When one considers training like a mixed martial artist it is very different than training for almost every other sport.
It is assured you will never get bored and will have a plethora of options for your workouts. The smarter you work the more you are able to accomplish while avoiding injury. The training involves as much mentally as it does physically and that attracts a lot of people that want variety in their work out and love to learn new things. Most people training in MMA never get in the cage to fight.
MMA training has become a specialty within the fitness world. It is the greatest way to get in shape and stay in shape for the long term. Look at Gene Lebell and Randy Couture as examples of people who have trained from a very young age to their current age and maintained great physique and health not to mention they can choke or knock out nearly anyone.
The National Exercise and Strength Trainers Association, NESTA, recently developed a certification for Mixed Martial Arts Conditioning Coaches. The members of this group surround the globe and more and more organizations are accepting the specialty of MMA conditioning training. There is science behind the certification and much emphasis is put on building a solid base of muscle before moving on to exercise that will take that base and test it.
The five areas mandatory for training in mixed martial arts training are skill, speed, strength, flexibility and endurance. These five areas are the components to the MMA puzzle. The following of MMA has grown tremendously and still does today. To imitate the workout approaches these athletes follow will get anyone into great shape.
For most people training in MMA the variety of the workouts keeps things fresh. When you think you are mastering one aspect of the five there are still four other areas to measure ability. Within the skill component itself there are many sub categories such as stand up fighting, submissions, ground and pound, pummeling and more.
There is interest in MMA conditioning from youngsters to people already retired. The four components of MMA conditioning beyond skill benefit all people young and old. When flexibility, endurance, speed and strength are worked on within the limits of the individual and a systematic approach to growth is taken, there is rarely a problem.
Finding the Skills training can be the dicey part. The instructor, black belt, or skills teacher has the greatest key to your progress as if they train safely minimal time will be lost to injury. If one leaves skills training never bruised or if one leaves always hurt then the search for a skills coach should continue. A great instructor will teach the skills while limiting the exposure to injury. Injuries lead to time away from the five components of training and are never a good thing.
Rest is not mentioned in this article yet is an important part to any MMA trainee’s life and although not officially one of the five areas of training is critical. More on rest later. There are five parts to follow this article. One for each of the five components mentioned, breaking things down further without getting too long.
Fight on!