# Power / Hypertrophy training for MMA



## Zee Deveel (Nov 5, 2009)

Hey guys so basically I have two days per week available for Strength and Hypertrophy training. The other 5 days will either be taken up with Martial Arts training, Conditioning, Sport Specific Strength Training, Rest or sometimes a combination of them!

My lifting experience isn't extensive but I'm not a total beginner. I just wanna get the exercises and rep ranges correct for what I'm aiming to achieve with my time at the gym. I'm looking to build as much explosive power as possible and put on some good upperbody mass.

This is what I was planning on doing. It's a change from my normal routine where I was working for strength and hypertrophy on the same days.



> *Monday - Upper/Lower Body Power Workout:*
> 
> Squat: 3 x 5
> 
> ...





> *Thursday - Upper Body Hypertrophy Workout:*
> 
> Bent Over Rows: 3 x 8 - 10
> 
> ...


I'll also be doing some supplemental strength training at home on conditioning days, the exercises will be very mixed up but will include the following:



> *Exercises to do at home:*
> 
> Heavy Grappling Dummy Judo Throws (Put a Gi on it), Pushing Cars, Sledgehammering, Pull Ups, Plyometric Jumps, Plyometric Throws/Passes, Plyometric Pushes, One Arm DB Snatches,
> 
> ...


Does it look like I've planned this out well for making the most of the two days I have available for gaining some upperbody mass and building a good strength base all over? If not, what changes would you make.

Many thanks!


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## Chris4Pez1436114538 (Sep 3, 2007)

personally i think that it looks ok as you have got major compounds in there but personally if i was training for MMA i would not want to be puttin too much emphasis on gaining size etc and would work more on explosiveness and power so do explosive exercises like rugby players do, and the reason why is when i was doing my years of martial arts training one thing that i found was useful was being able to get away from the other person attackin, like in rugby you want to be able to switch in direction as fast and acuratly as possible plus also by working your core this will help the balance of things as well!

Somethings that i would personally say to do is various things like Power bag exercises and med ball exercises to work on your explosive capability and things like explosive squats, explosive bench(on appropriate (sp) eqipment not free weights and with a partner not on your own) and other things like exploding fromone leg to the other on alternating squats or jumping lunges etc.


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## 1237matt (Apr 15, 2009)

It depends on how you train. The worst thing for a fighter to do is to train for size. Power is number 1 priority in a fighter along with fitness (thats a different matter) The definition of power is strength times speed. If you are strong but slow then you are not powerful. You need to base your workouts around compound excersises and defo not go above 8 reps. i would always try to lift at 90% of your 1 rep max for 5 sets. You shuold get 3-4 reps out here. You also need to train your fast twitch fibres. Ask a powerlifter what they do on speed day. Martin Brown on here is a great source of advice for this.

Also you need to be prepared to cut weight if you are a fighter. This is different to losing weight. Cutting is the cutting of water in your body. The bigger you are the easier it is to cut to a light weight because of water retention. Dont what ever you do take creatine. Only take carb and pro shakes after your workouts as well. You want to fight at your natrual wieght but by being as strong as possible. If you want to be big and a good fighter- forget about it- your not dedicated enough. You need to fight at your own weight first with increased strength and then once you have experience under your belt you can move up weights by gaining size.

Another key to basing training around fighting is to keep your training seperate from your weights. Your a fighter not a BBuilder. Weight training is adding to your fighting. But your base is fight training. No matter how strong or quick you are technique gives you true KO capability.

Hope this heklps.


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## Zee Deveel (Nov 5, 2009)

Chris4Pez said:


> Somethings that i would personally say to do is various things like Power bag exercises and med ball exercises to work on your explosive capability and things like explosive squats, explosive bench(on appropriate (sp) eqipment not free weights and with a partner not on your own) and other things like exploding fromone leg to the other on alternating squats or jumping lunges etc.


There will be plenty of stuff like this done on my conditioning days, see "Exercises to do at home" above. I'll be doing plenty of plyometrics, sandbag training, sled pulling, car pushing, sledgehammering etc What I've outlined in my two gym days is literally that, just what I hope to accomplish with my time in the gym. I'll be doing plenty of other training on top of this.



1237matt said:


> If you want to be big and a good fighter- forget about it- your not dedicated enough. You need to fight at your own weight first with increased strength and then once you have experience under your belt you can move up weights by gaining size.
> 
> Another key to basing training around fighting is to keep your training seperate from your weights. Your a fighter not a BBuilder. Weight training is adding to your fighting. But your base is fight training. No matter how strong or quick you are technique gives you true KO capability.
> 
> Hope this heklps.


So it seems the general consensus is what I thought... Get rid of the Hypertrophy work.

That being said, I would like to keep many of the exercises as supplemental lifts and maybe I'll lower the rep range down to 6-8 rather than 8-12.

I don't think there's anything wrong with adding some mass as long as it doesn't detract from my quickness and functional strength which is why I'm doing a lot of plyometrics and sport specific strength exercises on my off days.

Here's my weekly plan by the way so you can see my focus isn't on adding mass, that's just a small part of it. 



> *Monday:*
> 
> Morning: Rest
> 
> ...


