My training often sits in one of three camps: strength training, bodyweight exercise, or sport (and in particular, MMA). The latter is invaluable for fitness, so it’s something you should always build into your routine.

That’s largely because there are so many actions and movements in sport that aren’t perfect. There is a lot of value in that chaos.

Challenging your body outside of the clinical ‘perfect’ form strength training so many people pursue in the gym can be a really valuable way of exposing weaknesses in your chain. Ultimately, it can progress your fitness level.

And when it comes to choosing your sport, I don’t think there are many that are as complete in terms of conditioning as mixed martial arts (MMA).

To perform at a good level in MMA you need to have solid endurance, strength, power, flexibility, speed and skill.

That’s a lot of boxes to tick, especially when you consider how technical the MMA-specific skills training is. It also explains why even at the professional level, you don’t see anyone who is the best at everything.

You can’t be the best striker, the best grappler, the fittest, the fastest, or the strongest all at once. That’s one reason why it’s such an exciting sport to watch, because very rarely do two fighters have the same attributes or style.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by James Griffiths (@wildptjamesg)

Strength and conditioning benefits of MMA training

But even if you have no interest in entering the ring and competing, there are serious strength and conditioning benefits to be had from incorporating some combat training into your programme.

If you’ve ever tried to move a heavy sandbag, you’ll know just how challenging it is. Now imagine trying to manoeuvre a person who weighs the same as you (who also happens to be trying to manoeuvre you at the same time).

The aim is to overcome your opponent’s strength and technique with yours. This is fundamental to grappling sports like Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, wrestling and MMA.

Developing your conditioning and mobility with combat sports will only compliment your other strength training. And most martial arts deliver more than just the obvious strength, endurance, flexibility benefits.

They heighten your body awareness and improve your balance and reactive ability. The different disciplines all become an incredible mental workout.

Find more articles about sport

Mental benefits of combat sports

You’re forced to think quickly and act on your feet in response to your partner’s movements. You must also remain calm and controlled when you find yourself in a defensive situation.

You will end up building resilience and a can-do practical attitude on and off the mats. For many, combat sports provide an outlet for the stresses of daily life.

When you step on the mat, everything else is put to the side for a moment, while both your mind and body are engaged in learning.

To highlight that last point about the mental health benefits, in any situation where I believe one of my clients is in a bad place my-go to workouts will be MMA for fitness or lifting something heavy. Most of the time it’ll be a combination of the two.

Teaching someone how to throw me off an MMA cage wall in-between striking rounds never fails to get people back to the present and moving forward with better energy.

It might be the last thing you want to do when you’re low. But trust me, a physical intervention to an emotional down is the only real solution I know.

Finally, unlike many other sports and physical activities, combat sport is unique in that it can genuinely be done by anyone. Jiu Jitsu was designed and developed so that a smaller, weaker person can defend themself against, or even defeat, a larger and stronger opponent.

So regardless of age, size, gender or physical limitation, any person can utilise the techniques and principles of combat sports. You’ve just got to start.

RELATED CONTENT:

1. Get stronger and mobile with these Indian clubs exercises
2. How to get more from your kettlebell workouts 
3. How to create an effective gym programme 

The post MMA Training: Why You Need To Try A Combat Sport appeared first on MensFitness.

The enjoyment and benefits of training outside don’t need to be exclusively for runners and triathletes. My career pretty much started with outdoor training, and as a mobile trainer driving around the country, the job was about being pretty creative with less kit and weight than you’d have in a conventional gym.

First, let’s recap the programming basics for specific goals. Hypertrophy (or growing bigger muscles) is about volume and fatigue. Increasing your strength is more about intensity.

Training your upper body for strength outside isn’t that hard to imagine, if you are open to calisthenics protocols like olympic rings training. And even with no kit at all, if you do enough press-ups and pull-ups you’ll see results.

How to do lower body strength training outside:

The lower body can be harder for people to get their heads around. Think ‘leg day’ and you might think barbell squats, deadlifts and the big compound machines. However, a heavy sandbag is an amazing place to start when building a minimal kit list for strength training.

High-quality bags from Cerberus Strength are my go-to, but even some rubble sacks down at your local builders’ merchant can hold 40kg of sand, which could be enough for some high-volume or max-strength work, depending on your level.

Other options for upper-body strength training beyond the obvious, are looking at more interesting ways of increasing intensity with just your bodyweight.

Single-arm press-ups aren’t just a romantic idea from the Rocky films. They are underrated as a genuine upper-strength exercise. They are also incredible for developing rotational core strength to build some good-looking abs. Plus, they hit your chest, shoulders and triceps with a new challenge. If they are too hard, put your hand on a bench seat, so you can do a full range of movement at an easier angle.

Other leg training that’s often overlooked, mostly because of the notorious lack of space in gyms, is dragging and towing things. That restriction on space is removed when you train outside.

Essential kit for strength training outside

Get yourself a bungee and do some heavy bungee runs/slow walks (the latter will create more time under tension, which will be better for increasing strength).You can easily find 70kg, bungees which will feel plenty heavy enough after 5 sets of 45-second sets.

And if you’ve invested in a bungee for your lower-body workouts, there are multiple options you then have for standing rows, single-arm rows, and even pull-up or lat pull-down type movements if you throw the bungee over a rugby post or solid tree.

A tyre offers another wealth of exercises: not just flips, but thruster squats, landmine presses and drags. Throw into that some plyometrics like depth jumps and box jumps, and you’ve got a great workout for strength and power in one piece of kit.

Enjoy the creativity of programming some new challenges and try some outdoor strength workouts. Focus on more reps, sets and less rest to build muscle mass. Hit less reps with more rest at higher intensities to build strength.

The results will surprise you, and likely create some new ideas for your gym-based workouts, too.

TRY THIS SANDBAG LEG CIRCUIT

One of the old-school leg workouts that I still use today is a ‘four set four hold’ circuit with a sandbag.

The premise is simple: hold the sandbag in four different positions and hit the maximum number of reps you can in each.

Take short, 60-second rests between each position. If you are using a bag that’s hard to balance on your back, you can hit a deadlift rather than a back squat.

1a. Sandbag Front Squat x Failure

1b. Sandbag Shoulder Squat Left x Failure

1c. Sandbag Shoulder Squat Right x Failure

1d. Sandbag Back Squat x Failure

RELATED CONTENT:

1. How to build muscle outside without weights
2. Take your fitness outside with this TRX workout
3. 22 ways to boost your strength

The post How To Take Your Strength Training Outside appeared first on MensFitness.