Fight Camp Conditioning Blog

Concussions in Combat Sports

Interview by Coach Carmen Bott
Answers by Conor Collins, RMT

All athletes will benefit from an entire care team. I call this a ‘pit crew.’ Each member of the team serves a role in athlete development and care. On my team, I have sport psychology, therapy and nutrition. We all have the same intake files on each athlete we see and add to the file as we see fit. This can only help and athlete. Everyone must work together and must share information. Today, I have the privilege of talking with Conor Collins about concussions in combat sports.

Coach Bott: Tell me about your background as a Therapist. Specifically, how do you help athletes recover from concussions?

Conor: My name is Conor. I am a Massage Therapist, Sports Injury Therapist and Acupuncture practitioner with a clinical practice outside of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. My practice is focused on sports injuries with a special interest in concussion, post-concussion syndrome and persistent post-concussive symptoms.

I help athletes recover from concussion through a thorough assessment process following a head injury. While determining whether an athlete has a concussion is crucial, it is equally as important to determine when an athlete does not have a concussion.

Following an acute injury, an athlete history is taken which includes concussion history as well as any other factors that may lead to a potential drawn-out prognosis. This includes (but is not isolated to) the number of prior concussions suffered, a history of anxiety, depression or other mood disorders and history of learning difficulties. We also review a history of headaches and sleep disturbances.

Following a health history, a thorough neurological exam is performed and then a more focal concussion examine is performed which includes tools to assess dizziness, vertigo, the nervous system, the vestibular (balance system) and the oculomotor system, or how the eyes and brain communicate in terms of visual-spatial recognition.

During the assessment athlete symptoms typically trend more towards one concussion subtype. From there a rehabilitation program is built, modified and progressed for each individual athlete. Programs are not cookie cutter and vary weekly, if not daily. Programs always include heart rate guided cardiovascular exercise due to the mounting evidence on its benefit in post-concussion populations.

Symptoms are monitored throughout the program until athletes are symptom-free. At that time athletes are returned to the overseeing physician to be returned to sport. Time frames for return to sport vary from athlete to athlete.

Coach Bott: “Are there better screening practices than others?”

Conor: Yes, the most popularly marketed screening tools are baseline neurocognitive testing tools such as the ImPACT test. While these tools offer valuable information there is much debate as to whether or not baseline neurocognitive testing is useful in sport. Furthermore, it’s utility in the average multidisciplinary clinic may not offer value as many practitioners, including myself, are unable to interpret and direct test results with the same clinical expertise as a neuropsychiatrist. If neurocognitive testing is being used as a screening tool, I am of the opinion this process should be overseen by a neuropsychiatrist or psychologist.

There are other pre-season screening practices that are used which include reaction time testing, the King-Devick test and mBESS test to name a few. These tests give an overall picture of how the nervous system is functioning pre-injury. Again, there is a lot of controversy as to the validity of these tests, in terms of whether or not they can accurately detect a concussion in athletes either pre-season or post-injury.

Personally, I use near point convergence as one of my primary screens. Convergence is the ability of the brain to move the eyes towards the nose as an object approaches it. Failure to do so results in the athlete seeing double (diplopia). A normal near point convergence measurement is between 4-6cm. Measurements outside of this range may catch an underlying issue with the eyes, or persistent symptoms from a prior concussion that the athlete may not be reporting. Athletes with a convergence insufficiency following head injury generally have a longer prognosis for recovery. Near point convergence allows therapists to compare post-injury measures against baseline and provides objective data on whether or not the athlete is improving. While we know a convergence insufficiency will spontaneously resolve in the majority of concussions, catching those that do not allow us to accurately implement (or refer out for) ocular rehab.

One thing is clear is that there is not one screening concussion tool that will give you the entire picture of an athlete. The more information you have about the athlete prior to the injury in terms of both health history and objective testing the better picture you will have to compare to moving forward.

Coach Bott: “Are there risk factors or red flags athletes need to be more aware of?”

Conor: Yes, firstly you do not need to lose consciousness to sustain a concussion.

Secondly, you do not need to hit your head to sustain a concussion. Concussions are caused by the brain moving inside the skull. This can occur from a blow to the head, or a whiplash-type injury to the neck or trunk, which causes the brain to move rapidly within the skull.

There is some evidence that females suffer concussions more than males. There is also evidence to support that a history of concussions may lead to a drawn-out recovery in subsequent head injuries. There seems to be something about 3 concussions that lead to an increased risk of long term complications however this is not entirely clear in the literature. As cited earlier a history of mood disorder and/or learning disability can often lead to drawn out recovery.

Symptoms of acute concussion include (but are not isolated to) headache, nausea, double vision, dizziness, and confusion. If you have lost consciousness a concussion has been sustained and the athlete is to be removed from play. The idea of having your “bell rung” is part of sports culture, more often than not the athlete will have sustained a concussion and continues to play. This point is particularly important when discussing second impact syndrome. Second impact syndrome is death due to a subsequent hit to the head following an acute concussion.

