MMA Workout - Heavy Weight Training

Let's make this one easy for you. There is no room in an MMA workout for light weights. And by light weights, we mean anything less than 40% of your body weight. Really, the lightest weight you should be picking up in a MMA strength training workout is something that is at least 50% of your own body weight. Anything less just is not going to be sufficient for the type of strength building and MMA fighter needs to do.

Developing you MMA workout plan

When you are developing your MMA workout plan, consider increasing the weight limit with each set that you complete. For example, the first set might be at 40% of your body weight, the next at 50%, and the final set at 60% of your body weight.

There is another way to decide how much weight you should be lifting. You can base it off of your one rep maximum (1RM). The 1RM is the most any person can lift a single time, for a specific exercise. If you know your 1RM, you can discover your maximum strength and use that as an upper limit to decide on the load you can bear for a particular exercise. As an example, you can use your 1RM to set your weight limits at 60%, 80%, and 70% for your three sets.

How to increase your weight load

If you have been training like a bodybuilder and using lighter weights during your body building sessions, then pay special attention to this piece of advice. If you are ready to increase the weight you are using in your MMA workout, then be sure to do it in small increments. Your body is less likely to notice small 5 pound changes and will adapt to them more quickly than a large jump of 10-20 pounds. If you are consistent with your strength training, your long term gains will be greater with small load changes. Large increases in your weight load are more likely to result in injury. If you get injured by using too much weight, then any gains you might have made will be lost during your recovery time. This principle also applies to decreasing the resting time in between your sets. You can slowly decrease those resting times to the bare minimum to increase your body's endurance. No sense in being the strongest man in the ring if you gas out before your opponent.

One of the reasons heavier weights are key to your MMA workout is because they help you develop explosive power. If you can clean and jerk 70% of your body weight, then you are more likely to have the power to knock your opponent on his backside. And if you can do that same clean and jerk inside a larger set of multi-joint exercises with very little rest, you'll still be standing ready to grapple while your opponent tries to figure out what just happened to him.