How to Design a Total Conditioning Program for Mixed Martial Arts

Step-by-Step Guide

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   Step 1: Assess your current performance.

   If you want to design a successful training program, the first thing you must do is to know your current performance and limitations.
   
   In this way you will know where you are now and you can think about realistic results.
   
   There are a wide variety of tests to assess your current performance.
   
   All of these tests have been proven to be a good quality indicator of your fitness level.
   
   Just calculate your score in each of them and compare to the standards to see where you are:
   Cooper Test: tests your cardio resistance with this worldwide know test.
   
   Marines physical test: test your performance with the US marine test and find out if you could qualify to be a US marine.
   
   Navy Seals physical test: another great test to assess your performance.
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   Step 2: Set your goals Now that you know where to start from

   Establish realistic objectives.
   
   Ask yourself:
   How many days can I train per week? What are the competences that I need to train most (based on your results on previous tests)? Where do I want to be in 1 year? 6 months? 1 month? Think first in the long term goal and then set shorter goals to see if it is realistic what you want in the long term.
   
   If you want to double the number of pull ups you are able to perform in one year, how many pull ups should you add each month? , How many months can you train before your next event? If you can train for one year, just establish four to six periods in it and focus on the areas you need to improve most at the beginning and focus more on competition at the end of the year.
   
   You can establish periods of 6-8 weeks to improve your performance in strength, cardio or resistance as an example. , Within one short, intense workout you can train your whole body and target those competences you need to train most while still training some core competences such as cardio and resistance.
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   Step 3: think about where you want to go.

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   Step 4: Periodised training Despite some training programs which focus on overall conditioning with no periodization

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   Step 5: it is better to focus on training only some competences at different stages

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   Step 6: so you can prioritize your work and improve that area in less time.

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   Step 7: Train intense Think about training in less time so you can rest more and allowing your body to recover and therefore improving faster so you can achieve your results fast.High intensity interval training has been proven to be very effective for training MMA.

Detailed Guide

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