Cases of second impact syndrome are almost solely reported in persons below the age of 18. For this reason, it is important to adopt a “when in doubt, sit them out” policy in youth sports and continue to educate young athletes on the importance of self-reporting symptoms.

Hits to the head may also cause more significant injuries outside of concussions including bleeding in the brain, fracture, and spinal cord injury. If these injuries are suspected the athlete should be left in place, while the paramedics are called. While some athletes may vomit following a head injury excessive repeated vomiting is a red flag. Any further declines in the athlete’s ability to orient themselves to time or place as well as motor function should also be taken very seriously.

Coach Bott: “Are concussion more prevalent or are they being detected /diagnosed much better?”

Conor: Good question. I think they are being detected more accurately and with emerging awareness and education being discussed more, the public is more aware of the impact concussions play inside and outside of sport.
There are still areas of concern in my opinion. First, is athlete underreporting. We do know there is still a relatively large percentage of athletes that underreport concussion in fear of losing their place on a team. This may also be perpetuated by coaching and sports culture. Coaches should create an open-door policy and encourage the health and well-being of their athletes first. Creating an environment of “playing through pain” and telling athletes to “toughen up” will decrease the number of athletes that report concussions and put athletes at risk.

Secondly, there are conditions that are being misclassified as a concussion. This is particularly true for athletes that may have suffered a concussion in the past. As concussion symptoms are often ambiguous, many of their symptoms fall under the classifications of other injuries and/or diseases.

This again only brings about the importance of having as much subjective and objective data on the patient at the time the injury is suffered. If there is any doubt about whether the athlete is concussed, the athlete should be removed from play and re-evaluated either the next day and/or by another practitioner to get a second opinion.

One thing is very clear, an athlete is NEVER to be returned to play on the same day when a concussion is suspected.

Conor is in his 12th year of manual therapy and movement education. As both a massage therapist and sports injury therapist, Conor provides a unique approach to clinical practice combining disciplines of manual therapy integrated with movement-based rehabilitation strategies.
With over a decade of taping experience, Conor applies new concepts of movement based taping with traditional athletic taping protocols. Outside of clinical practice, Conor instructs upcoming manual therapists at the college level.

During his career, he has also had the pleasure of managing athletes and consulting for national level and club teams in both the NHL and NCAA. Conor shares a special clinical interest in concussion management and has spent many years treating endurance triathletes and runners.

Stay in Touch with Conor:

Web – www.conorpcollins.com
IG – @conorpaulcollins
FB – www.facebook.com/cpcollins

Developing Young Athletes for Combat Sports

by Jared Saavedra

We are starting to see the evolution of the combat athlete. In the past, skill sets were limited and toughness was the common denominator. These days, athletes are more skilled, well rounded and have access to top coaches around the globe. However, along with new skill acquisition is the need of total athletic development for combat athletes….and that starts when we are young.

Ideally young children should be active and play.

For example, kids around between the ages of 7-9 should be able to demonstrate movements such as:

tumbling
skipping
rolling
hopping
dodging
spinning
marching
stopping
bounding
etc.

Most of these can be learned through various games and play.

Many kids these days are rolling, wrestling, boxing and some are even training for MMA at a very young age. We are now seeing the negative effects of “sport specialization” where a youth athlete only participates in a single sport at a young age and only focuses on the movements required in that sport as opposed to developing a wide variety qualities. Young athletes are spending 75% or more of their time training for one specific sport, year around. Numerous studies have directly linked the effects of sport specialization to burn out and a huge increase of overuse injuries. Injuries rates are skyrocketing; kids are experiencing burn out as well as lacking other athletic and movement skills needed to be successful.

Regardless of sport, being a better athlete has tremendous advantages in competition, so it is more important than ever that we organize and prioritize our training at the earlier stages of an athlete’s development. Young athletes should have a wide variety of stimulus and should be active to develop well rounded athletic foundation. Specializing at a young age and competing all year round can be detrimental.

If you are a youth combat athlete, focus on becoming the best athlete you can be. Learn how to properly move, jump, run, land etc. before getting too specific. As your body is becoming more physically mature, various training methods and techniques can then begin to take precedence in your programming once movement literacy is achieved.

Power, strength, stability and speed are all qualities that you can train and develop to assist in sharpening your tools in your toolbox. If you are stronger, more powerful and move better than your opponent you will:

Have the ability to exert more force into your punches, kicks, chokes, throws, etc.
Develop other aspects of athletic ability (linear and lateral movement) that directly transfer to other sports.
Keep you healthier and allow you more quality training on the mats, ring, cage to get better at your sport. (If you are always injured, can you get that much better?)

