"This Bud's For You - Why 'Regular Joes' Should Be Doing MMA Workouts"
(originally published at MMA Training.com)

I've been training, studying Strength & Conditioning (S&C) training, and helping others with their training for 16+ years now. And for the past 9-10 of those years, I've been devising ways of helping MMAists with their S&C training. We all know that MMA (as well as most combat sports in general) are totally unique in regards to its S&C requirements - it's totally unlike all other sports.

Virtually every other sport has a main focus, or maybe even a couple - but regardless, it's still evident what sort of "needs" that a participant of that sport has. For example, American football is a sport made up of short bursts. Now, it will vary some with which position you play, but ultimately, a player needs high levels of strength, speed, and the resulting power. Baseball is much the same way. Soccer, on the other hand, is mostly aerobic with brief stints of intense activity, and is primarily all lower body. Track and field events are pretty much all either speed/power-based, or endurance-based, depending on the event.

MMA, though, is unlike any of that. You need high levels of strength, speed, and power. You need high levels of work capacity. You need not only aerobic endurance, but also muscular-endurance, as well as strength and power-endurance. If ever there was a sport that required the complete realm of physicality from a S&C perspective, MMA is it.

I don't need to tell you that MMA is one of, if not the, fastest growing sports in the world right now. Fighters are making the cover of major sports magazines, covered on major sports networks, fights are broadcast on PPV, cable, and now even network TV. MMA is everywhere, and many fighters are making a very good living from fighting.

That wasn't always the case, though. In fact, until just a few years ago, there weren't but a few MMAists in the world that made enough to be able to train full-time. Most fighters had to hold down full-time jobs, and train in their spare time. Back in the early to mid 1990's, when the UFC was first created, subsequently followed by the now defunct Pride FC in Japan a few years later, virtually all fighters only fought on a part-time basis. They simply didn't make enough money to be able to afford to train full-time. So, they would go to their normal 40+ hour/week job, and train at night and on weekends.

And we all know what great demands are put upon a fighter with his training. Today you can go to MMA gyms to train. Then, there was no such thing. It was go to one gym for boxing instruction. Go to another for BJJ. Another for wrestling. Possibly another for sparring. Add schooling, a second job, a family, and/or other basic life responsibilities to the mix, and that doesn't leave a whole lot of time for S&C training.

That was what intrigued me so much about S&C for MMA and experimenting with different forms of training. How could a guy who had so much other demand on his life do a simple, short, yet effective workout so that he could improve his performance across all these different, but necessary, physical characteristics, while at the same time, allowing him to recover fully so that he can still work, train, and tend to his personal life?

Somewhere along the line, a light bulb went off. We've already established the fact that MMAists need all these different physical characteristics - speed, power, strength, conditioning, work capacity, etc. And they need to be able to accomplish all that via workout programs that are simple, yet effective, and don't take forever (either to perform or recover from). All this has another absolutely PERFECT use...the "regular joe."

Enter Bud Finch. Bud Finch is a Financial Planner from Canada. Bud is married, and just had his first child - a beautiful baby girl. Bud is a huge fan of MMA, and trains a couple times per week. However, Bud does not compete. Bud is like most of us, in that he's more fan than he is competitive fighter. He loves the sport, and loves being able to train. But, he doesn't really have the desire to compete. He does, however, have the desire to be in prime physical condition.

Bud has recently hit a sort of crossroads in his life. Having his first child, his responsibilities have just (and all you parents can testify to this) gone through the roof. MMA can't be a prime focus anymore. And because of Bud's line of work, he deals with the public quite often. As a result, he can't come into work, as he put it, with "black eyes or a split lip". (Hey, we can't all be Edward Norton from "Fight Club" - hehe.)

Bud is also at another crossroads of sorts - he will be turning 30 this January. Now 30 is by no means old, but it's a big realization that can hit you hard that you're no longer in your 20s. 30 is also getting up there in age for competitive athletes. By 30, most athetes have already had a good career under their belts, not just looking to "burst onto the scene." Bud knows this, and like I said, he trains because he enjoys it - not because he's looking to make the cast of TUF 11 or 12. Bud has a good job, and a family to take care of. So, if Bud can't actively participate in MMA like he'd like (outside of his recreational training), he wants to at least get in the best MMA shape he can get in.

Bud also has one other goal - he wants to lose 30 lbs. by his 30th birthday.

Now some of you "hardcore" guys might scoff at this - if he's not going to compete, then why train, why get into fighting shape, etc. To you folks, I say, "Aw shut the hell up."

What is wrong with, number one, wanting to be in the best shape you can be in? Being strong, fast, conditioned? Nothing. Would you think that a Chicago Bears fan was nuts for wanting to be in shape like Brian Urlacher? Or that a track and field enthusiast would want to be in shape like 100m sprinter Tyson Gay? Or that a New York Yankees fan would wan to be in shape like A-Rod? Nope.

That's why my MMA workouts - designed to improve all qualities of S&C in simple, yet effective workouts that don't take forever, are perfect for a guy like Bud. And guys like Bud - the "regular joe" - folks like me and you - people who I really want to help and who my workouts and products target.

Over the next few months, Bud will be keeping a log here at MMA Training.com that will chronicle his quest to lose his 30 lbs. Using workout programs available on my site, we are going to not only help Bud lose weight, but get him stronger, faster, more conditioned, more powerful, and in the best overall shape he's ever been in. And you're all going to be able to see it happen before your eyes.

Train Hard, Rest Hard, Play Hard.