MMA Fitness: 2 Strength Training Drills To Give You Bull Rushing Takedown Power!
Do you know why very few men will get in the ring with a bull? It’s because bulls are big, mean, and most of all powerful! If you are looking to take your MMA fighting skills to the next level then you have got to include drills outside of the ring to enhance your performance inside the ring! Keep on reading if you want to learn how you can have bull rushing takedown power!
MMA Fitness For Your Takedown Power…
In order to build up the strength and to develop the takedown power of a Bull you’ve got to train like one! You’ve got to admit that when you are in the ring and can shoot in on your opponent with enough force that it feels like you are going to drive him through the canvas for that moment you have the upper hand. No matter how much skill a fighter has there is something to be said for athletic power.
Sometimes athletic power is all some fighters need in order to be effective. Now don’t get me wrong, I very much believe in technique and well rounded fighting skills, but you’ve got to admit that when a guy like Brock Lesnar wants to shoot in and take your butt to the canvas he’s probably going to be successful at doing it even if that is all he does! Nonetheless, having takedown power can give you the edge in any MMA matchup, unless you just prefer to avoid the ground altogether!
Using Kettlebells To Build Hitting Power!
Now having been a professional fitness trainer and strength and conditioning specialist here in Atlanta, Georgia now for over 10 years I can tell you that some of the best drills you can include into your MMA fitness program must involve kettlebells. I love kettlebells because they are so versatile. The thing about kettlebells is that you can utilize this tool to help you to master certain movements and actions that will serve you well in the act of a Bull Rush takedown!
To start out let’s first examine the actual act of shooting in or tackling an opponent. When examining this action you can visualize in your head what it looks like. You must start out low and when the time is right you must blast off like a rocket or bull in a horizontal trajectory to hit the guy in order to drive him to the ground. From this low point your center of gravity is leveraged by you being able to coil your body up like a spring before unloading on him to bury him into the mat! This very much mimics a bull charge.
Now in order to do this you want to have a strength and conditioning program that will help you to develop an optimal amount of this “coiling” and rapid “uncoiling” ability. In order to shoot or tackle you’ve got to have a lot of hip drive and the ability to leverage your body with a full range of motion. Now without stating the obvious there are tremendous power exercises that are meant to help you to develop a strong core center such as back squats and dead lifts. There are also a great deal of other lifts that will help with your quickness. Now having said that I want to discuss a couple of real effective drills that will help you to build a significant level of core strength along with increasing the range of motion of your hips, thus allowing you to better master the power drills I mentioned above.
The kettlebell goblet squat is a tremendous drill in helping you to achieve a full range of motion during the squat exercise. This drill is basically a simple variation of the front squat exercise that involves you using a single kettlebell loaded in front of your body. You execute this exercise by grabbing the horns of the bell while keeping your elbows tight to your torso. You start with your feet just wider than shoulder width with your legs locked. From here you will want sit your butt back lowering yourself down into the squat while keeping the bell loaded in front of your body. You will want to keep your forearms vertical so that you can ideally touch your elbows to the insides of your knees for a complete squat range of motion (ROM). You will find that by lowering your body into the squat with the weight in front you will be able to sit your hips back for a deeper squat depth. The reason for this is because most of the tension is lax on the hamstrings due to the position and set up of the drill and you must sit your rear back in order to offset the balance. Check it in my video demonstration below.
The Goblet Squat
To follow up with another great variation of the goblet squat (front squat) you can increase the difficulty with the kettlebell by performing a thruster. This essentially involves loading the bell in front once again, except in the racked position at your chest. You can perform this drill with either a single bell or pair of bells. For the video I am including below I am using a single bell. The great thing about this drill is that you can perform the same front squat movement, but at the lock out you execute an overhead press to finish it out! This is only going to add to your core strength and ability to throw your body through your opponent like a human missile! Check it out in my demonstration below.
The Kettlebell Thruster
All in all, you’ve got to work on both your core strength and hip range of motion if you are going to have bull rushing takedown power! The thing is that you can start out with a light bell or bells and gradually increase the load to suit the increase of your performance as you progress with the movement. If you want to learn more killer tactics like these then feel free to pass this article along to all of your friends and both you and them sign up to join my emailing list for FREE! Along with you guys and girls joining you’ll get my FREE training guide the 10 Step Method To Strength: Mastering The One Arm One Legged Push Up. Do it now because if you don’t I’m gonna bull rush you! Keep training smart my friend.
