Conditioning FAQ - READ!

Henry Swanson

Excitement’s my game
@plutonium
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This thread is gonna be for most people who are new to conditioning and who are unfamiliar with some of the terms being used or are starting out from scratch.

Q: I weigh 500 lbs. and I'm 5 feet tall, how do I lose weight?

A: The simple answer I give to people who ask this is to eat less/better and move more. Try to find forms of exercise that you enjoy and will stick with so that you'll stay consistent with your exercise. In terms of diet, check out our diet and supplements forum for general ideas on how to improve your diet to help with your weight loss.

Q: What is LSD?

A: The LSD we refer to here means Long Slow Distance/Duration. Basically this type of training is done for longer sessions at a much lower intensity. This helps increase over all cardiovascular fitness and efficiency and will also accustom you to handling the stressors of exercise. After a significant amount of time is put into building your aerobic *base,* you can diversify your training more and incorporate higher intensity methods. For more info on this, click here:

LSD TRAINING

Q: What is Interval Training?

A: Interval training is where you incorporate short periods of high intensity effort alternated with brief rest periods. A good example is the Tabata method where you would go hard for 20 seconds and rest for 10 seconds, you would continue to go like this for 4 minutes. It's best to vary your work to rest ratios to keep things fresh.

Here's a good place to start to get an idea of interval training

Q: What are Burpees?

A: The Burpee is the ultimate bodyweight conditioning tool

Also check out our 100 Burpee Challenge Thread for a glorious new way to make yourself cry.

Q: I'm injured. How can I work through it?

A: First of all go see a doctor. Getting medical advice here is forbidden as we don't want anyone to injur themselves further due to shitty information they got here. Basically, you'll have to discuss with your doctor which forms of exercise he/she would allow you to do with your particular injury.

Q: How does Fighter X Train?

A: We have a training of the pros thread here. It's important to realize that whatever these pros do in regards to their training has worked for them. This DOES NOT necessarily mean that it will work for you though.

Q: Should I still lift weights if I'm trying to lose body fat?

A: This can be summed up very nicely by my friend Standard.

Standard said:
There really is no reason to avoid weight training for anyone trying to improve themselves. Weight lifting will help to burn more calories which translates into a better overall body composition (less fat, more muscle) when combined with a proper diet.

The number of times you lift and the number of times you train for conditioning should reflect your own fitness goals.

Q: Should I lift weights before or after conditioning?

A: This depends on your schedule, how much time you have to train per week and your overall goals. For someone who's serious about lifting, it would be wise to lift first and then do your conditioning. Trying to squat or deadlift with REALLY heavy weights could be a tad risky if you've just done a brutal sprint session. If you must do it this way allow for some time in between your conditioning session and your weights session.

However, if conditioning/fighting is your main focus then you may want to do that first when you are fresher. Although some grapplers here have stated that they like to lift first before grappling because being fatigued forces them to focus more on technique.

Q: I need to make weight for a fight how should I do it?

A: This question pops up all the time. First of all most people agree that you shouldn't be too far away from your fight weight during the weeks leading up to the big day. Then it's just a matter of drying out a little water weight.

Conditioning Regular Ian Coe gives some good advice on the subject

Ian Coe said:
Right, so, with the abundance of 'how to I cut weight' threads abound recently, I have been asked to produce this thread, such that it may answer any and (if I'm really good, which I'm not) all questions regarding weight cutting.

I will split it down into 2 sections because there are 2 times when weight cutting comes into play (I will attempt to be short and sweet as well):

Weigh ins on the day-
One of the hardest things to do. You seriously don't want to be stripping water weight if your fighting in 4 hours, you'll be weak as a kitten (takes maybe 11 hours to full rehydrate, depending on how hard you went). Also the day before a fight (and the monring) you need to be eating high carbs meals, quite a few of them, to get you rearing to go on fight day.
Honestly, you want to walk around at maybe 4 or so pounds above your fighting weight, then you can train your arse off and cut a few calories leading up to the fight day. So if your fighting sat at 190lbs and at 10 days out your 194, cut some calories out (they say 500 cal a day and you'll loose a pound a week).
You want to ideally get to <188 on the thursday night so that you can eat some high carb foods on the thursday night and friday night (and sat morning) to replace glycogen.
Leading up to the fight, I personally cut out rice and bread. That usually helps me loose 4 lbs in a month. I'll also eat 4 meals a day:

breakfast being- either oats, a banana and honey with milk, or some museli.

lunch would be chicken (or any other lean meats), some nuts (cashews, peanuts), and as much kale, spinach and brocolli that i can stand (I'll often use some curry sauce or something with the chicken and have just enough to make the veg tasty....its a lot easier if you do this then have everything bland. I started off having just raw everything and grilled pieces of chicken, no sauce, nothing...it was hard not to vear off 'just this once' and have something bad for me)

dinner would be pretty much the same thing as lunch, but with some variation in veg composition (more kale, cabbage, spring onions, less broccoli and cauliflower)

I'd train about 3-4 hours after that. I didn't know about protein and carbs during training sessions at this point, but if I had done so I would have included some with BCAA's during training. I would always chug a 50g:30g (sometimes less) carb:protein drink straight after training.

