5 Athletic Strength Exercises For Fighting
The original publishing date of today’s post was back on June, 12 2018.
If you’re currently training in martial arts, or MMA then you need to invest the time to hone your athleticism. As a strength coach I notice that athletic strength is one of the first elements that fighters tend to put on the shelf.
This mindset traditionally derives from the thought that one can get all the strength and athleticism they need from their specific sport. However this is not the case. Learn how to utilize these strength exercises to enhance your MMA and martial arts fitness.
- Are you competitive in martial arts, or MMA and looking for a way to build more athleticism?
- Do you have an interest in speeding up your performance for your martial arts practice?
- Are you looking to build strength to improve your strikes and/or grappling skills?
- Are you interested in building more athletic strength to enhance your coordination and reaction time?
Whether you’re a martial arts practitioner, or looking to get seriously competitive in MMA you need to hone a good portion of your strength exercises to develop your athleticism. Consequently, without the added development of coordination and speed you may end up being somebody’s punching, or kicking bag during a tough sparring session. So today I’m going to provide you with some strength exercises to make your striking and grappling skills much tougher for your opponent.
Athletic Strength Exercises For Fight Performance
1) Box Jumps: This dynamic strength drill is as close to idiot proof as you can get in terms of technique although there are a few things to consider before trying to execute the box jump. So dynamic strength exercises such as this are great for developing some serious leg power to enhance your kicking power, speed, and agility.
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Before executing the box jump you want to take about stride length back away from the box. Therefore, you want to hinge your hips and bend your knees while performing a counter movement with your arms. This is to forcefully aid you into the descent of the box jump before forcefully jumping and ascending out of the hinged position.
As you jump make sure to jump as high as you can, but land as softly as you can with your feet equal distance apart in the center of the box. Consequently, make sure to land flat footed absorbing your landing. From here stand all the way up and then step down off of the box to set up for the next repetition. Most importantly, don’t jump off the box back to the ground after a completed jump. This defeats the purpose of the box jump which is to negate compressive forces on your ankles, knees, and hips.
2) Single To Double Leg Box Jump: This is the next progression of the standard box jump. Here you will set up to execute this movement the same exact way as you would the standard box jump. The obvious difference here is that you’re going to be jumping off of one leg and landing on both on top of the box.
You still want to accomplish the same thing as the standard box jump. Therefore, jump hard off of one leg and land softly on both feet. Imagine landing on a glass surface. So once the jump is completed step down from the box and switch legs to perform the next jump.
3) Rotational Medicine Ball Slams: These are clearly going to ramp up your striking and grappling intensity. As you can see by lifting this soft jam medicine ball up over your head and pivoting your feet to forcefully slam it into the ground you are training for rotational speed.
The key is to make sure that you bend your knees and hips as you drive the medicine ball into the ground on each slam. So transition the ball from one side to the other by bringing the ball up and over your head before driving it into the ground. Slam it on the opposite side of your body.
You want to perform these by keeping in mind the speed and intensity of the slams. You want to perform the slams in continuous succession like a machine gun.
4) Sit Through: This strength exercise is commonly seen in Jiu-Jitsu, but is a great strength movement to perform for any form of fighting. Therefore, the sit through is a legit fight strength exercise because it will challenge your strength and coordination in order to pull it off.
You want to start sitting on the ground with your leg facing in line with your chest and shoulders placed on the ground out to the side of you. From here you want to use your grounded hand and opposite grounded leg to start pushing your body up off of the ground to switch positions placing yourself in the exact same position with your opposite limbs on the ground in the same position as you initially started.
Firstly, start out slow and focus on getting the movement pattern down first. So then you can worry about speeding up the execution of the movement. Make sure to perform these in continuous succession.
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5) Plank To Push Up: I’m not going to lie to you this one requires a hell of a lot of strength. So this movement sort of represents a plyometric push-up. This is the case as you’ve got to generate enough force production to power your hands up off the ground.
With that being said this one is still much more challenging because you’re starting from the plank position. Therefore, you have to rock forward on your forearms bringing your shoulders over your forearms and fists. This particular part of the movement is a countermovement to help you create just enough momentum with a very short ROM. As a result, you have to go from the plank to spring up onto your fist.
So once you’re up on your fist you want to perform a push up. From here drop back down onto your forearms into the plank position. Lastly, you just want to continue to repeat the process until you complete the designated number of reps.
Athletic Strength Exercises For Fighting: The Takeaway
Commit to a strength program to improve your fight performance. To sum it up, you need to execute strength movements that mimic speed, agility, and power that is inherent in the sport of fighting. In conclusion, this is known as specificity of training.
Are you currently committed to a strength program to improve your fight performance and fitness?
What strength movements are you incorporating to enhance your fight athleticism?
Post up and share in the comments here below.
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