In my career with working with youth athletes of all sports as well as high level fighters in various disciplines, I strongly encourage youth combat athletes to participate in a total athletic development program as early as 10 years old. Young athletes need to learn how to control their bodies and require a variety of stimulus to become well rounded. While I encourage some guided activity, it is also important to allow kids to play and participate in a variety of activities.

Coach Jared has over 10 years of training and coaching experience. He holds a Master’s Degree in (Physical Education Sports Administration) from the University of New Mexico. He holds four training certificates from nationally and internationally recognized associations. He has experience working with:

Variety of Youth Athletes
D1 Collegiate Athletes
Professional Athletes
Navy Seals
Delta Force Special Operators

Eccentric Isometrics – How and Why to Implement This Method for Ridiculous Strength Gains

Written by: Jacob James

Eccentric Isometrics have the ability improve your power, strength, stability, movement efficiency and much more.

Eccentric Isometrics (EI’s) have a hugely beneficial and relevant carryover of key performance attributes to combat athletes. EI’s in one way or another have been a staple in training programmes for decades, from Olympic weightlifting to bodybuilding. Strength coaches have been utilizing these methods under different named umbrellas with great success.

Most prevalent and at the forefront of EI’s has been Dr Joel Seedman of Advanced Human Performance. Joel has immensely and thoroughly bought to light about the advantages of utilising EI’s within a systematic and methodic approach to strength and performance training. In fact, he has the most resources on the subject, including a 10-year-in-the-making book (and his doctoral dissertation) which outlines the subject in great detail – so be sure to check him out here.

Eccentric Isometrics – Synopsis

EI’s are not a new training method. As aforementioned they have been effectively used for decades across disciplines with great yielding results. To break things down to a digestible definition, essentially we are looking at performing a movement whereby the eccentric portion of the lift is lowered in a controlled manner, holding the bottom of that position before completing the actual lifting phase of the movement. Below, I break down multiple benefits to performing EI’s in general, with specific carry over to combat athletes, as well as practical applications you can implement right away.

Enhanced Power, Stability, Strength & Movement Efficiency

Without shadow of a doubt, EI’s are a surefire way to turbocharge your training, clean up your movement patterns and pack some serious power into your shots. One of the mechanisms behind the success of EI’s come down to their ability to increase post activation potentiation – the all important process of priming your CNS for strength training thus allowing the athlete to yield a greater training effect from their dedicated S&C Session. Another importance of EI’s is that of better sensory feedback and an increase in proprioreception – essentially tidying up body mechanics, body positioning, improving motor control and neural firing patterns, all of which allow for a greater training effect. Furthermore from this, left-right imbalances are addressed when utilising EI’s in a unilateral (one-sided) format. Lastly, muscle stiffness and EI’s go hand in hand. In lay-mans muscle stiffness is a sought after attribute for its ability to produce insane amounts of power. Due to the controlled nature of the lowering phase, the pausing and holds at the bottom position (so long as proper body mechanics are attained) the athlete can express increased movement velocity.

Modify & Master Technique & Form

When it comes to ‘corrective exercises’ (a term dubbed by strength coaches and personal trainers to try and remedy poor body mechanics by using special exercises) – there is nothing more corrective than correct movement, period. EI’s allow the athlete to really hone in on and dial their technique to near mastery by reinforcing correct movement patterns, again largely due to the control nature and natural pauses associated with EI’s.

Facilitates Immense Force Absorption Capabilities

Teaching your body to move efficiently and utilising the most biomechanically accurate positions whilst running EI protocols will in-turn fine tune your body to dealing with eccentric forces as well as increasing your ability to absorb high impact force as efficiently as possible. Any strength and conditioning programme for building athleticism and any multi dimensional and multi directional sports that we are involved with in the combat realm, should systemically and periodically place emphasis on the athletes ability to increase their efficiency at absorbing force. EI’s are a great tool to implement to profit from these benefits.

Optimal Range of Motion

There is a lot more to the implementation of EI’s than simply holding the deepest position you can find, but instead allowing the athlete to produce their most natural range of motion whilst staying as sound and tight as possible. This will lead to a biomechanically sound range of motion which will adhere much better with the athlete and thus produce a longer term greater training effect without a long list of side-effect like symptoms of overtraining.

Practical Application

Okay, so how to we go about implementing EI’s into a training programme? EI’s are a useful protocol for a vast majority of movements. In order to obtain your most bang-for-buck however, movements involving a significant stretch and muscle lengthening are deemed to be most effective. Here are a few examples. Any squat variation (such as a Zercher squat), hinge variation (such as an RDL), pull variation (such as a single arm lat pull down) and press variation (such as a DB overhead press) are all staples. Feel free to allow creativity to flow – experiment and see what’s effective. Bilateral and unilaterally based movements are equally as a effective as one another however, unilateral movements (single limb i.e. single leg RDL) tend to cater better for those with poor biomechanics when it comes to bilateral movements and make for amazing correct movement patterns.