When i got home I would often have some full fat milk and caesium based protein. Even though your cutting weight, having a treat like full fat milk (which i would have with the museli, and occasionally add some peanut butter...I train a lot btw) can keep you on the straight and narrow. Its a mental thing, like cheat days, but having pre determined cheat 'meals'





If weighing in the day before:
You have a lot to work with here.
Say your fighting on the sunday and your weigh in is at 2pm sat.
Depending on how experienced you are at it, you can cut down the food from wed, having much smaller meals, but having many more of them (in essence grazing, always feeling slightly hungry). You can go for a sweat run (in a sauna suite or numerous layers) on the thursday night, friday morning, a sauna friday night, and if your still over weight, sauna it up on the sat morning before the weigh in. If you don't have access to a sauna, a very hot bath for a hour and when you get out stay in the bath room (and put on a sauna suite or many layers again). You sweat like a monkey for about 20 minutes after you get out (and look very lobsteresk). During this 2 day period, sip water, don't down it. By friday night, you want to be sipping enough water to make you feel better, but not really satisfy you.
I also tend to wear maybe 4 layers up top and a pair of trousers and shorts when I go to bed. You'll loose 4-5 lbs over night doing that (I lost 6 because I was in a un air conditioned room in bangkok.....in June)


As soon as that weigh ins over, get some electrolytes in you (pedilyte is it, something to rehydrate you). Do not down it, sip it over the course of 20 minutes (say a litre or so). Nothing high GI if you can afford it. You want to slowly get your body back into the swing of things if you've been dieting hard. Start out with some porriage and milk (or water), some nuts and if your feeling good enough, a banana. Eat that then in about 30 minutes, get some oats in you, then 30 min after that, some whole wheat bread with some lean meats. After say 4 or so hours of grazing like that (with constant drinking of water and electrolyte solutions), its time to start eating full high carbs meals (rice, potatos, some veg).



I'll add stuff if I think its needed


I'm just really back from training, so need to eat now.

Any questions/comments, post them up and I'll answer them to the best of my knowledge and update this to include it.


edit- oh yeah, fish oil is pretty good at helping get rid of extra flab, but thats a side issue.
You should be taking fish oil as a matter of course anyway

Check out how some other pros do it here. And some other good info on cutting here and here.

Q: Is X amount of mile spent biking the same as Y amount mile running?

A: No. When the mechanics of a certain exercise differ from those of another you will have VERY little carryover. This is specificity at it's finest. This is why you may know guys who have great running endurance but gas out during MMA training and vice versa. Because of this, the best way to get more stamina for a given activity is to do that activity.

We've all read that quote by Pedro Rizzo:

Runners run, swimmers swim, fighters fight.

This isn't to say that you should abandon ALL OTHER forms of training. Just understand that doing endless amount of gym cardio may not carry over well onto the mat unless you incorporate some form of sport specific training as well (i.e. rolling, sparring, sprawls, bag/pad work etc.).

Q: What are Complexes?

A:Complexes are performing two or more exercises in a sequence with the same load. You complete all your reps with one movement first, then complete all your reps with the next movement. Example: When combining a squat with an overhead press, perform 5 reps of squats first, then 5 reps of overhead press without dropping the bar.

Here's a good article on complexes. And here's a video of Randy Couture's complex/circuit.

Q: What's a good stretching routine?

A: Here's a great stretching tutorial.

Q: What are kettlebells and are they worth getting?

A: From my british friend in the S&P

SmashiusClay said:
A: Kettlebells are an alternative to a dumbbell, they have the handle placed away from the centre of the weight and this means they handle differently from a conventional DB. They can place a higher emphasis on grip and wrist strength and require greater coordination than doing the same movement with a DB.
kettlebelluk2.jpg

They are much more expensive than a normal weight set and a lot of people argue that although there are benefits to their use they are not worth the ridiculous prices charged for them. Nor do they deserve the hype which surrounds them. To sum up these are a useful tool but are not the super, ultimate, all-singing, all-dancing solution to all your problem that some people claim they are. This article talks about the hype that surrounds them
 
Great job Sonny. The only critique...I checked out the stretching guide, and the pictures look like some kind of gay dude (with his shirt off) doing gay yoga looking stretches...why couldn't they have gotten a hot girl to do those :)
 
Bamaispriceless said:
Great job Sonny. The only critique...I checked out the stretching guide, and the pictures look like some kind of gay dude (with his shirt off) doing gay yoga looking stretches...why couldn't they have gotten a hot girl to do those :)

WHAT? I thought that was a topless chick!!!!

Damn these glasses!!!
 
Awesome, thanks Sonny. Only thing I noticed was that Smashius' kettlebell link is busted
 
Holy shit it got done!

*applauds*

This thing has been over a year in the works. I know that's before your time as a Mod Sonny, but still. Good show.
 
King Kabuki said:
Holy shit it got done!

*applauds*

This thing has been over a year in the works. I know that's before your time as a Mod Sonny, but still. Good show.

Holy shit I thought you'd say it was crap.

Feel free to add to it as you see fit.
 
One more thing, there seems to be a lot of questions and threads about complexes (how they fit into your program, some sample routines, if they're worth it, etc etc). The "Energy Systems Training for MMA" is a great article that you gave a link to, but maybe you could toss in a question in the FAQ, something like "What is a barbell complex?" with that article recommended as a start, because there's a good chance a lot of people might miss it? Just an idea though, looks good nonetheless
 
Brandon MacRea said:
One more thing, there seems to be a lot of questions and threads about complexes (how they fit into your program, some sample routines, if they're worth it, etc etc). The "Energy Systems Training for MMA" is a great article that you gave a link to, but maybe you could toss in a question in the FAQ, something like "What is a barbell complex?" with that article recommended as a start, because there's a good chance a lot of people might miss it? Just an idea though, looks good nonetheless

Updated. I can't believe I forgot that. Thanks Brandon.
 
Great job.

What happened to the PR stickie?
 
LPF4 said:
Great job.

What happened to the PR stickie?

I had too many stickies going so I unsticked it. Just search for it and bump it up accordingly a la Sherdog's strongest man.
 
Sonny said:
I mentioned you in the liner notes. :wink:

thats what seperates great work from good work my friend... :icon_chee
 
Hey where's that thread about mental conditioning that used to be a sticky...
 

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