MMA Training Workouts (Strongman Focus)

Recently there has been a huge push in MMA training workouts to incorporate lifts that you normally see performed in the World's Strongest Man. Finding a way to add strongman lifts to your MMA training workouts is the best way to bridge the gap between weight room strength and functional strength you can use to your advantage in the cage. Strongman lifts require full body strength and power and, due to their unpredictability build great full body stabilization and reactive strength. The benefits are numerous so start reading and implementing the following lifts into your MMA training workouts today!

Log Clean

Muscles Worked: Hamstrings, Glutes, Calves, Low Back, Shoulders

Stabilizers: n/a

Setup: Grab the handles, lift the log off the ground while maintaining a flat back and position it against your hips with your knees slightly bent and your hips driven back.

Execution: Drive your hips forward while simultaneously rolling the log up your chest. As the log reaches the top of your chest drive your elbows up toward the ceiling and stand in an upright position with the log resting on the top of your chest. Lower the log back to your hips and repeat for reps. Never bend at the back in an effort to complete a rep that you're struggling with. This does nothing but put you at risk for serious injury.

MMA Usage: The log clean is another great way to develop powerful triple extension. Because the weight you'll be using is going to be considerably heavier than the med ball during a between the leg toss, the speed at which you perform this lift will be a little slower. As a result, it will not transfer over as well to increasing your striking speed. However, because of the higher weights used for the log clean, it will help to train you to be explosive against large external resistances (ie it will help you be more explosive when looking to lift/throw an opponent).

Tire Flip

Muscles Worked: Quads, Hamstrings, Glutes, Calves, Shoulders, Biceps

Stabilizers: Core

Setup: Take a stance with your feet outside of your hands. Your feet should be back a little bit from the tire at a distance that puts you at an angle when you go to flip it. Your chest and shoulders should be tight against the tire.

Execution: Drive your chest and shoulders into the tire as you drive your feet into the ground. Once you have reached maximal extension drive your knee under the tire as you quickly reposition your hands from an underhand grip to an overhead position. Focus on doing this as quickly as possible otherwise you'll lose momentum and end up having to battle to get the tire wedged up high enough on your thigh so you can switch your hand position. Once you have switched your hands push the tire over.

MMA Usage: Tire flipping is a great all around strength builder and is one of the best ways to bridge the gap between traditional weight room strength and odd object strength. Tire flipping and other strongman exercises develop strength at angles barbells and dumbbells can't and will better prepare you for the many positions you'll face in a fight. So while I can say specifically this exercise will help you finish more takedowns, I think it's just a great all around strength builder that will help you in a number of ways in the cage.

Sandbag Shouldering

Muscles Worked: Quads, Hamstrings, Glutes, Shoulders, Lats, Biceps

Stabilizers: Core

Setup: Take a stance with the sandbag between your feet. Grab the sandbag.

Execution: Lift the sandbag to your thighs and squat down to rest it on them while you regrip/reposition the bag (this is known as tabling). From there squat up with the bag and lift it to one of your shoulders. Lower the bag back to the ground and repeat to the other shoulder. This seems like a very vague set of instructions, but this exercise is really individually specific. 

Everyone has their own strategy as to how to lift the bag, but pretty much everyone I work with tables the bag in between the start and finish of the exercise. How each person gets the bag from the ground to their legs and then from their legs to their shoulder is different from person to person so experiment with different techniques and see which works best for you. Either way this exercise is a killer and develops some serious grip and back strength.

MMA Usage: Much like the tire flip, sandbag shouldering is another great way to build functional strength for MMA. Not that lifting barbells and dumbbells won't build strength that won't apply to MMA, there's just something about lifting an odd, unpredictable object that I find really useful for fighters. A strong grip and low back are needed in MMA, especially in the clinch and on the ground, so developing strength in these areas will definitely pay off.

Stone

Muscles Worked: Hamstrings, Glutes, Low Back

Stabilizers: Core, Lats

Setup: Stand with a stone between your feet. Lower your chest to the stone and grab around it in an effort to hug it as tightly to your chest as possible.

Execution: While keeping the stone tight to your chest, lift it off the ground and table it much like you would with a sandbag before you shoulder it. Regrip the stone when you have it securely tabled and then explode up and drive your hips forward to lift it onto the box. This takes a lot of getting used to so start light and get some quality reps out before looking to move up. One of the issues you may run into is the stone slipping out of your arms when you go to lift it. There are a number of tacky/pine tar type products available to help combat this, but by the time you get it on you and cleaned up you've lost a lot of time. Since you're not a professional strongman and your success doesn't depend on whether or not you can lift a certain sized stone (although having the strength to lift heavier stones will certainly help you in a fight) I just have my fighters chalk their hands and arms to help cut down on the slippage that occurs. If you do end up going with tacky, a mechanic's hand cleaner like Goop works well when looking to clean it off when you're done.

MMA Usage: The stone lift is very similar to the sandbag shouldering exercise and, as a result, offers some of the same benefits as the sandbag.

There you go, the top 4 strongman exercises that you need to start incorporating into your MMA training workouts immediately. I work them in with my MMA fighters on the 3rd day which focuses on building full body power and reactive strength. There are a number of ways to work them in, and depending on your goals, you may want to put a bigger or smaller emphasis on these exercises. But, no matter what, you need to start working these into your MMA training workouts in some capacity.

      By Dickie White

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