Movement wise therefore, you can’t really go wrong. Sure there’s always going to be a good / better / best scenario given your athletes variables and training outcome desires but its pretty foolproof. How about rep ranges and tempos? Given that there are significant changes in repetition pace than what might already be considered ‘normal’ it’s generally recommended and in best practice to perform movements in the 1-6 rep range. The time under tension will yield quality over quantity all day long, here. The eccentrics should be lowered for between 3-6 seconds with the isometric being held for between 2-7 seconds. Any less than this and you’ll negate any benefits from pausing the lengthened position and any longer than this will add to fatigue accumulation, again negating the intended positive outcomes we are looking for. When it comes to intensity, this is completely tailored to the individual – essentially start conservative and adjust as needed until your moving the weight at the given tempo for the given reps and being an 8 RPE (simply meaning you should finish the set with in theory another 2 left in the tank) which should be increased when overloaded over time as part of a systematic training programme. Heres an example of how EI’s should be interpreted:

Barbell Zercher Good Morning @ 53X1
5 3 X 1 – This is how you should write your desired tempos and this is how to interpret them:

5 – The duration of the eccentric portion of the lift
3 – The duration of the isometric hold
X – The concentric, ‘lifting part’ means as fast as good form allows
1 – The duration of rest at the “top” or “rest” portion of the lift

Can they be used in camp? Absolutely – EI’s are equally as effective in season/camp as they are outside of camp/ off season. Due to the quality of the reps, the sound movement mechanics built, the negation of inflammation etc. EI’s are a solid choice all round.

Summary Of Key Points

EI’s improve your power, strength, stability and movement efficiency
Performing controlled eccentrics and pausing at your biomechanical end-range yields for fantastic benefits across performance and longevity indicators
Correct up your movement patterns and mobility issues with EI’s
Teach yourself proper force absorption and efficiency
Use across a whole host of bilateral and unilateral exercises… year round

Lower for between 3-6 seconds, hold for between 2-7 seconds and fill the rest of the tempo in as efficiently as form allows

Final Words & Video Examples

Whether your a wrestler, MMA fighter, a blue belt or just someone that likes to workout, the addition of EI’s into your training protocol will allow you to yield so much from your training sessions, making them highly effective and turning you into a battle-ready beast. Once you start to notice the changes, I can assure you that EI’s will remain a staple in your training for decades to come. Cheers to that!

Here are some video examples of EI’s used in action.

Landmine Squat

Push Up

Landmine Hinge

RFESS

Ring Pull Ups

About the author…

Jacob James is a strength and conditioning coach and the founder of Crusader Strength. Jake has worked with athletes from over 20 different sports as well as some of the top promotions and athletes in mixed martial arts, from UFC, Bellator & One Championship. He has spent his career learning from some of the worlds best coaches and continues to grow his knowledge and networks with industry leaders all for the sake of a best industry to be in.

Developing Rotational Power for Jiu-Jitsu Athletes

By Craig Ansbach

The need and ability to rotate the body on the mats is a must for any grappler. When grapplers are standing, they are trying to arm drag, cut and angle for a takedown, or sprawl out. On the ground we are rotating to pass guard, sweep, take the back and using hip escapees to defend bad positions. All these movements require some level of rational stability and power. The ability to control rotation and produce power in the transverse plane is key for success on the mats.

Because of the need to have rotational power, our training in the weight room should reflect that need. Unfortunately, most of the programming takes place in the sagittal plane. This includes motions like jumping, squats, deadlifts, pushing, and pulling motions. The frontal plane is also sometimes trained in motions like lateral jumps and lateral lunges. Rotational movements occur in the transverse plane of motion and is often less trained than the other planes of motion. Rotational power can be trained through different modalities such as plyometrics, medicine balls, and the landmine.

When training inside the transverse plane, you must always develop the ability to resist rotary forces against the body first. Having the prerequisite stability against rotational forces will allow an athlete to better express power and reduce the risk of injuries on the mats. Once proper stability is established, you can begin to develop more dynamic rotary movements to help enhance your BJJ training.

Follow these basic progressions to ensure you are creating both rotational stability and power:

Rotational Stability:

Anti-Rotation Series
Band Holds
Band Presses
Banded Chops
½ Kneeling Chop
Split Stance Chop
Medicine Ball Rotational Stability
½ Kneeling Toss
Split Stance Toss
Landmine Stir the Pot

Rotational Power:

Transverse Jumps
90°
180°
Medicine Ball Rotational Toss Series
Standing Toss
Standing Punch
2 Step Toss
Landmine Pull to Press

Craig Ansbach is a strength and conditioning coach at the Performance Ranch in Albuquerque, NM. Craig earned his bachelor’s degree in Kinesiology and his masters in Physical Education/Sports Administration. He is a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist (C.S.C.S) from the NSCA and is also a brown belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. Craig has coached numerous combat athletes including BJJ black belt world champions and UFC athletes.

