WhiteBelt

One of the best sensei I knew was overweight. He wouldn't last in a fight for too long but he could teach better than anybody else in the dojo. My coach at MT comes from Thailand and sometimes I can barely understand what he's saying... damn now I can't wait to get back (wish tendons would heal faster).

Heh, I'm not afraid to squat heavy but you'll never see me doing front snap kicks. I'm too worried about knee damage...

Either that or you don't hit very hard, but probably a bit of both. Note: this is not an insult.

That's it right there. This is one of the reasons that the classic olympic lifts are still so popular. Now I'm not suggesting them, just giving an example.

Don't see too many blown knees at my MT gym. Actually, I saw more bad knees at my last karate dojo.

DOMS by itself doesn't necessarily prove that the workout is effective.

Bands are a recent developement. So, in your case it's forgivable that you haven't heard about them... Yes the bench press isn't the most effective pec exercise, but why do you need to work them (pecs)? The only MMA fighters I see that have overly developed pecs generally are on the juice or do some bodybuilding. All the others with 'normal' pecs seem to hit just as hard, if not harder. Finally, stop bashing the deadlift. EDIT: Whoa, I almost missed that slow = power comment. Slow lifting will improve max strength not power. There is carry over but only so much. Go with the fast, it's more effective. Also, don't do negatives too often. They're harder to recover from.

Sure, if you lift an extremely light weight you can injure yourself but I'm assuming we're all lifting at least a moderate amount of weight. Slow lifting is not beneficial for power developement, explosive lifting is (which is the topic of discussion). You haven't seen bands? Then you don't train with serious lifters.

I found the best way was to get a good trainer that will beat it into you... You make one mistake and he's in your face.

Regardless of the weight lifted try to lift as quickly as possible. Bands in the sense of jump stretch bands which can add an extra hundred pounds (there are many variations, some less, some more) at the top of a lift, but add very little at the bottom. You can easily add these to your bench press, squat, and deadlift for example. Mind you, this also an advanced method, but worth looking into for anybody that is interested.

Explain how a standing curl works your whole body? Most people turn them into cheat curls, which do not work your abs, obliques, or back that well, which was one of the main concerns of the thread. Your time would be better spent doing a more effective exercise than trying to find more uses for curls. IMO, one curl exercise in a day is fine but you must have a good excuse to be doing it and never do more than that. And it's the same way I feel about all isolation work (shrugs, crunches, etc.).

How about you practice walking on a fence. The only reason you'd need to work your core for better balance is if it's holding you back. One thing, curls don't work your core. Curls are useless to me, and quite a few other people, and are an isolation exercise for your biceps. You might as well do push-ups and call that major core work, and it would be more true than for curls.

10 lbs is useless. Get more weight. BTW, punching improves punching power too.

Jules has some good points. I would also like to add, remember to lift explosively. And that you can lift with about 50% 1RM at 10x2, but this is for advanced lifters (if this feels 'easy' then it's not for you yet). Finally some people believe bands in addition to weights on an exercise can help develope power.

15 by 4? Sounds like olympic fencing but with kicks... I'd like to add that they have rules to keep the people safe so you can see them fight again another day. Sure, if you want the full gladiatorial combat thing then feed 'em to the lions.

...and you lived to tell the tale?? That was a very brave thing to do! Yes, however I've been taking 'time off' of MAs... Atleast it gives my ankle the much needed months of rest.

Don't forget the entourage.

The best defense is to run. You need to be fit. If you stay and fight, then you still need to be fit. I never said complete fit. Whatever that means.

No I think you should add a good foot and a half before you look mean...

Google neck bridges, or nech bridging. If they are too tough then look into neck crunches, and neck harnasses.

To practice MAs one has to be fit.

Ring, cage, and octagon, are all different. Each orginization has it's own ruleset. What are you really looking for?

Deadlifts are a step in the right direction, but pulldowns and cable rows? If he can do weighted dips (was that parallel or off a bench?), he might as well graduate from pulldowns to pull-ups, and from cable rows to barbell rows. Squats are, agian, a step in the right direction but isolation movements? The only reason somebody does isolation movements for their legs are: rehab from an injury, they don't know any better, they know better and are too lazy/don't want to change. I don't know about you but I would want strong legs. Get rid of leg curls and extensions. In place of curls you put one of RDL, SLDL, goodmorning, pull-through, etc. In place of extensions, if you really feel you need it after squating heavy (and I never do), you put front squats, lunges, and unilateral squat movements. If you can find a thick bar try using that instead of the standard olympic bar. You can bench, deadlift, whatever with it and it will help your grip plenty. Grippers are great too, if you order one of the better names (I can only think of Captains of Crush at the moment). Finally plate pinching, and similar exercises, also build strength in your thumbs which really builds your grip. I know none of this is forearms but still very important in the MAs.

There may be nothing wrong with a split, but there may be more optimal means of developement. And, in this case the split is a classic bodybuilder split. You don't usually see chest/tris, shoulder/bis, chest/legs in a workout for sports activity. There is no back work and very little lower body work.

Teach: no, get an idiot to demonstrate the difficult techniques. Practice: yes.