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Combat Sports Conditioning - Working the Sprawl

Combat athletes take a beating on a daily basis. Combat sport conditioning programs should not add any further trauma to the combat athlete.

Sprawls in particular is one exercise that can beat up combat athletes if consisently done on hard surfaces as well as performed frequently during conditioning sessions.

Two videos below highlight proper sprwal training. On the first video, professional mixed martial artist, Lamont Lister demos how to get one hip down to the ground by actually turning the hips. This will help avoid single-leg takedowns.

The second video demos how to use a stability to train that combat sport specific skill while avoid contact with a hard surface.

Thanks Daniel for the great variation !

Static Grip Endurance for Combat Sports

This is a great variation to build solid static strength-endurance in your upperback, arms and grip.

You can program this movement two different ways:

* Go for a set period of time.30 seconds is more than suffecient to start.

* Go for a set number of hand changes. Start low.

If you're grappler, keep your overall volume low on this exercise, as it can stress your biceps tendons and elbows quite a bit.

All the best,

Jason C. Brown BS CSCS

P.S. If you're a self-taught Combat Sport Athlete, you're probably also highly-
motivated. You teach yourself to do the things that will move your
fitness and Combat Sport Conditioning forward.

And you're probably looking for Combat Sport Conditioning programs and
resources that you can study and test out on your own time.

I designed Combat-Sports-Conditioning.com
for Combat Sport Athletes like you.

Check it out here: Combat Sports Conditioning

Lamont Lister's Conditioning

Lamont Lister, professional mixed martial artist from Phildelphia preparing for an upcoming fight in August.

24kg Kettlebell Snatches
Contra-Lateral Push-ups
Flying Arm-bars
G & P Slam Ball
Band Suplexes

Anthony "The Animal" Gatt

We've only been working with Anthony for a couple months but his work ethic and the love of his combat sports is inspirational.

Anthony had a fight only 11 days ago in Oaks, PA. This week he got a call about a fight in Butler , PA. Before we knew it Anthony was on his way to Butler... ready for war.

It was a tough fight with the local fighter winning a 4-round decision. Anthony was knocked down early in round one but quickly recovered and outpaced the local fighter for the next 3 rounds. The number of power-punches Anthony threw was astounding. Even the announcers were amazed.

I might be biased, but I gave Anthony that fight. Great fight Anthony, it's honor to work with you.

Pamela MacElree's Grapplers Quest Conditioning

Here's a clip of Greg and Pamela getting ready for Pamela's Grapplers Quest Competition this Sunday.

1 minute at each drill:

Flying Arm-Bar on 2.5 inch rings
Anchored Kettlebell Cleans
Sandbag Shouldering
Sit-Throughs

Pam is using an 80lb sandbag and 2 x 16kg kettlebells

Greg is using a 100lb sandbag and 2 x 24kg kettlebells.





Here's another clip of Jason and Pamela, we changed it up a bit.

1 minute at each drill:

Flying Arm-Bar on 2.5 inch rings
Anchored Kettlebell Cleans
Sandbag Shouldering
Sit-Throughs
Sandbag Turkish Get-ups

Pam is using an 80lb sandbag and 2 x 16kg kettlebells

Jason is using a 100lb sandbag and 2 x 24kg kettlebells.

Speed Training for Combat Sports

One of the most frequently asked questions that I receive is," How can I get faster ? "

Speed training for combat sports is an interesting topic that deserves some detailed attention.

Speed is your ability to move quickly and it's one of the most important
bio-motor abilities required in combat sports.

Speed is also multi-directional, since movement is performed from
multiple angles and positions during a match or a fight.

Speed not only includes the speed of your own actions, but also the speed of
your RE-actions. Or how quickly you respond to your opponents movement.

Generally, there are 3 elements to speed training:

1.Perfecting Reaction Time

2.Speed Training Proper

3.Strength and Power Exercises meant to enhance power output (Sozanski and Witczak 1981).

There are also many methods used to train for speed. The main method, and the one I'll discuss here is known as the Repetition Method.

To make improvements in speed 3 elements must be present:

1. High Quality of Movement

2. High Frequency of Movement

3. High Specificity of Movement

Let's take a more detailed look at those 3 elements.

High Quality of Movement

Motor Learning research shows that it takes 300-500 repetitions to learn a new movement, however, it takes 3000-5000 repetitions to correct a faulty movement
(Motor Learning and Performance, Schmidt,1941).

Taking your time and focusing on high quality movement will ensure that you're actually developing the skill that you're attempting to refine and improve.

Speed is movement specific, developing poor quality movements will only hinder the development of speed in the skills that you wish to be quick in.