Conditioning Workout with UFC Fighter, Alex Perez

by Corey Beasley

Alex is fresh off his win in Philadelphia and we wanted to give you a behind the scenes look at one of his workouts leading up to this fight. This workout was performed about two weeks out from his fight, so we were making sure he could repeat explosive efforts, while starting to taper the volume down as he began his weight cut. The goal here is to repeat the explosive effort throughout each set. We performed each drill for 5 sec ON, 10sec OFF for 16 rounds.

Workout with Alex Perez

Workout details:

Warm Up

Alex typically comes straight from jiu jitsu, so the warm ups are minimal. We will usually include some type of mobility drills for the hips and shoulders (not shown), then get him performing a few activation drills for the trunk.

Sand Barrel Isometric Holds

These are a staple for our athletes. We learned this exercise from John Brookfield and it quickly became one of our favorite tools. Tilting the heavy barrel challenges the entire body to stabilize while tilting the barrel to each side. This is a killer on the trunk.

Push Pull Holds

Using the CORE 44 bar from PurMotion, this simultaneous push/pull exercise challenges our ability to rotate, while keeping the shoulders and hips moving together as one. We pivot through the back foot, push with one arm, while pulling with the other.

Locomotion Drills

This series of drills finishes off our warm up and simply uses common locomotive drills like running forward and back, shuffling side to side, cariocas, butt kickers and skips. By using these every session it allows us to raise the body temperature, while performing lots of repetitions over time. This helps develop general athletic qualities that will help our guys perform.

Explosive Intervals

*5sec ON, 10sec OFF for 16 rounds on each drill

Drill #1 – Towel Taz

This unique conditioning drill is simply a faster, more dynamic version of the Battling Rope Slams. Shake the moving blanket up and down, while quickly changing directions with the feet. The combination of quickly moving the hands and feet, provides great transfer for combat athletes.

Note: Move like a squirrel trapped in a room, quickly changing directions with the feet, while moving the hands as quickly and powerfully as possible.

Drill #2 – Switch Foot

Using a line for reference, you simply need to move the feet back and forth over the line, rotating quickly and driving the arms. This simple rotational drill challenges our ability to move quickly and transfer force through the entire body. I make sure to count the reps on each burst, to make sure we are maintaining quickness.

Note: Initially, as the athlete fatigues, you will notice that they lose coordination. This simple drill becomes challenging, so its a good learning opportunity for them to perform basic drills well, when they are fatigued.

Drill #3 – Battling Rope Sidewinders

This drill challenges the athlete’s ability to stabilize through the whole body while sweeping the arms across the front of the body. This not only challenges him to stabilize through the legs, hips and trunk, but also forces him to quickly produce force, change directions and work the other way. Lots of disturbance that transfers well into the cage.

Note: We are looking for a good athletic position, knees bent, hips back, spine straight, eyes forward…throughout the movement. Exhale consistently on one side to keep your breathing in sync with your movement.

Drill #4 – Lateral Shuffles

Simple lateral shuffles are a common drill, but the main focus here is change of direction. Absorbing and producing force to change direction may seem simple but it is very challenging when done with intention. Many people will stutter step or change direction slowly, so count the amount of reps you can perform during each set and maintain that quickness!

Notice that we are challenging his ability to explode in various planes of motion (up/down, rotational and side to side). From my experience, athletes fatigue quickly when using the transverse (rotational) and frontal planes (side to side), so we make sure to tax the body from many different angles, moving in a variety of different directions.

Corey Beasley has been helping people get in shape and compete at their best for over 20 years. He has worked in small training studios, large corporate gyms, traveled to people’s homes, opened a couple gyms, taught certification courses/workshops and is the founder of Fight Camp Conditioning. Corey has experience working with wrestlers, jiu jitsu players, mma fighters and other combat athletes…from kids to aging adults.

Click Here to Check Out ALL of Our Training Programs

Olympic Weight Lifting for Wrestlers

Interview by Coach Carmen Bott
Answers by Guest Coach: Jeremy Martin

Coach Bott: “Tell me about your weightlifting background – Do you compete  yourself? Were you always a weightlifter?”

Coach Jer: I have been weightlifting competitively for around 5 years. I’ve been fortunate in that time to improve my results enough to reach a national level. Before my time in weightlifting, I competed in powerlifting and strongman. Previous to that, I played football, rugby and basketball and then transitioned into competitive MMA for a few years. I like to think that my varied sport experience helps me to better apply training principles to athletes of all kinds.

Coach Bott: “How can Olympic Lifting be integrated into an Off-Mat training plan  for a Wrestler? What lifts would you use? And why.”