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## Zee Deveel (Nov 5, 2009)

Right well I've had a long hard think about what I wanna achieve, and realistically getting stronger is a lot more important to me than being big. I'm sure I'll still gain good mass doing a powerlifting program anyway.

So here's the revised and "manned up" version of what I'm going to be doing.



> *Monday* -
> 
> Squat: 3 x 5
> 
> ...


So how's that looking?


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## Dezw (May 13, 2009)

Zee Deveel said:


> Right well I've had a long hard think about what I wanna achieve, and realistically getting stronger is a lot more important to me than being big. I'm sure I'll still gain good mass doing a powerlifting program anyway.
> 
> So here's the revised and "manned up" version of what I'm going to be doing. Anything below the dashed line is going to be optional stuff that I may do some of if I'm feeling particularly good on the day.
> 
> So how's that looking?


If I was putting 100% into your Monday workout I would never get those 5 exercises completed, even 3 of them with full effort and I would be hammered.

Although If you are not training hard/heavy you should be fine.


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## Zee Deveel (Nov 5, 2009)

Dezw said:


> If I was putting 100% into your Monday workout I would never get those 5 exercises completed, even 3 of them with full effort and I would be hammered.
> 
> Although If you are not training hard/heavy you should be fine.


I always train hard and heavy! 

Looking at it now, it does look like a bit of a puker... Well I'll get rid of the "optional work" I put in for now, 'cause I think you're right, they're never gonna get done. I can always find other days to play around with those.

I think the rest of it I could probably manage, but there's only one way to find out eh!?


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## martin brown (Dec 31, 2008)

Looks ok.

I agree that it may be too much BUT as a relative beginner to strength you may be ok.

I would probably remove the romanian deads and incline press form workout one. I would consider adding incline bar/DB press to day two with close or neutral grip (palms facing each other if using DB's)

I would also add a pull exercise to day one, probably neutral grip close weighted chin for 5 x 5.

These things get very individual dependant upon stengths and weaknesses. A good rule is to trian the things you are sh*t at in the gym. These are usually what hold you back the most in MMA.

What is always important is upper back strength, tricep strength and power around the hips. These areas should be a point of focus in your training.

One final thing, lifts that demonstrate explosiveness don't always make you more explosive.

M


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## Zee Deveel (Nov 5, 2009)

martin brown said:


> Looks ok.
> 
> I agree that it may be too much BUT as a relative beginner to strength you may be ok.
> 
> ...


Thanks Martin.

Is the basic gist of your exercise changes to mean I'm working my full body twice a week rather than just my lower body and then alternating between chest/tris and back/bis ?

As far as explosiveness goes, I'm going to be working on plyometrics along side the olympic/power lifts for my grappling. I'm slightly concerned though that if I'm squatting twice a week, there's not going to be a day when I'm rested enough to do plyometrics.


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## martin brown (Dec 31, 2008)

Don't bother with plyo's  They are hard to get right and done wrong they can really fatigue you.

Yeah I think training for strength or MMA (either) you are better doing movements twice a week.

Stop thinking body parts - think movements or exercises. Get stronger in the movements and this will translate to strength when fighting.

My point about being explosive - you don't need alot of cleans, snatches etc to get explosive - some moves like this mostly measure explosiveness rather than develop it. Get stronger. This is guaranteed to translate to more explosiveness.

Also dont whatever you do train beyond failure - no forced reps, no drops sets, no slow reps either.


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## Zee Deveel (Nov 5, 2009)

martin brown said:


> Don't bother with plyo's  They are hard to get right and done wrong they can really fatigue you.
> 
> Yeah I think training for strength or MMA (either) you are better doing movements twice a week.
> 
> ...


Correct me if I'm wrong, but there's a difference between explosiveness and strength isn't there? It doesn't seem like being really strong is the be all and end all of generating explosive power. I thought Plyometrics are used in combination with strength training to develop this quickness?


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## baz1983 (Aug 29, 2009)

why not train beyond failure?


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## martin brown (Dec 31, 2008)

Zee Deveel said:


> Correct me if I'm wrong, but there's a difference between explosiveness and strength isn't there? It doesn't seem like being really strong is the be all and end all of generating explosive power. I thought Plyometrics are used in combination with strength training to develop this quickness?


Yes there is, however, more strength always equals (to some degree) more power. Of course being strong is the be all and end all of power, it governs it  If your weak you cant produce any force. Simple. Absolute strength governs all muscular abilities.

Now if you get stronger (and nothing else changes) you get more explosive. Your muscles can produce MORE force in the same time as they used to.

The only problem is when you don't have the acceleration to produce maximum strength within the time you have - lik throwing a ball. You only have the time it takes to straighten your arm before you have to let go. If you cant produce maximum contraction in that time your strength is not the limiting factor.

However, in most situation you get plently of time anyway - like grappling, clinching etc. You just have to be strong.

Plyo's can be good. I just don't think you need them really and as I said they ar enot necessary at your level.

I have 29inch legs (short ass mofo) and weigh over 17 stone. I have a 44 inch + seated box jump. Simply because I can squat ALOT. I can out jump 6 foot plus guys with legs over half a foot longer than mine.



baz1983 said:


> why not train beyond failure?


Because it messes your ability to recover up big time and you'll end up making less and less progress in both strength development and cardio/conditioning work as a result.


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