pain and even headaches caused by poor postural habits. This is caused by a number of factors which include MMA Boxing and Thai often coaches encourage a chin tucked shoulders forwards posture and drill this position into fighters. The tendency for even athletes to engage in prolonged day to day sitting, slouching and TV/desk posture also adds to the mix. On top of this, self led athletes in the weight room often prefer to train what we can see (anterior) and neglect what we cannot (posterior). Some will tell you that posture does not equal pain, which for some ordinary people is true, but in the collision sport athlete it can lead to poor mechanics and force absorption capabilities especially when some tissue are over stretched, tight or tired. Read More...
#9
Got Achy Healthy Shoulders? Here's 10 Exercises for Healthier Shoulders
Shoulders are one of those common trouble spots for many fighters and grapplers. Wrestling, boxing, jiu jitsu and other training definitely put some wear and tear and our joints… add in the wrong strength work and its a recipe for disaster. Shoulder pain can be caused by poor posture, weakness, imbalance and many other factors can create aches and pains that last awhile. Read More...
#8
Build the Beast: 10 Steps to Developing More Strength
Muscular strength is defined as the maximum amount of force that a muscle can exert against some form of resistance in a single effort. Children roll, crawl, climb, walk, run, play and interact with the environment around them. This might seem insignificant, but this early activity helps us develop body awareness, coordination, control and speed. As we get older, our bodies are able to handle more work, heavier loads and more intense tasks. Read More...
#7
21 Sandbag Exercises for Fighters and Grapplers
Having worked with some top fighting coaches I’ve gotten to watch, listen, and really examine what fighters need. Funny enough many of these fighters haven’t liked me in the moment because we really tapped into what would make them better. Let’s face it, working on our weaknesses is generally a humbling experience, however, the result of dominating in our sport is the perfect reward. Read More...
#6
Best Core Exercises for Fighters and Grapplers
We here a lot about “CORE” training these days, but what the heck does that mean? Our CORE basically ties together our hips and shoulders. It stabilizes the spine, resists movement, assists movement and transfers energy between all four limbs. Glutes, obliques, lats, transverse abdominus, rectus abdominus, spinal erectors and more. Its important to isolate these muscles and also integrate them into compound movements. Used correctly, these exercises can help reduce common aches and pains, get stronger, hit harder, and dominate the competition from every position. Read More...
#5
6 Ways to Improve Explosiveness
MMA is an explosive sport. From flying knees, to power takedowns, to knockout punches, explosive power can be a huge advantage to fighters inside the cage. But what is the best way to develop power that transfers into fight performance? Below are the top 6 techniques I use to develop sport specific power for fighters. Read More...
#4
Ultimate Guide to Nutrition for Fighters and Grapplers
All of us have habits…some good, some bad. We can break those bad habits and replace them with better ones, but that takes effort. Many people can tackle change in one area of their life but struggle or resist change in others. You might be willing to learn new techniques and practice more often, but resist the idea of shopping, cooking or making better choices when you eat. Read More...
#3
Develop More Power, Speed, Agility and Quickness
The foundation of all exercise is movement and before we dive into complex lifts and explosive plyometrics, we need to lay a solid foundation. In this article you will find a variety of different drills and exercises that you can use to develop more coordination, body awareness, speed, power and athleticism. Read More...
#2
11 Ways to Avoid Overtraining, Fatigue, Exhaustion, Injuries and Poor Athletic Performances
Why are so many athletes getting hurt these days? Some injuries cannot be avoided, but many are having a hard time keeping up with their workouts, they are breaking down, and not able to perform. Training, working out, drilling, sparring, running, etc takes its toll on our bodies. Our muscles, nervous system, connective tissues and more are all pushed to their limit, broken down and need time to recover. If we do too much, our body cannot recover and it doesn’t have time to build back up. Continue grinding for too long and your body will begin to break down. Read More...
#1
5 Biggest Mistakes in Combat Sports
Summary of a conference at the National Strength and Conditioning Association's Combat Sports Clinic. Strength coaches, athletes and researchers shared their perspective on working with fighters and grapplers from around the world. The common theme that weekend was how to help these athletes stay healthy and improve their performance, without breaking them down. Read More...
If you have any suggestions for posts in 2016, please leave a comment below and we will do our best to provide more great strength and conditioning tips, tricks and guidelines to help you develop better workouts.
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