Coach Jer: Weightlifting movements can make up a large proportion of a wrestler’s off-mat strength and power training. Lifts like the power clean and power snatch, especially the hanging variations, can be primary lifts for lower body training. Jerks (both split and power variations) as well as push presses can be used as primary lifts for the upper body. Pulls, squats and dumbbell variations of the lifts can also be used as strength and accessory movements in a wrestler’s program. These movements teach athletes to apply forceful acceleration through an external object (the barbell), while also maintaining proper technique and body positioning. This is the essential to wrestling, where the object of the competition is to disrupt another person’s positioning while maintaining your own positional integrity.

Coach Bott: “What do you think are the key physical benefits an athlete can gain  from the Olympic Lifts or their abbreviations?”

Coach Jer: As mentioned above, these lifts teach us to move an object with speed and aggression, while maintaining proper positioning. A well-executed hang power clean, for example, will have the individual exploding upward from an athletic position, apply as much force as quickly as possible through the barbell, then almost immediately return to and athletic “receiving” position to absorb the impact of the airborne bar. We are essentially teaching athletes to create force while also fighting the force that they created, in order to absorb impact in an optimal position. Movements like the split jerk also teach athletes to move the feet horizontally after a vertical drive, similar to switching stances or sprawling in wrestling.

Coach Bott: “How should an athlete go about learning these lifts?”

Coach Jer: It is highly recommended that athletes find a qualified coach to instruct them in the olympic lifts. Ideally, one would find a coach that has experience in both strength and conditioning and weightlifting. This allows the coach to apply the variations of the movements that will be most effective for the athlete’s performance. Some pure weightlifting coaches may not be willing to alter or abbreviate the movements due to their experience being limited to mostly pure olympic weightlifting coaching and instruction. These movements are a sport in of itself. Due to their complexity, it is often best to progress slowly and only advance the movement when technique is deemed adequate by a qualified coach.   Bio:  Coach Jeremy is a certified strength and conditioning coach with a master’s degree in Kinesiology. He has applied his years of experience under the barbell to offer athletes a high level of expertise in strength training, programming and technique. Jeremy owns Loaded Athletics, a facility in Vancouver, BC focused on offering intelligently designed training to athletes, competitive lifters and the general population. Jeremy collaborates with

Coach Bott and is the resident Olympic Lifting Coach for The Wrestler’s Edge program.

Contact Jeremy:

Instagram: @loadedathletics @jerpicksthingsup

Facebook: Loaded Athletics

Contact Info: jer@loadedathletics.com

MMA Kettlebell Workout

by Brett Bartholomew

Kettlebells are a great resistance tool for any athlete. Today we are going to showcase simple kettlebell workout that allows you to tax every major muscle group in the body. We are going to focus on compound movements like squats, swings, presses, and rows. This is great if you are short on time, on the road or simply only have access to a kettlebell.

MMA Kettlebell Workout

The Kettlebell Swing

Start in the hike position, back is straight, draw the kettlebell back toward the hips, then snap the hips into the kettlebell and allow the arms to guide the bell up to about sternum height. Then draw the lats down, pulling the kettlebell back down toward the start position. Forearms coming back through the legs before initiating the next swing.

Kettlebell Goblet Squat

Hold the kettlebell close to your body, forearms vertical, then sit down with the elbows just inside the knees. Feet flat, hips low, chest up and then drive the feet into the floor to stand back up tall.

Kettlebell Overhead Press

Start with the kettlebell in the racked position, wrist neutral. Lock in through the trunk, glutes tight, and root the feet into the floor before pressing overhead. You’ll finish with the palm facing forward, arm in line with your ear.

Kettlebell Row

Hinge at the waist, back flat, braced through the trunk, then pull the kettlebell up toward the arm pit. You can maintain a square stance, stagger the feet or perform it standing on one leg.

The intensity, volume and speed of each movement is determined by your ability level and training goals. For more details, be sure to check out Brett’s FREE 45 Minute Webinar here… or click the link below to learn about Brett’s Savage & Simple training plan for fighters.

Click Here to Learn More About Brett’s Savage & Simple Training Plan for Fighters

Medicine Ball Exercises for Fighters

By: Craig Ansbach

Medicine balls are a great tool for developing power and speed-strength in fighters because they help transfer the strength gains in the weight room and apply them to the fight. Medicine ball exercises are efficient and effective when training power because it teaches an athlete to produce high rates of force development by using the entire body. Medicine ball training also improves kinetic linking which is the ability to generate force through the entire body while controlling and decelerating forces from different planes of motion.

A well designed medicine ball program should develop vertical, horizontal, and rotational power to help create a well rounded athlete while reducing the risk of injuries by increasing the tissue tolerance to different velocities and directions. As with any exercises modalities, medicine balls should follow a progression to ensure the athlete is maintaining kinetic linking and developing power in the right positions before advancing the exercise. Medicine ball progressions should start from a simple positon with the focus of maintaining proper tension and position and then become more dynamic as they progress. Progressing too soon can result in the lose of kinetic linking and and have less transfer to fighting.

