Hello everyone. This is a guest post from Rick Walker who writes for FightShop.com
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Over the last decade, mixed martial arts has transformed from a cult sport, into one of the world’s biggest combat competitions.
From leading sports organisations like the UFC to smaller, independent MMA operations, mixed martial arts is truly taking over the world- one fighter at a time.
As well as its fantastic, exciting appeal as a televised sport, MMA is growing as a way for non-competitive people to keep slim, fit, and in shape.
From special fitness workouts to training regimes designed to keep you as sharp as a top-tier fighter, it’s easy to keep in shape using MMA.
The following four tips will help you improve your muscular and cardiovascular endurance using a combination of MMA training tactics and basic drills. If you’re searching for a great all-round fitness routine, read on to learn:
1. Focus On Intense, Interval-Focused Cardio Training
Did you know that very few MMA fighters engage in the long-distance, low-intensity cardio training that gym fanatics seem to love? While low-intensity cardio is a great way to burn fat, it’s far from ideal when it comes to improving muscular endurance.
Rather than spending hours on the treadmill, most MMA fighters use short-distance, high-intensity cardio as the building block of their endurance training. Whether you use a treadmill or a bicycle, try to keep your intensity high and your workout timing as short as possible.
Do short bursts of cardio whether it is jumping jacks or skipping, rest for a minute, and then crank up the volume again. Sparring is great for this because you can exert a lot of energy for just a couple of minutes, and then you can allow your heart rate to slow down again, so you can get your breath back.
2. Focus On Full Body Strength, Not Isolation-Focused Bodybuilding Routines
You’ll rarely see an MMA fighter doing bicep curls. Instead of focusing on muscular development, the world’s best MMA fighters focus on building the type of strength that allows them to last for several rounds in the dreaded UFC octagon.
Banish any isolation exercises from your weight training routine and instead focus on full body exercises such as lunges, squats, and the farmer’s walk (also known as the Farmer’s Carry.) Top-tier MMA fighters keep their reps high, like x15, when they work out to improve muscular endurance.
Bench dips are also ideal as well as heavy bag burpees.
3. Practice Fight Drills & MMA Movements As Cardiovascular Training
As aforementioned, there’s no better combination of cardiovascular fitness and technique improvement than sparring with an experienced MMA fighter. If you want to enjoy cardiovascular health that’s very practical for your fighting, try a high-intensity sparring workout.
While throwing punches and kicks might not seem as efficient as riding a gym bike or running on a treadmill, it produces the most important kind of fitness- muscular endurance that has a direct positive result on your MMA performance.
When you are not punching you are ducking and weaving, and working your entire body.
4. Don’t Train Too Hard – Lower Your Intensity To Recover More Easily
It only takes one day of overtraining to put your progress on hold for several weeks at a time. Instead of pushing yourself to the limit during your MMA training sessions, scale back your intensity and aim for 70-80% physical difficulty.
Many MMA champions are able to train frequently because they know exactly when to stop. As a newbie to MMA, it can be tempting to push yourself too hard right at the beginning in order to burn as many calories as possible.
Take a more reasoned approach and stop before your body forces you to, in order to reduce the likelihood of running into injuries.
About The Author:
This article was written by Fightshop.com, an online retailer that specialises in boxing and MMA equipment. Visit their website to learn more about martial arts training and expert tips.