Martial Arts Conditioning

There is a relatively semi-famous quote by Karl Gotch about martial arts conditioning – “Conditioning is the greatest hold.” Generally, this means if you are in good enough condition, your opponent will “gas out” before you do in a match/fight, and you’ll be able to capitalize on one of his mistakes. However, let’s look at it from a slightly different angle . . .

When I think back to UFC 40, and the fight between Tito Ortiz and Ken Shamrock, I keep thinking about the comments Joe Rogan made about Ortiz’s conditioning (to paraphrase): “His conditioning is absolutely unbelievable – he just KEEPS coming at you at full speed.” The idea here is that if your conditioning is so good that you can go full speed longer than your opponent, you can just KEEP coming at him, and KEEP coming at him, and KEEP coming at him . . .regardless of how good your opponent’s technique is, if you can keep pushing the action at an amazingly fast pace, you’re going to be able to catch your opponent – either with a strike or a submission. Now, I don’t want to turn this into a “technique vs. conditioning” argument – I’ll let you go to the internet to quibble about that. But, if you’re conditioning was so good, that you could literally impose your will (via strikes or subs) on your opponent by outworking him, wouldn’t you have an advantage? Sure. Then, if you could combine that sort of conditioning with superior technique, would that be a devastating fighter? You bet it would.
So, how would one go about building this type of “superhuman” conditioning? Simple – incremental increases to intensity of fighting-oriented conditioning movements for the amount of time your upcoming event will be.

HUH???

What did I just say???

I guess that did sound a little tongue twisting – let me go over it a little.

First, “incremental increases” – it’s no secret in strength training that if you want to get stronger, you’re going to do so incrementally. In other words, you’ll gain a little at a time. And most “incremental increases” are better if they’re small ones – so much so that the body doesn’t really notice that much – an extra one or two pounds, and extra rep or two, or maybe even an extra set. Your body can adapt to these small increases much more quickly than large ones, therefore, they can take place much more often. String together a lot of these small increases, and soon you have large increases overall. To apply this concept to conditioning, we don’t use weight or reps – we use time. Add an extra ten seconds work here, decrease five seconds rest there. Soon, it will add up.

Often, the term “intensity” is used incorrectly in the martial arts conditioning world. Correctly used, “intensity” doesn’t mean how hard you work or how much you push yourself. It means how close to a maximum effort you are. In strength training, this would mean how close to a 1RM (one rep maximum) you would be. For conditioning, it means how close to “all out” or “full speed” you’re working. On this program, during the work periods, you’re to work as “intensely” as possible.

By “fighting-oriented conditioning movements,” I mean exercises that will help or that you’ll use in your fighting. Now, there’s nothing wrong with jogging, sprints, running hills or stairs, using an elliptical machine, jump rope, or the like. In fact, they’re all superb conditioning exercises/movements. However, I believe this type of program is best utilized when you’re using fighting drills – shadowboxing, hitting the Thai pads, heavy bag work, wrestling, practicing takedowns, going for escapes, etc.
Lastly, use the time period for which your fight will be. If you’re going to be fighting three rounds of five minutes, then train for three rounds of five minutes. If it’s an open fight time of 30 minutes (no scheduled breaks), then train for 30 minutes.

Hopefully it’s getting a little clearer, but let me give you a couple of examples to illustrate fully. Let’s say you’ve got a fight coming up that’s two rounds of ten minutes each, and you decide to use submission wrestling (grappling on the ground, going for submissions). Let’s also say that you’ve got two different “levels” of wrestling – A) somewhat slow, deliberate, and methodical wrestling, going for submissions only when available, and sort of “flowing” with your opponent, and B) all out “flurrying,” trying to impose your will on your opponent, wrestling as hard as you can, being as active as possible. Ideally (and the goal of the program), you’d be able to flurry as fast as possible for all ten minutes of both rounds.
Here’s what you’ll do – grapple for ten minutes straight. Have a partner/trainer time you. For 20 seconds, “flurry” as fast as possible. Try and be as active as humanly possible in for those 20 seconds. Use good technique, but remember that this isn’t a technique drill or activity – it’s conditioning. As such, what you need to be worried about is volume – get as much done and be as active as you can. After those 20 seconds are up, perform “active rest” for 40 seconds by wrestling more slowly and methodically. Don’t go crazy – this is a rest “period,” but still keep somewhat busy. After those 40 seconds are up, go back to flurrying for 20 seconds. Alternate these until your ten minutes are up. Rest a minute (or however long you’ll get in your fight), and go for another ten minutes.

At some point, you’ll get to the point that you can get through the workout somewhat “easily.” Ok, now let’s incrementally increase the work. Now, instead of working 20 seconds and active rest 40, work for 25 and active rest 35. The increase won’t be that much – just five extra seconds. If you feel you can’t handle decreasing the rest time right away, that’s Ok – stick with the 40 seconds for right now. Once you’re “comfortable” with the 25 seconds work, decrease the active rest time from 40 to 35 seconds. When that feels Ok, go to 30 seconds work and 30 seconds active rest. Then 35 and 25. Then 40 and 20. Keep increasing like this, and quicker than I’m sure you’d think, you will be flurrying for nearly ten minutes straight with minimal rest. Think that kind of martial arts conditioning would overcome your opponent?

Let’s look at one more quick example. The work and rest times will be the same, but instead of two, ten minute rounds, we’re training for three, five minute rounds. And instead of hitting the heavy bag, we’re going to practice takedowns.

For this drill, you’ll probably need 3-5 partners – that way, you’re constantly shooting in on a “fresh” opponent. Again, for 20 seconds, work as much as possible. Whether an “open shot” is there or not, you shoot – make something happen. Keep moving and keep shooting. As soon as you’re up, you shoot. Try and get as many shots in for those 20 seconds. When it’s time for active rest, keep shooting, but at a lot slower pace. Only shoot when an opening is there – don’t worry about as much movement. Like with the heavy bag, this is a rest period, but keep busy. When you feel good at the 20 and 40 level, go to 25 seconds work and 35 seconds active rest, then bump it up to 30 and 30, then 35 and 25, and so on. Soon, you’ll be able to constantly shoot for almost five minutes straight. Again, like before, in between “rounds” only rest for as long as you’ll get in your upcoming fight.

Try this program out. The above are just examples – apply to any of your grappling activities or drills. Initially, I’d do this workout only two or three times per week, depending on your schedule and how much other work you’re doing. Get to the point that you’re doing it four to five times per week, and you’ll be a bona fide stud. I think you’ll be very surprised at how much your conditioning and work capacity is going to improve on this program.

Train Hard, Rest Hard, Play Hard.