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3 Functional Training Moves For Fitness And Fighting

3 Functional Training Moves For Fitness And Fighting

  1. Are you looking to give your fitness and health a serious upgrade? 
  2. Are you looking to enhance your martial arts fitness and improve your overall athleticism? 
  3. Are you interested in building a body a that is both fit and functional? 

If you’re looking to improve your fitness for life and martial arts then you’ve got to make sure you’re not neglecting your functional training needs. Functional training is about structuring and programming your workouts to serve a purpose. In this case the purpose is to optimize your function for martial arts and fighting, but at the end of the day the key to being functional is being able to perform movements and skills that mimic everyday life with complete confidence and without inhibition.

Functional Training For Fighting

1) Strict Bear Crawls: This drill is crucial for working on getting you used to ground based movement which is a necessary trait for MMA, grappling, and striking. This strict bear crawl is performed by keeping your joints bent at more strict 90 degree angles as you perform it.

By maintaining the strict angles of the joints you’re forced to make smaller movements and to brace your core midsection while also firing your shoulders and arms. To maintain strict form I always cue my students to imagine trying to balance a glass of water across their back in order to force them to maintain a neutral spine.

Perform 3 sets of 10 to 15 strides off each limb on your bodyweight training days.

2) Hindu Push-ups: This push-up variation is a powerful option for giving your functional training and fight fitness a serious upgrade. The Hindu push-up is great for challenging you by playing around with your weight distribution and overall mobility and control.

This functional training push-up progresses you from the downward dog yoga position and directly into a swooping motion as you perform the actual push-up portion of the movement to mimic swooping, or diving underneath an imaginary fence post.

Perform 3 sets of 8 to 12 repetitions on your upper body and bodyweight training days to improve your functional fitness for fighting.

3) Half Get-ups: There’s no arguing the value of the turkish get up when it comes to your overall mobility and improving your functional fitness for fighting and sport. However, if you’re looking for a great way to progress up to doing the full get up then this half get up option is going to be a tremendous option.

This half get up is a great way to mobilize your body and to get you comfortable with the movement patterns that are involved right in the middle of the full turkish get up. With this movement you can get used to handling the weight overhead while making your transitions during your movement on the ground.

Perform 6 to 10 half get ups on each side on your functional training days to improve your fitness for fighting.

Functional Training For Fighting: The Takeaway

At the end of the day if you’re going to acquire athletic skills for fighting, or sport you’ve got to include functional training movements that are athletically specific to your needs for your sport, life, or recreation. The three movements I’ve outlined for you here are a great start for mobilizing and stabilizing your body for martial arts and fighting fitness.

Are you currently incorporating functional training into your martial arts fitness and strength? 

Are you improving your fitness for martial arts, or have you hit a dead end plateau? 

Post up and share here below in the comment section below. 

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Brandon

I'm a Certified Strength And Conditioning Specialist (CSCS) and author. I have had over 17 years experience in MMA fitness, strength and conditoning, and athletic performance for most every sport. As an author and specialist I've written close to a million words on fitness and strength. I'm also a Muay Thai practictioner and enjoy helping others to reach their peak potential through fitness and performance.

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