Follow these progressions for vertical, horizontal, and rotational movements to further develop you or your fighter’s power and speed-strength:

Slam Progression:

Declaration Slam
Vertical Slam
Rotational Slam

Rotational Toss Progression:

½ Kneeling Toss
Split Stance Toss
Standing Rotational Toss & Punch
Two Step Rotational Toss

Sprinter Throw Progression:

Static Sprinter Throw with Ball in Hand
Sprinter Throw with Ball on Floor

When programming medicine ball training into your next program remember the following guidelines to maximize power:

Do not go too heavy on medicine ball
Focus on proper movements and speed of the medicine ball
Have ability to perform base line exercise before progressing
Program lower repetitions (8 or less) with higher intensity

Viable Alternatives to the Olympic Lifts for Fighters

by William Wayland

Weightlifting or Olympic lifting, which ever parlance you prefer is part of the culture within strength and conditioning much like the power lifts, both belong to the strength sport family and contested as a means unto its self. The lifts are a part of the long standing legacy of strength sports and their influence on strength & conditioning as profession.

When we consider the Combat athlete we have to obviously consider a number of factors, training load, training age (years spent training), injury status, joint health and ability to learn. Olympic lifting is rough on the joints with especially when chasing heavier loads. It’s not uncommon to train fighters usually have some sort of accumulated micro trauma (usually hands, shoulders and knees), it is the prudence of the lifting coach or yourself as to whether it is appropriate to add high force – high velocity lifting to your training, when that high velocity lifting requires a technical competence in yet another sport to really reap benefits. For instance, the catch on the clean requires high levels of tolerance in force acceptance in the wrist, shoulder and elbow which doesn’t play well on bad joints or taking hook grip as an example can be taxing on the hands do we need to add this already beat-up hands? And so on. Injury when lifting is a risk but this risk can be mitigated by proper supervision, qualified instructors, lifting appropriate weight and using proper technique. This milieu detracts from the primary purpose of power improvement.

To quote Bob Alejo “The only non-athletic thing about the power clean IS the catch! This is biomechanically and physiologically useless for an athlete to help improve sports performance. Yet, special steps must be taken to teach the maneuver—increase flexibility of the wrist, include front squat into a program to help teach the “rack,” or separate rack flexibility exercises. Wrist inflexibility seems to be the biggest issue with the catch, and at times detracts from the very thing we are trying to achieve—power!”

This aim of the article is to explore the best options available of outside of this narrow set of technical asks movements like the clean and snatch ask. The most of absurd proposition I’ve heard is that Olympic lifts are a must for athletes. Absolutes are always a huge red flag for me. I’ve stated before that ‘too often get the most from athletes, we have to do things that others don’t expect of us.’ I break from ‘Strength sport orthodoxy’ is not a problem if outcomes are positive. This is not an exhaustive list but gives you some of the best exercise variations I’ve found for the purpose of improving power.

Trap Bar Jump

Trap Bar Jumps (Hex Bar) are one of the simplest replacements for Olympic lifting as straight swap. Much has been made of the evidence showing that trap bar jumps produce greater power outputs than the hang clean. The learning curve is very minimal, as it pretty much pick up the bar with an even grip and jump! Suggested loading is 10-20% of Squat maximum. I’ve found a lot fighters find this movement immediately intuitive. We can however enhance the amplitude of effect in our next variation.

Reactive Banded Resisted Trap Bar Jump

The upgrade for the trap bar jump, the reasons why this maybe the best replacement for the Olympic lifts is twofold: Magnitude and Accentuated Eccentric

The reactive nature of this jump means that a lot of work can be done in a very short time frame, in the amount of time someone can do 5 jumps they may only achieve 1 or 2 reps of a more conventional lift. This beneficial because the stimulus within a given time frame is greater, meaning greater training effect. Cal Dietz suggests this is 3 to 5 times force produced compared to Olympic lifts when you account for time frame and up to 5 to 10 times force requirements using drop jump version (which involves rapid accelerated drop). I’ve measured ground forces in excess of 5-7 x bodyweight which leads to the next element that makes it a good option. Attenuated eccentric created by the bands actively slamming you back into the floor, this rapid eccentric deceleration has a number of positive adaptations that are absolutely crucial in building powerful athletes. I absolutely challenge athletes to try to turn over the whole thing in as short a time frame as possible. If you have force platforms you can measure the time from start to finish. Or Alternately put a sub 3-10s time of your choosing on the clock and challenge the athlete to get as many reps as possible.

Squat Jump

The original power exercise and often highly underrated due to its simplicity. A natural follow on from barbell squat that athletes would have used during strength cycles. The squat jump has an increased transfer of training since it uses a similar range of motion to the squat while implementing the power output and rate of force development necessary for maximal velocity. Only primary concern with this technique is using a squat type pattern to jump, rather than a natural jumping pattern. Much like the quarter squat this exercise has a high correlation coefficient across broad spectra of sport’s performance, higher than many Olympic lifts. This can be employed as CMJ style jump or a full squat depending on the athletes needs.

