MMA vs Weight Training

Most people find fitness due to traumatic experiences.

Some people pick up boxing to learn how to defend themselves.

Some people start weight training to boost their self-confidence.

Some people may do both just to find ways to cope with their mental health.

For me, I started both for all these reasons.

I've always loved martial arts starting way back at 6 years old but weight training didn't make its way into my life until I was 14 years old.

It first started off with a love for bodybuilding (I was never the tallest kid in high school, I compensated with weights).

I had injured my shoulder during sparring and for weeks I couldn't train martial arts without my shoulder coming out of place, so I supplemented my martial arts training with weights.

Since my shoulder was weak from the injury, my weight training coach had me do lots of low-weight, high-rep exercises to build my strength.

Over time I saw the magic of how helpful weight training became for my martial arts.

In just 4-6 months I went from dislocating my shoulder just from jumping into the pool to full contact sparring.

This is when the new term I use "Hybrid Warrior" was born.

Weight Lifting for Joint Strength

Martial arts requires you to put your body through stressful training so you can handle the stress of fights.

You see Thai fighters kicking heavy bags for hours or kicking Banana trees to harden their shins.

Kung Fu practitioners undergo a training called "iron body" to strengthen bones on different parts of the body.

Judo & BJJ experts even practice falling to toughen the body and learn how to break their fall.

All these arts have some form of training to strengthen their skeleton system but what about the joints?

Weight training is a great means of being able to strengthen joints and tendons due to the outside resistance you place upon them.

Now I’m not saying go put a bunch of heavy weight on a bar and start lifting, that'll actually harm your joints more than benefit.

You start with a low, something that’s fairly easy to control, and you focus on slowly moving that weight in the range of motion that joint allows you to move in.

Take a simple lunge for example; a lunge works these muscles:

• quads

• glutes

• hamstrings

But the slower we make the movement and lighten up the load, we begin to give the tendons a chance to work as well.

You can also strengthen your joints and tendons with isometric training.

Isometric training is when you take an unmovable object and exert maximum force to move it. Naturally, you won't be able to - but this form of training will teach your muscles and tendons how to deliver maximum effort naturally over time.

This form of training is something Bruce Lee used to do all the time, and most fitness and martial arts experts believe this is how he was able to become so strong at such low muscle mass.

Increase Your Power

You have some people who only care about power.

How hard they can hit. How fast they can move. Regardless of what it is, they want to outperform their competition.

The 1 key factor that’s going to help you develop that overwhelming knockout power is combat weight training.

What's combat weight training?

Taking free weights such as dumbbells, medicine balls, or kettlebells and applying them to combat specific movements.

Fighting takes place in two main ranges of motion:

• Sagital (Left and Right)

• Transverse (Rotational Top & Bottom)

Sagital

In fighting, your right side is never going to do the same thing as the left side. So when you are weight training, you want to mimic this with single arm or single leg exercises.

Exercises like single arm presses, Bulgarian split squats, and Dumbell exercises; will give each side of the body a different stimulus and you can focus more on developing your weaker side as well.

Transverse

Power comes from the rotational force of your core. The muscles that work together to generate that power are

- Abs

- Obliques

- Hip flexors

- Lower back

- Glutes

(Most people do not know how much the glutes and lower back play apart in fighting)

To strengthen the transverse plane, weighted exercises that go across the body or move you in the transverse plane will build power.

• Russian twist

• Banded cross punches

• Med Ball Side throws

• Power Hooks

Regardless if the movement is slow or explosive, the muscles that operate in the transverse plane must be trained if you want to generate the most amount of power.

Why Glutes Though?

It took me years of training to learn this but your glutes actually do play a part in your core muscles because they also work well with your hip flexors.

These muscles are great for kicking; they keep you balanced and generate kicking power.

Most fighters only kick from a sagittal plane. They have the rotation very slightly but they're not applying the full amount of power into their movements.

Kicking from the transverse plane is when you allow the hips to turn vigorously as you kick. The hip flexors activate as you engage the turn of the hips while the glutes give the support leg stability.

Depending on the kick also dictates where the main force comes from.

Side kicks generate the most power when the glute is engaged.

Most round kicks get their power from the hip flexors.

A simple lesson I used to tell the fighters I coached is "A weak ass will make weak kicks."

If punches generate their power from the shoulder, rotator cuff, and upper back then it makes sense that your kicks will get their power from the glutes, and hip flexors. and lower back.

So what's the word Rasta Man?

If you want to be a better martial artist and get the most out of your body, a hybrid warrior approach makes the most sense.

You don’t have to become a bodybuilder, but you can still use weight lifting to improve yourself as a warrior when you train combat-specific.

I wish you the best and continue to reach newer levels!

From,

Rasta Riek aka "The Rasta Man"

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