MMA Training Workouts

Circuit training is a type of workout in which you chain together a number of exercises, completing one after another without rest or with a short rest. The exercises that you string together form what is called the circuit.

Creating a circuit is a great way to explore the variations of your workout routine. You can vary the overall length of time, the time spent on each exercise, the time in between exercises, what exercises you use, how much weight you use (if you are using weights), etc.

Let's take a look at some of the things to consider when creating a circuit training program to improve performance in MMA.

Time length - Fairly simple. You want to try to mimic the length of time you will spend fighting and resting during an mma fight. For example, if you have a 3 round fight with each round lasting 5 minutes with 1 minute rest in between, then you would want to create a circuit that uses those times. Of course there are instances that you may not want to do it exactly that way. For instance you may want to increase the intensity of the workout beyond what you will experience in the fight e.g. less rest and longer periods of activity.

Exercises - Well, I'm a big fan of exercises that use large muscle groups, since that is usually what you use in a fight. Think pull ups, push ups, bent over rows, and squats. Not exercises that isolate one part of the body like one arm bicep curls, calf extensions and tricep extensions. Also try to make the exercises as sport specific as you can. For instance, rather than doing squats, grab a partner and practice shooting in for a double leg, then pick him all the way off the ground, then repeat. You can replace wind sprints with an intense round of kicking the thai pads. That being said, you can pretty much use any exercise you want in your circuit providing it is safe and will push you in the direction of your goal.