7 Essential Strength Exercises MMA Fighters Need To Know

Are you planning on entering the world of Mixed Martial Arts? Or perhaps you want to be physically fit, strong and flexible, yet you’re unsure where to begin? Either way, you’ve come to the right place. Improving your health by getting fit is one of the most critical decisions and investments you’ll ever make.

Although it appears complex, Mixed Martial Arts or MMA is a thrilling combat sport that incorporates many fighting styles and disciplines, from hard hitting Muay Thai to the slow but methodical approach of Brazilian Jiu-jitsu. Due to the strain that MMA puts on the body, those who participate in MMA fights have a physically strong, fit, and flexible body build.

This demonstrates how martial artists and fighters undergo extensive training and preparation before engaging in combat—doing strength and conditioning exercises are the fundamental essentials for their training regimen. In addition, it prevents them from chronic diseases like diabetes and hypertension and enhances their sense of coordination and balance.

How To Stay In Shape In MMA?

Just like any other sport, having proper exercise in MMA is essential. Aside from keeping you healthy, it also helps you stay in shape and improves your overall performance. Having a proper diet and taking the right vitamins for men and women is also paramount to doing proper exercise.

Some MMA fighters use supplements for various reasons, including muscle growth, joint pain, or vitamin deficiency. Like so, whatever supplements you take, as long as with the right and proper provisions and monitoring, it will assist you in producing optimal results not only in your body but also in your performance.

Essential Strength Exercises

This article will tackle seven essential strength exercises in MMA that you need to know. Whether you want to be a martial artist or fighter, these essential exercises will surely help you attain the MMA body build you want.

Zercher Squat

This squat variation targets the strength of your quad, lower and upper body, and core stability. It is a prominent exercise among strength athletics where it demands you to squat with the barbell placed in front of your body and resting it in your elbow’s crooks, and with rather more hinge than you would with a standard squat.

Numerous fighters have problems engaging their glutes as their hips are tightly locked. Thus, applying the hinge factor will likely be advantageous. However, if you’re new to lifting, select a barbell weight that allows you to maintain complete control throughout the movement of your body, or you can place padding on the barbell or wear a shirt with long sleeves.

Deadlifts

Deadlifts help improve your strength and increase your rate of force development (RFD). It is also among the most effective and simple strategies to increase the rate of tension in your muscles. To enlighten you, RFD is a metric for explosive strength or how quickly an athlete can generate force.

Sled Pull

Regardless of the load or speed that you utilize, sled pulling exercise targets your back, core, glutes, legs, arms, and shoulders. As a result, it increases your explosive power, overall strength, and acceleration.

Moreover, when doing this strength exercise, load the weight to its maximum capacity and pull until you reach failure. A tire filled with sandbags can be substituted when you have limited to no access to use a prowler or a sled.

Medicine Ball

Using a medicine ball as a tool for strength exercises is an excellent way to build speed, strength, and power since this exercise assists in transferring the strength gains made in the weight room and applying them to combat. It can also help you learn how to utilize your whole body in order to generate a lot of force.

Pull-Ups

Pull-ups aid in the development of your strength in your upper body by strengthening your muscles in the upper back. However, in the event that you are unable to do a complete pull-up, you can try and begin with more straightforward pull-up exercises such as negative pull-ups or jump pulls.

Push-Ups

This is a traditional yet well-known exercise that can be done equipment-free. You can do this exercise at home or even in a small-spaced room. Moreover, this exercise is advantageous for hitting techniques, as the pressing motions increase strength, allowing you to throw blows with more force.

Burpees

When you execute a burpee, you are working on your buttocks, hips, and legs. This exercise also aids a martial artist’s or fighter’s legwork as this exercise lets them move more quickly. Moreover, The movement of sprawling and leaping back to your feet simulates a large number of level changes required for grappling.

Aside from the legs, this strength exercise is beneficial for strengthening the abdominal muscles and the shoulders, arms, and chests. This is primarily useful for MMA fighters in ways that it helps them grapple against their opponents more effectively.

Takeaway

Martial artists or fighters do train extensively. Thus, if you’re considering joining MMA or simply want to improve your physique, or if you want to do both, you must engage in rigorous exercise while also adhering to a balanced diet and supplement regimen. Make this your new hobby, and it will indeed produce exciting and rewarding results.