Test Yourself: Strength and Conditioning Standards for the Martial Arts

This article is aimed at mixed martial artists and those wishing to make that transition into mixed martial arts (MMA). It’s also relevant to all the martial arts contained within MMA such as western boxing, Thai boxing, wrestling, BJJ, and Judo.

So do you think you’re fit to fight? Whether you think you are or you aren’t, how are you actually gauging this? This series of articles will give you an insight into what I currently look for in the athletes I train. I’ll also give you a program to go through to help you develop these qualities on your own.

The goal of this series is to provide measures for the key qualities required for successful MMA performance and help you build your athleticism in line with these goals. So without further ado, let’s crack on with part one of the four-part series and find out what this strength and conditioning training thing is all about!

“If you aren’t assessing, you’re guessing!”

No, that isn’t my quote. In fact, I’m not sure who said that to be honest! What I do know though is that it applies strongly to strength and conditioning and is something I try to adhere to in my programs. Put simply, if you don’t know where you are, how do you know where you’re going and where you need to be?

I can’t even contemplate how often people say to me, “I need to get stronger” or “I need to be fitter.” I often ask them how strong or how fit they need to be. I tend to get a strange blank stare and an awkward silence that really doesn’t suit any athlete! I’m hoping I can provide some answers to these questions and help you with your training programs. My hope with this series is that you use the exercise tests to gauge where you are and then follow the program to improve these specific movements and qualities in the months ahead. By the end of the series, you will know your specific strengths and weaknesses and you can adjust your strength and conditioning program accordingly. I also recommend spending a week going through all the tests at the end of the program. You will have had a month or so on each program, so you should be well versed. I’ll then tie everything together to look at the big picture and give you some recommendations.

“Training is testing and testing is training.”

Kelvin Giles, one of my mentors and a leader in the field of athletic development, came up with this phrase and it really reflects the sessions and programs I put together. Don’t get me wrong—I don’t wear a lab coat with test tubes in every pocket. I’m a coach and that’s the end of it! What I’m trying to say is that it’s important to use objective measures in most of your strength and conditioning work. Otherwise, how do you know if you’re improving? And these measures should be part of a normal training session rather than taking time out from your regular training, which is often the case in traditional testing. I refer to this as feedback based training and it really is the way forward if you want to get results. I’ll use tire flips, farmer’s walks, sprints, Tabatas, and all the usual tools in the sessions I put together, but I’ll look for specific numbers and measures on these exercises. By doing this, it is easier to gauge whether you’re fight ready or not. You, as the athlete, get some quality feedback so you aren’t just gauging your condition on how you feel but rather on how you perform in training.

Ideals are fiction!

Too many tests and training programs focus on the concept of working to an ideal or perfect scenario, which actually never exists in sport. There are always injuries, schedule changes, or illnesses to work around that affect your program. And this then affects the goals you set. So your goals should be realistic, not idealistic.

I could say to you that an MMA fighter should be able to touch his toe to his nose in order to perform certain movements in the sport. While many may be able to do this, I don’t think it needs to be the norm for all athletes. In fact, it’s just daft! So it isn’t a requirement for me with the athletes I train! The same might be said of a three times your body weight squat or a four-minute mile. While squatting, sprinting, and flexibility work are all part of an MMA fighter’s training program, remember that you are an MMA fighter, not a powerlifter, sprinter, or gymnast and your goals should reflect that.

With that being said, I have deliberately set the bar high in this series to give you something to strive for because, as they say, if at first you don’t succeed…

The tests I’ve included here are some of the more general measures that I utilize and are easily replicated. I consider all of the exercise choices here fundamental tools in a good strength and conditioning program. If you don’t know how to do any of them, learn! It really is that simple. However, what I’m trying to get across is that underlying all of this stuff is a commitment to build your athleticism. It’s unlikely that you will achieve these standards overnight. In fact, you probably won’t achieve all these goals for quite some time, so you really need to make that commitment.

Time to get strong!

Yep, the first part of this series is all about strength. There is a reason I’ve started with this rather than any of the many other qualities fighters need. The importance of strength for MMA athletes is pretty well documented, and most fighters understand and implement strength programs within their overall MMA program and see great results. However, I still feel most athletes don’t appreciation just how important strength is to overall performance. For example, the relationship between strength and endurance training is huge. Think about the energy required to perform a double leg takedown in sparring or competition.

Let’s say that it takes 15 percent of your maximum effort to perform a double leg takedown. If you can then increase your maximum effort (or maximal strength) from 100 percent to say 120 percent, that 15 percent required effort is then actually reduced to around 10 percent, meaning you can then perform the movement using far less energy and you haven’t even considered conditioning. This makes you a more explosive and more efficient athlete. It’s a no brainer! The same applies to all movements in the sport—clinching, kicking, and general movement around the cage. So giving yourself a solid base of strength will add to your game in many ways.

