workout method

[Chris05]

is this a good workout idea. its called strenght endurance= heavy weight+low resting period+ volume

low reps high sets for instance 1-4 reps 10-20 sets with a short resting period lifting 65-85 percent of your 1Rep Max per exercise.

is this a good way to lift weights. i want to gain muscle for the ring.

[tallgeese]

It will make you stronger, and bigger. If those are your sole goals it'd probibly work well. However, for ring training I prefer some sort of weight routine that will stress the muscles for a longer duration than 4-6 reps.

Generally speaking, higher rep workouts are more efficient for training for the types of t hings we do. I'd still periodize for heavy lifting of course, but as a rule, you'd want more reps per exercise to adapt the body to a constant state of work.

[Chris05]

what are the most important muscles a figher uses? and guys can u give me a good mma workout routine thanks.

[the beast]

what are the most important muscles a figher uses?

I would focus on all core muscles ( back upper, middle, lower, abs obliques, legs and shoulders)

[tallgeese]

Yup, core muscles and functional multi-joint lifts for weghts. Deadlifts, squats, cleans, and such.

For overall conditioning check out crossfit.com

It's a good site for this sort of thing. I use parts of it (3 days per week usually) in addition to trad weight training and my ma workouts. If I were still competing, I'd probibly do more of it.

As for your ma training itself, if you're going to train for a specific comp train under only those rules for the time your prepping for it. Maybe 1.5-2 months out. Train by rounds, lots of them, use them even for drill and mitt work. Keep the intensity high.

Lot's of mitts, bag routines, sparring drills. Spar often. Make sure you're training at very heavy contact at least every week or so. Use gear even then to prevent training injures.

You have to approch fight training as a whole. Conditioning, skill and ring time all rolled together. It's hard to address one without the others.

[JohnC]

I think it's critical to understand terms here and training objectives. First off there's a difference between 'strength' training and the broader term 'resistance' training. A real problem is that folks try to make a one answer fits all do the work ..... and it won't.

The purpose of strength training is to build "strength" not endurance, not aerobic capacity, etc. There are other forms of training that do a much better job building those things.

If your objective is to build strength, the adaptation response must be triggered or you will not adapt to the newer / heavier work load. To trigger the adapation response, you must work above 80% of your maximum. In weight training this translates to roughly 4 - 6 reps. If you can do more than 8 reps with the weight, feel free, you may sweat a lot, feel tired, etc. but the odds are great that you won't get much stronger. For general strength training (i.e. weight lifting) lift until you can do 8 reps in a set then increase weight until you can do no less than 3 reps and repeat the cycle.

NO sports science research supports the need to do more than one set per exercise (which is why circuit training was developed). Once the adapatation response has been triggered then it is triggered, no extra sets will change that or do more. If you feel the uncontrollable urge to do mulitple sets then I'd suggest you do multiple circuits all the way through not multiple sets at each exercise.

Within periodization, you should do a serious strength training segment for roughly 6 - 9 weeks and give your muscles at least 48 hours to recover between sessions (that is a maximum of 3 workouts per week and a minimum of 2. This is dependant upon factors such as age, maturity of the athlete (with regards athletic training), baseline, etc. The secret is intensity not reps. Most folks do not ever work at the necessary intensity to make serious gains happen. Take a week or two to baseline, then make sure you work with intensity (although this may vary at each workout, the idea is work hard, regardless of the poundage you happen to be pushing that day) in each workout. At the end of 9 weeks you should show gains of around 1/4 to 1/3 of baseline (e.g. if you start at 100 lbs, at the end of the cycle you should be pushing 125 - 135 lbs). At the end of a cycle then move to a maintenance routine for 6 - 9 weeks, don't keep trying to build, and let your body fully recover from the demands of the segment.

In addition when working at these intensities injury probability goes up significantly, so attention to correct form and full range of motion is critical (that means don't macho, cut the weight until you can do a full range of motion with control. Make sure you are also doing exercises to strengthen the stablizer muscles as well as the big mover groups.) Try to make sure you do good bio-mechanics and don't put your body in 'twisted' positions. For example, when doing a lat pull down use the thumb over instead of thumb under grip, as the over grip doesn't force your wrists into awkward positions as you pull the bar down. A qualified coach (not 'personal trainer') should help you if possible until you learn how to exercise correctly.

Lastly, in general, work big muscles first and then small muscles. Focus on building core strength and then move to limb strength.

For sport specific training (i.e. what muscles are used for Karate), you can weight train using a cable machine or resistance bands, so that you can do specific punching / kicking motions against resistance. Start REALLY low on the weight and work up. Due to the biomechanics of these moves, the muscles pushing the work loads range from tiny to massive. Be sure to do strict technique and full range of motion. The limiter is the tiny muscles. If you push too much resistance (even if it's easy for the massive ones) you'll tear muscles and be out of training til they heal. Listen to your body, if you feel specific pain, STOP. Additionally, if you feel soreness past 24 hours of recovery, pay attention, as you may be pushing too much weight and/or overtraining.

If you want to build endurance then doing training using resistance bands is more appropriate. Simply do your moves using the bands, the extra resistance will help you build endurance. If you use wrist / ankle weights do the moves slowly so that you don't hyper extend joints. This tool is really more strength oriented than endurance oriented.

Make sure you keep a log of your progress. If you don't see significant progress from baseline, week by week, then the training plan isn't working and needs to be modified. Contrary to what most folks do, the objective of a training plan is to get serious improvement over a relatively short time frame. Then build on that to get radical improvement over a long time frame. Most folks don't measure progess and so settle for much less than is possible and, in some cases, no real progress at all.

Bottom line is each training objective has an appropriate tool that optimizes the training. A coach adds value by knowing all the stuff that's available and being able to customize the training plan to the individual and to the sport. The one size fits all approach usually involves a lot of sweat and energy but shows little results. The above is results oriented. Hope it helps.

[FitOrDie]

That type of training is one-dimensional and will almost certainly cause you to fail in all things except lifting big heavy weights.

To answer other questions, the most important muscles a fighter uses is ALL of them! Think about it, a punch starts by being powered by the legs, that force travels through your entire body-meaning every muscle in it- and out through your hands, into your target.

If you want to gain muscle in the ring, I think you have the wrong mentality. Gaining lean mass for a bigger weight class is one thing, there is a great article on the subject at rossboxing-dot-com or rosstraining-dot-com. Bottom line: train like a fighter, eat balanced like you should, just eat a little more.

But what you really want to do is increase your work capacity, not muscle. (See my signature.) A lean trained fighter will demolish a steroid-pumped muscle-head. To throw and dodge and block more punches and kicks and whatever harder, faster, over a set period of time, more accurately while experiencing less fatigue... that should be your goal.