As people are becoming more health conscious, they are shifting towards a healthier lifestyle. This includes intake of well-balanced meals, elimination of greasy fast food, proper sleep and of course exercise, to stay fit and active.
If you are also planning to sign up for a workout program to get into shape, then you should definitely sign up for an MMA (mixed martial arts) fitness program.
It’s a misconception that you need to be a fighter in order to train in mixed martial arts. MMA fitness training programs are becoming increasing popular all over the world. The mixed martial arts fitness training program is a total body workout. It focuses on shaping your body, increasing your stamina, building body and mental strength and endurance.
Here are some tips for mixed martial arts beginners:
MMA Fitness Tip #1: Commit To Yourself
Do you know the root of the word decide? It means to cut off all other options. That’s the secret to success in MMA training. You decide to succeed no matter what. Sore muscles and sleepy days mean nothing to someone who has decided. If you don’t know how to decide then gaining this one skill may outweigh all of the many physical benefit. Talk to a skilled coach about how to fully commit to yourself. They’ve been through it, they can be your guide.
MMA Fitness Tip #2: Always Warm up
You need to warm up before you start doing MMA drills. Warm ups includes light exercises like footwork, bear crawls, breakfalls, etc… This is essential as it prepares you both mentally and physically for your workout routine. Also, warming up reduces risk of injury and pain during exercise, speeds up your circulatory system, and pumps oxygen to your muscles.
MMA Fitness Tip #3: Mixed Martial Arts Fitness Workout
The mixed martial arts workout is usually divided into 3 levels, the warm-up, endurance phase and power phase. These include different exercises that help shape your body into fighting form.
The first 30 seconds of the round are spent priming good technique. The middle two minutes are endurance, pushing your body as hard as you can without breaks in movement. The last 30 seconds of every round are a sprint at maximum speed and power… you’ve done this right if you physically MUST rest at the end of the round. You will repeat this cycle 8-10 times in an hour session. As a beginner, you will start off with pad work, striking targets with precise technique and power. This will deeply challenge your muscle strength, co-ordination and cardio condition.
Ab Training from the BJJ Guard Position
MMA Fitness Tip #4: Always Stretch After Your Workout
You must stretch after your workout. This is important as it improves your flexibility and helps your body recover faster. Here is a total body stretching routine.
MMA Fitness Tip #5: Eat Healthy
No matter how many calories you burn at the gym during your mixed martial arts workouts, it will all go to waste if you don’t eat healthfully. Eating healthy includes intake of all macro-nutrients: carbohydrates, proteins and good fats. The precise balance of macros will depend on whether you are cutting weight, maintaining or adding muscle. Regardless, the quality of your food will determine your performance. Eat whole foods and avoid processed products like the poison they are. For an example of whole foods, you can eat: eggs, fish, nuts, legumes, avocados and a wide variety of vegetables to stay fit.
MMA Fitness Tip #6: Take Some Rest
Rest is very important after your workout. It helps your muscles recover and avoids wear and tear on tissues after an intensive workout routine. A minimum of six hours a night, ideally eight.
You can train without following all of these steps. But, every step you skip will limit your progress and peak performance level. Sometimes perfect isn’t possible, we train anyway because we want to be the best we can be.
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