There is no correlation between speed of leg movements and arm movements and very little correlation in movements that require different coordination (DeVries 1980).

High Frequency of Movement

Once you have mastered the mechanics of the skill that you wish to improve, it's time
to focus on your frequency of training.

This directly applies to The Repetition Method. All too often intensity is stressed before consistency or frequency, which can lead to poor quality of movement and develop competeing motor patterns or skills.

Remember, speed is movement specific.

Set aside training time everyday for practicing, not sparring the skills that you wish to be quick in.

Really practice and go deep into the skill. Only when that skill becomes
concrete within your nervous system will you start developing speed.

I suggest you actually track how many repetitions you perform of each drill.
We've made this easy for you, just print out our Combat Sports Skill Acquistion Chart
and take it with you to your academy.

High Specificity of Movement

I've said it 3 times now, speed is movement specific. Practicing a right Cross will not improve the speed of your Jab or low kick, simple enough.

In following articles I'll spend more time discussing the other methods for developing speed.

But remember, keep those 3 elements at the forefront of your mind when training for speed:

1. High Quality of Movement

2. High Frequency of Movement

3. High Specificity of Movement

All the best,

Jason C. Brown BS CSCS

P.S. If you're a self-taught Combat Sport Athlete, you're probably also highly-
motivated. You teach yourself to do the things that will move your
fitness and Combat Sport Conditioning forward.

And you're probably looking for Combat Sport Conditioning programs and
resources that you can study and test out on your own time.

I designed Combat-Sports-Conditioning.com
for Combat Sport Athletes like you.

Check it out here: Combat Sports Conditioning

deVries H. A.1980. Phsyiology of Exercise for Physical
Education and Athletics.Dubuque, IA:Wm. C. Brown Company Publishers.

Schmidt. 1941. Motor Learning and Performance.

Sozanski H., T. Witczak.1981. Trening szybkosci. Warsaw: Sport i Turystyka.

Dynamic Grip Endurance for Combat Sports Performance

Your ability to maintain your grip on your opponent whether in a gi or a non- gi situation is extremely important for successful combat sports performance.

You cannot sumbit, throw or pin what you cannot hold !

One of our favorite training tools to develop dynamic grip endurance for combat sports is our 1.5 inch 60ft. rope.

It offers unlimited variations and training options, is very inexpensive.

Check out the video below to check out some dynamic grip training with our rope.

Then check out CBJJ World Champion Noah Spear and Copa Atlantica Champion Pamela MacElree demostrate some outstanding gripping tactics.

The Most Complete Online Resource for Combat Sports Conditioning & Performance Enhancement!

My Favorite Kettlebell Drill for Hip Throws

The Kettlebell Bent-Press is an excellent drill for grappling athletes as it promotes hip mobility, spinal and shoulder stabilization.

Your entire back musculature works overtime to keep your spine rigid as well locking your overhead arm into place.

The Kettlebell Bent-Press is a unique drill that actalluy allows you to develop a mind/muscle connection with your lats, a muscle group that is generally hard to recruit during pressing actions.

The Kettlebell Bent-Press also shares very similar mechanics to many hip throw variations.

In my own training I've given up drills such as the Kettlebell Windmill, Turkish Get-ups and Bent-Presses for more common drills such as Snatches and Long-Cycle Clean & Jerks.

For the next 6 weeks I'll be re-introducing the Kettlebell Bent-Press and Turkish Get-ups back into my program on my strength days.

See below for quick video highlighted the Kettlebell Bent-Press:

Click Here: For more information on Kettlebell Training for Combat Sports.

The Red Devils in Action

An article exist where Fedor states that he does not train with kettlebells. I think he's just being secretive.

In the below above please check out these times:

1:20 Kettlebells and Dumbbells under a tree

1:38 Fedor next to some ketelebells doing a back exercise

3:30 Fedor doing sit-ups next to a kettlebell

3:48 Kettlebell under the Swing Set

I guess it's a possibility that Fedor just likes to exercise and pose next to kettlebells ?, but it seems logical enough that if his team is training with kettlebells then Fedor is also.

What About Technique ?

Technique training for Combat Sports Conditioning can be broken down into 3 catagories;

O General Technical Training

O Directed Technical Training

O Sport-Specific Technical Training

General Technical Training simply refers to the learning of general exercises that have an impact on your performance. For example, learning to Lunge and Squat properly would be good examples for a combat athlete that relies on shooting in for a leg or perhaps a Suplex.

Directed Technical Training helps to form the foundation for future sport-specific exercises.

And Sport-Specific Technical Training simply refers to the actual skills used in competition such as submissions, sweeps, hooks or right crosses.

In future post, we'll be going deeper into each catagory.