| For combat athletes, getting "strong" is not just a | | | | One Arm Towel Rows |
| matter of increasing their squat, deadlift, or any other | | | | 8. Partner Towel Curls (work great at the end of |
| weightroom number. While barbell and dumbbell training | | | | sessions to fry grip and arms!) |
| is often necessary for building a great base, fighters | | | | Lowerbody: |
| and grapplers need a different kind of strength - the | | | | 9. Partner Drags |
| kind that doesn't always tell the full story through the | | | | 10. Partner Squats |
| weightroom. Combat athletes need a great deal of | | | | 11. Partner Lateral Hops |
| strength and explosive power, but they need to be | | | | 12. Partner Push Lunge / Push Lateral Lunge |
| able to express that strength and power repeatedly | | | | Posterior Chain: |
| for multiple rounds of 3-5 minutes or for a 6 minute | | | | 13. Partner Glute Ham Raises |
| wrestling match against a live opponent that is trying to | | | | 14. Partner Hip Pops / Single Leg Hip Pops |
| do the same thing to you. And this is where the | | | | So how do we organize these for a training session? |
| confusion for most athletes starts, and why there are | | | | Well first of all, you don't need to use all of them every |
| more and more of these "mma strength coaches" | | | | time you train. Secondly, its best to pick one |
| popping up - most of these guys having never thrown | | | | movement from each category and work these |
| a single punch in their lives - putting athletes through | | | | movements in a circuit. |
| ridiculous circuits, throwing together anything that | | | | Here are two examples, but you can mix and match |
| comes off the top of their heads (or so it seems). But I | | | | these any you want - and feel free to come up with |
| digress...that could be a 3 part installment article in itself! | | | | your own variations! Repeat each circuit for 2-4 sets, |
| But what I want to talk about today is some functional, | | | | or if you want, do 1-2 sets of circuit 1 and then 1-2 sets |
| bare bones, real world strength and conditioning for | | | | of circuit 2 for a complete workout. |
| grapplers and fighters. Here are my TOP 13 partner | | | | Circuit 1: |
| bodyweight movements that don't require ANY | | | | 1. Partner Pick Ups x max reps in 30 seconds |
| equipment, just a killer instinct and willingness to | | | | 2. Wheel Barrow Push Ups x 12 |
| CRUSH IT. These movements can be used as a | | | | 3. Partner Towel Rows x 12 |
| "warm up" before skill practices, but they also work | | | | 4. Partner Drags x 50' |
| great as a finisher (and you don't have to worry about | | | | 5. Partner Single Leg Hip Pops x max reps in 30 |
| burning yourself out). Oh, and I lied about using zero | | | | seconds per leg |
| equipment. You'll need a simple bath or beach towel | | | | Circuit 2: |
| for some of these (I was close). | | | | 1. Partner Rotations x 5 each side |
| Here ya go, in no particular order, the baddest of the | | | | 2. Partner Carry x 50' |
| bad of partner bodyweight calisthenics: | | | | 3. Partner Push Ups aka Partner Bench Press x 10-12 |
| Total Body: | | | | 4. Partner Recline Rows x 10-12 |
| 1. Partner Pick Ups | | | | 5. Parner Squats x 15 |
| 2. Partner Rotations | | | | 6. Partner Glute Ham Raises x 10 |
| 3. Partner Carries | | | | Give these a try and watch your "mat strength" and |
| Upperbody Pushing: | | | | conditioning go through the roof! |
| 4. Partner Wheel Barrow Push Ups / Forward Walks / | | | | P.S. Martin Rooney of Parisi Speed School has an |
| Backward Walks / Lateral Walks / Clapping Push Ups | | | | excellent book out called Training For Warriors with |
| 5. Partner Push Ups | | | | detailed descriptions of many of these exercises. I |
| Upperbody Pulling: | | | | highly reccomend checking out that book and his |
| 6. Partner Recline Pulls / Alternating Recline Pulls | | | | Training For Warriors You Tube Channel. |
| 7. Partner Towel Rows / Alternating Towel Rows / | | | | |