Which type of strength?

There are many different types of strength utilized within MMA, all of which can be developed and should be emphasized according to the individual athlete’s needs. General strength, maximal strength, eccentric strength, starting strength, reactive strength, ballistic or explosive strength, specific strength, and strength endurance are just some of the strength qualities that a good training program should address. The qualities emphasized will change over the course of a training camp with the initial focus on general and maximal strength changing to a focus on strength and power endurance as well as specific strength.

When the athlete comes back after competing, the focus should be on building general strength and preparation levels for a period of around two to four weeks. Then the athlete should quickly switch to maximal strength with the goal of building up to the strength levels shown below. The targets for strength are all based on your one repetition max (1RM) in relation to your body weight, which results in your relative strength. For a weight controlled sport like MMA, this is by far the most important quality!

How strong is strong?

As I said before, you need to be realistic in your goals but still look to set the bar high. So with that being said, here are the strength standards for four fundamental exercises that I work toward with my athletes:

Deadlift, 2–2.5 times body weight: The deadlift is one of the best full body movements around and it features in pretty much all the programs I run in some form. I’m looking for a technically proficient (e.g. using your hips and legs as well as your back) lift with a straight bar from the floor. I accept a range of strength. This is where individual differences come into play. Specifically, I’m talking about body weights. The bottom of the range is for the heavyweight fighters and the top of the range is for the lighter guys. It’s more achievable for a lightweight to deadlift 2.5 times his body weight than it is for a heavyweight. All the other weight categories fit in between this range, so it is fairly straightforward to interpret where you need to be according to your weight class. This applies to all the ranges for all the exercises.

Back squat 2–2.5 times body weight: Depending on body shape, the squat or the deadlift is the lift I typically look to for developing maximal strength. The squat is excellent for developing total body strength with a greater focus on quad and hip strength versus the deadlift, which focuses more on hip and lower back. When I talk about squatting, I mean getting your hips down so they’re at least in line with your knees and nothing in between!

Chin-ups body weight plus 50–75 percent: Yes, that’s right—50–70 percent again in body weight for one rep. The chin-up is, in my opinion, the best exercise for upper body strength. It’s very important that you can chin-up significantly more than your own body weight. When you’re clinching and grappling, you need to move yourself and that other lump opposite you around the cage. Therefore, you need some serious pulling strength to do this repeatedly. When you’re training chin-ups, make sure you fully lock your arms out and pull until your shoulders touch the bar.

Press/dumbbell press/bench press, 1.5–1.8 times body weight: Upper body pushing strength is very important for the same reasons as pulling strength and it’s also important to be balanced in terms of pushing and pulling. If you put the time into developing maximal pulling and pushing strength to these levels, I can assure you that the number of body weight chin-ups and push-ups you can perform will be pretty high, too. So don’t worry about your strength endurance on this one. Most people will be better at pushing than pulling initially because everyone trains the bench press. If this is the case for you, put more time into pulling movements to get your strength up.

Are all my athletes this strong? Absolutely not. It’s a target that we’re working toward that may take some time to achieve. Is it realistic to be this strong all the time? If you’re working on anaerobic endurance, it will be very tough to perform a double body weight lift in this phase of training. That being said, Danny Mitchell achieved his double body weight deadlift in the penultimate week of his last camp, so you can constantly make gains in strength even though the focus in on conditioning . Will this happen with every camp? Possibly not but it is possible in some athletes. Don’t forget that the body weight goals reflect the weight that you will be fighting at in the cage, not your weight at the weigh in. So make sure you allow for this in your training goals.

A quick summary

So hopefully the importance of strength is clear from this article. If you’re used to training with weights and are engaged in a regular strength and power program utilizing the movements shown in this article, see where you’re at strength and power wise. Remember, technical form comes before the weight on the bar. In fact, form dictates the loads lifted. The goal is to get strong in the right places with an aim to improve your performance and prevent injuries, not pile weight on the bar and injure yourself. Find someone who can coach these movements well and help you through your session. There are certain jobs that you just don’t do yourself. You look for an expert. This is one of them in my book, as is cutting your hair and, in my case, washing up!

If you’re looking to develop your strength and power, feel free to work through the super strength program, which will address some of the areas identified. This is a typical strength/power session structure that me and my athletes tend to follow. If you don’t know how to perform some of the exercises, find someone who can help you.

Don’t expect miracles with this program. It is possible to get much stronger in four weeks, but depending on your starting point, achieving the standards set out in this article could take you quite a while! The program is a three-day strength program covering all the key areas. Each session has between 20–25 sets plus a short, power based warm up, which should be done after your own general warm up. The warm up should incorporate mobility work, dynamic stretching, and other key areas that you need to focus on. The main exercises in the program are supersetted to save time. This means that you complete the exercises in a mini circuit fashion. You will constantly be working throughout the session, but you’ll get done faster!

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