I had been working with an athlete for several weeks in a traditional one-on-one setting and had noticed that his strength, energy levels, and overall intensity were down. In a recent session, I could sense early on in our mobility work that he was just going through the motions. Perhaps my teaching cues and motivational lingo weren’t hitting home or maybe he just had a fight with his girlfriend earlier that day about some Facebook photos his buddy posted of him from Friday night. Whatever the reason, the session started out poorly.
Sensing that I wasn’t connecting with him, I decided to join in the session and train alongside him. I definitely wouldn’t try this with every client and athlete. However, he’s an experienced fighter with excellent lifting technique, so I didn’t give this decision a second thought.
As soon as we both started in on our jumping jacks during the dynamic warm-up, I immediately sensed a change in mood and effort. He was more attentive to my instructions, was working much harder, and even started in with some friendly competitive banter. After what turned out to be one of his best strength and conditioning sessions to date, we got to talking about his morning. I found out that he had been dealing with some family issues earlier in the day. As soon as I heard that, I immediately realized why his session had started out so poorly. His thoughts had become his actions, and he just wasn’t there mentally.
Your mind is a powerful thing and it influences everything you do. What’s going on “upstairs” allows you to utilize your physical skills to the best of your ability. So what triggered this reaction with this particular athlete? Why did having me join in the session elicit such a positive response? And why partner train with someone who competes in an individual sport?
Generally speaking, I think it was due to something I like to call “competitive fire.” Having someone to train alongside sparked his endorphins and put him in the right frame of mind. In both partner and small group training sessions, more cooperation and communication is required from both the coach and the athlete(s) involved. These characteristics drive the competitive fire inside us all, which you obviously need in surplus for an MMA match or tournament.
Olympian Bruce Jenner once said, “You have to train your mind like you train your body.” This statement is particularly accurate when it comes to combat athletes. Think about this—an athlete may train for a specific fight for anywhere from 8–12 weeks. That fight could last a mere 15 seconds! Conservatively, that’s 9600 minutes of blood, sweat, and training for one quarter of a minute! How do you prepare for this intense pressure? From a physical standpoint, you have a well-designed periodized program so you can feel quick, powerful, and strong and have plenty of gas in the tank. Your physical preparation couldn’t have gone any better. What about from a mental standpoint? Are you unwavering and mentally focused and is your mind right for battle?
As coaches, we must not only get athletes stronger physically but mentally as well. We must enhance their mental toughness while controlling anxiety at the same time. We need to understand what motivates these athletes and push them to improve and succeed. I think partner and small group training helps us get there.
Since completing the partner session that I discussed earlier, I have consistently incorporated this training (and small group training as well) into my program design for fighters. A brief list of just some of the positive benefits this type of training provides includes:
- Development of camaraderie and a strong support system
- Positive reinforcement and motivation, especially if you’re having an “off” day
- Friendly competition
- Improved confidence and self-esteem
- Prompts to push yourself even more to “keep up” with the team
In addition, if you don’t want to get up for that 6:00 a.m. strength session and you have a partner waiting for you, you’ll get up.
I try to incorporate full-body movements that include everything from pushing, pulling, rotating, changing levels, and jumping. For metabolic circuits, I will typically set up five stations that are each 60 seconds long. An athlete and his partner will complete all five stations consecutively and then rest for one minute before repeating the five-station circuit again.
A sample partner training metabolic circuit routine might look something like this:
1. Alternating tire flips with a 15-second “battle” at the end
2. Horizontal rope pulls (aim for two times each)
3. Band jumps (20 yards with partner resistance)
4. Prowler pushes (with burpees), 20-yard push
5. Dumbbell grip walks (20-yard walk with 10–20-lb dumbbells)
Take a look at this sample routine in action.
I believe that anything that contributes to your physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual state has everything to do with your focus on the mat. An athlete must be in peak condition mentally or he won’t be at his best physically. I consistently do informal assessments of athletes (and “every day” clients for that matter) to evaluate psychological balance. I constantly check in with them to see how other aspects of their lives are going. We must frequently communicate with all of our clientele in order to adapt accordingly.
As the athletes I work with continue to improve and become faster, stronger, and more explosive from training, I see a positive impact on their self-esteem and confidence. Is this more of a psychological response or a physical response? It’s probably a bit of both, but regardless, it’s good stuff. I’m not saying that partner training should be the “be all end all.” I’m simply saying it may be good to incorporate into your program design to shake things up and train your athletes in a new way both physically and mentally.
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Doug Balzarini, CSCS, MMA-CC, is the owner of DB Strength which provides fitness training, education, and resources. He is also the strength and conditioning coach for Alliance MMA, where he works with UFC Champion Dominick Cruz, Phil Davis, Brandon Vera, Travis Browne, Alexander Gustafsson, and more. Prior to starting his own business, Doug worked at Fitness Quest 10 as a personal trainer, strength coach, and operations director for Todd Durkin Enterprises (TDE). He has completed some graduate work in biomechanics at SDSU and has obtained multiple certifications including ACE, NSCA-CSCS, MMA-CC, TRX instructor training, EFI Gravity instructor training, LIFT Sandbag Certification, and FMS training. He has produced his own two-DVD set on strength training for combat athletes, has appeared in many fitness videos and articles, and is currently a coach on The Ultimate Fighter television reality show. 
Everything points to small group or semi-private training being the way. Like Cosgrove has said on many occaisions, One-on-one training is dead. I find small group i also more fun for me and I enjoy work much more. So it benefits the client and the coach.
Solid article Doug. Hopefully more will get the message
And small group is not just beneficial in fitness but everything. Even in medicine. Here’s an article that speaks to it:
http://www.acofp.org/resources/publications/archives/0309/0309_3.html
very informative and to the truth. i also believe that the battlefield in sports work starts and ends with the mind. if your not “there” the session wont go the way you want or need it to go. look forward to your next one!
Good article, and in the end it makes sense. Most of the guys at Greg Jackson’s camp do their strength & conditioning together. Collegiate & Pro football teams if not all training together are divided into linemen and skill postions. Wrestling teams and most Olympic Teams as well.
It seems like most of the guys at Westside train together under Louie. It strengthens the atmosphere because they not only encourage each other, but they push each other and are eventually held accountable by one another. Nothing’s worse in training than getting called out by a teammate for slacking off.
Even in preparation for the film “300″ (Twight is tired of hearing this by the way) Mark Twight took the actors and made them train together and made them accountable for each other, working as a unit.
Just finished giving a presentation to a group of athletes and parents about mental skills training. Finding a way to spark that competitive desire in an athlete that is down can be a hard thing to do. When you can it is very rewarding.