MMA Workout

Stamina and endurance are extremely important for fighters and athletes. Unfortunately, it's probably the area that is given the least time and attention by amateurs.

The first thing to pay attention to when looking at your endurance is your general strength level. Your baseline strength is the point where any discussion of stamina and endurance starts-it's the level that we are trying to sustain.

The next area to look at is getting blood to your muscles. Really, this is about your heart-it needs to be fit enough to quickly pump blood to your muscles. There are two aspects to this. One, increasing the volume of blood the heart pumps, which is where Cardio comes in. Next is increasing the amount of blood the heart pumps per beat-this is where strength training and hard interval training helps.

Next, your muscles need to be efficient at extracting the oxygen from the blood and expelling the waste products developed from contracting. To improve this,local muscular endurance training comes into play, so the muscles are forced to recover faster through progressively longer sets and shorter rest periods.

Finally, your lungs need to be able to efficiently take oxygen from the air and they have to be trained well enough to avoid fatiguing.

This is a pretty new concept but there is research that shows that specific respiratory muscle training can improve endurance. I make sure to incorporate different lengths of hard intervals to get the lungs working at high levels, but I suggest trying respiratory muscle training to see if it's really beneficial.

The most important thing I can give you here is the math: power is a result of the combination of strength and speed (strength + speed = power). When putting together a training program to increase the power of your punches, you need to think "big picture". Your exercise selection and training parameters (reps, contraction speed, rest etc.) should be varied for optimal results.When I started, my chest workouts consisted of the standard decline, flat and incline pressing movements and maybe I'd throw in a cable fly exercise to finish off. Now that my priorities have shifted from bodybuilding to performance enhancement, my chest workout is now geared around improving both the speed and power of my punches.

Here's a basic workout to show you what I mean. The purpose of this workout is to develop speed and power. Please don't neglect your endurance training.

Flat Barbell Press

Start things off with the barbell bench press-go relatively heavy. The purpose of this is to develop maximum strength (recall that punching power is a result of strength and speed). If you can, attach chains or resistance bands to the end of the barbell as doing so will provide additional resistance as you drive the barbell upwards.

Exercise Guidelines

* 5 Sets
* Gradually increase the weight
* Repetitions = 10,8,6,4,1-2
* Rest = 2-4 minutes (heavier load = longer rest)

Smith Machine Throws

This is a great exercise for hand speed and punching power if it's done in an explosive fashion. For this exercise, you would use only around 25% of what you would normally use for your regular sets. As for the execution, you basically toss it up as high as you can, catch it, quickly lower the barbell towards the chest (don't go beyond a 90 degree angle) and toss the barbell up again. Make quicker the exercise is performed, the more effective it will be.

Exercise Guidelines

* 3 Sets
* 6-8 repetitions per set
* Rest = 3 minutes

Plyometric Push Ups

Here's another great exercise to improve the power of your punches. To perform the exercise, you will need to find two of the steps used in aerobics classes and position them between 4-6 feet apart (depending on the length of your arms). You start in a push up position with 1 hand placed atop each bench. When you're ready, push off and move your hands to a position between the steps. Without hesitation, explode upwards and move your hands back atop the steps.

Exercise Guidelines

* 3 sets
* As many reps as possible (to make it harder, increase the height of the steps)
* Rest interval = 3 minutes

Olympic Bar Push Punch

This exercise is a great way to not only add power to your punches, but also to increase your core strength since you'll have to brace your torso throughout the movement. Make sure you grab the barbell BELOW the weight plate and not above it. Holding the barbell too high will force you to drive your arm forward at an upward arc that's unrealistic to throwing a real punch. Keep a stance identical to the stance you'd use while fighting. This exercise; as with most of the exercises in this workout, should be done in an explosive fashion.

Exercise Guidelines

* 3 sets
* 15 reps each
* Do both arms consecutively before resting
* 2 minutes rest

Resistance Band Punches

This is about as functional as it gets. Resistance band punches are excellent for hand speed as you're simply punching against resistance. To perform the exercise, all you do is wrap a couple resistance bands around the bar on a pulley station (or anything that's shoulder height). You then grasp the handles and ensure that the bands are positioned under your arms. From there, it's easy - you shadowbox. If you have a workout partner with you, get him to hold the focus mitts for you. It's actually pretty fun. As you fatigue, you simply drop one band and continue the exercise (providing your using more than one resistance band).

Exercise guidelines

* 3 rounds
* 1 minute each
* 1 minute rest

Freemotion Hooks

This exercise is performed on the freemotion cable machine. Not every gym has one of these. If yours does, then I guess you're in luck. The resistance band exercise worked on the speed of your straight shots while this exercise is designed to train your hand speed and punching power on your hooks. The freemotion hook exercise is also great for developing rotary power within your core.

Exercise Guidelines

* 3 sets (each arm)
* 10 repetitions
* 1 minute rest

Give it a shot!