The Quarter Squat/Sports Back Squat

Technically the most different to the other technique’s listed, why? Well the athlete never leaves the floor; triple extension has been dampened more recently as a marker of a movement of that has high ‘transfer’. The quarter squat and its sports back squat (narrower stance) has been shown to correlate positively to improved power. The partial squat has been a staple of many track athletes and jump athletes programs, for instance Istan Javorek used Wave Squats (partial squats) in his programs. Fred Hatfield aka “Dr. Squat” prescribed partial squats and keystone deadlifts to Evander Holyfield and it certainly did him no harm. Apparently Dr. Bondarchuck rarely ever squatted his athletes that deep because they never utilized those deep positions in their throwing movements, he combined these with additional glute hamstring for for optimal effect. I even used these with Luke Barnatt prior to his Andrew Craig fight paired with RDL’s and Barbell Hip thrusts.

The usefulness of the partial squat comes from accelerating high loads at high velocities, which allows for greater force and power outputs according to a Drinkwater et al study (2012) which allows in a fully fleshed out program to train all parts of the time/power curve and most strength coaches agree on that. The same thinking is why I make use of band assisted jumping.

A study by Bazyler et al (2014) found that partial ROM squatters could train at high intensities while peaking concluded that “Partial squats may be beneficial for strength and power athletes during a strength-speed mesocycle while peaking for competition.” Most of these studies do focus however on regular stance squatting, which as dynamic correspondence dictates that we try and perhaps change widths to be more sporting in nature.

No Catch Clean – Clean High Pull – Hang High Pull

Bob Alejo has made his feeling about the catch phase of the clean clear “The only non-athletic thing about the power clean IS the catch! This is biomechanically and physiologically useless for an athlete to help improve sports performance. Yet, special steps must be taken to teach the manoeuvre—increase flexibility of the wrist, include front squat into a program to help teach the “rack,” or separate rack flexibility exercises. Wrist inflexibility seems to be the biggest issue with the catch, and at times detracts from the very thing we are trying to achieve—power!” His answer to this problem is heavy emphasis of the no catch clean, clean high pull and hang high pull. The important distinction being this, two athletes may have the same pull height with the same load, but one due to wrist/elbow or shoulder limitations might have to drop his effective training load to catch the bar effectively. The solution being not catching it at all so the power production element, ‘the pull’ remains intact. The athlete’s needs are put ahead of the requirements of the sport of weightlifting.

Catch or don’t catch

Right now there is a lot of great research on pulling derivatives that don’t require a catch. Questioning some previously unquestioned Olympic lifting methods for athletes is important as it makes sure we don’t get stuck in the ‘we’ve always done it this way mode of thinking’ which can stifle creativity. The body of evidence surrounding the olympic lifts is also broad, but the important consideration is asking what elements can we condense to yield improvement and do the best by the athlete.

Swinton etal (2012) Effect of load positioning on the kinematics and kinetics of weighted vertical
jumps. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22446664
Rhea, Kenn, Peterson, Massey, Simão, Marin & Krein, (2016)Joint-Angle Specific Strength Adaptations Influence Improvements in Power in Highly Trained Athletes.

Accentuated Eccentric Loading for Training and Performance: A Review. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28681170

The Effect of Exercise-Induced Muscle Damage After a Bout of Accentuated Eccentric Load Drop
Jumps and the Repeated Bout Effect. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27893481
Bondarchuk A. () Transfer of Training Vol 3

William Wayland is a strength coach and owner of Powering Through in Chelmsford, Essex, UK. Striving for performance that can be measured in success on the field, on the court, in the ring or in the cage. William works with Olympians, UFC fighters and other high level athletes.

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Rotator Cuff Exercises: Wax On, Wax Off

by Jorge Bonnet

Many fighters and grapplers struggle with their shoulders. The combination of poor posture, sport specific overuse and an incomplete strength training plan contributes to this wide spread issue. In today’s video, Jorge Bonnet shares one of his favorite rotator cuff exercises, called wax on wax off. Inspired by Tai Chi. Jorge developed a simple, effective way to add resistance to this movement pattern. Check out the full video and leave us a comment or question below!

Wax ON, Wax OFF Exercise for the Rotator Cuff

Shoulder circumduction is commonly used in physical therapy clinics and this simple exercise allows you to do this anywhere. This rotator cuff exercise allows you to challenge the entire shoulder, through a wide range of motion, while keeping the joints safe. Feel free to mix up the body position, adjust the resistance and challenge your shoulder from various angles, so that you are strong, healthy and ready to compete.

Jorge is the founder of PurMotion. His experience as a 5-time Olympic athlete fueled his passion to change the way the world thinks about fitness and has led to the creation of a new training modality complete with new movements, products and programming. In today’s podcast, we discuss Jorge’s athletic past and how he transitioned into fitness, manufacturing and education.