What combination of traits will make me the best fighter I can be?

[PatrikDC]

As of late I've been struggling to set goals for myself because of the confusion that is the internet's opinion on proper training. First of all, how do I know if a sport will have a NEGATIVE effect on my primary sport or my life, for that matter? The whole reason I'm doing this is to have a positive impact on myself in terms of looks, performance and quality of life.

Practical Programming for Strength Training says that every sport hits a crossroad where they need to pick a second sport in order to maximize their potential in their main sport. You see it all the time - GSP does gymnastics(Strength, coordination, power, speed) track and field(speed, power, strength), and lifted weights. Jon Jones does extreme swimming, powerlifting, and probably some other stuff...and lots of boxers run for either speed(sprints) or duration.

Now, here's where I get lost - despite the fact that 97% of the people that say this won't fight Jon Jones(who has powerlifted), people still say that "lifting weights makes you slow". The strength I built in my legs and back from squats and deadlifts on top of the power I built through power cleans allowed me to run 6 miles within a week or two of starting to run after dropping from 280 to ~169.

Maybe people are talking about BODYBUILDING which unfortunately seems to be the poster boy for lifting weights. Sorry, but I've seen guys at 165lbs bodyweight deadlift 500lbs off the floor; building ACTUALLY USEFUL muscle(for sports, survival, etc) is really really hard and has nothing to do with being a bodybuilder. It's much harder to come by and stick around for longer than a pump.

It seems to be like the main thing that determines a good fighter is technique(to a point)>cardio(to a point)>POWER(speedxstrength)(to a point - but you probably won't get past here because you've gotta go back and keep your technique and cardio). Perhaps there are times when speed or strength become more important, but even if we're talking about speed, USAIN BOLT is 206lbs - the dude's not a featherweight and is ALSO very strong. How can we even be sure that strength and speed aren't interlinked. Squats are done by a lot of different athletes and they either help or don't effect their speed, otherwise their coaches wouldn't allow them. Personally, I ran 6 miles for the first time in my life at 169lbs after getting my squat and deadlift well over 300lb...it just made me a better all around athlete. I feel like people that say "lifting weights make you slow" have never lifted a weight in their life.

 

[TehWeak1]

This

I feel like people that say "lifting weights make you slow" have never lifted a weight in their life.

 

[Phlog]

What makes you the best fighter you can be is what is common to all fighters.

All of them have to have suffered the privation, abuse or detriment that inspires motivation to follow through with the years of hard work and dedication for potentially little reward.

It has to be such that their issues are not fixed by becoming a badass so they're efforts have to be misguided (my problem was that once I got good my motivation wained).

They also have to be intelligent. Not necessarily educated but smart. Quick mentally. This can be resolved by having a great coach.

So you have to be broken, but not to much and be smart, but not smart enough to fix yourself.

 

[ROcknrollracing]

where does practical programming say you need a second sport? it clearly does not say that and I dont know where you are getting from.....secondly in a sport like powerlifting yes having superior genetics for power predisposes you to being stronger these same genes carry over to explosiveness and speed.....pro athletes dont even need to lift weights periodl to be good at their sport because just by being themselves they have the strength and explosiveness necessary to excel at their sport

In a sport like fighting you can win with either skill, explosivess(KOs) or you can out cardio them....your training should reflect the genetics you inherently have...if you are well endured and you are fighting an explosive guy you need to train in a fashion that maximizes your personal strength(using your strength to give you the best chance to win) while at the same time bringing up your weakness which is in this case would be explosiveness so that you arent so outgunned that you lose in a minute or so....vice versa

 

[Kiwi Tricker]

Attributes that will make you a superior fighter:

• Triple bodyweight squat
• Double bodyweight snatch
• 2 meter vertical jump
• Shot put of 60 meters
• The Kamehameha
• A rich library of memes for shitposting on your opponents' facebook page.

If you are able to attain these, you'll likely be unstoppable in most circumstances.

 

[gspieler]

Attributes that will make you a superior fighter:

• Triple bodyweight squat
• Double bodyweight snatch
• 2 meter vertical jump
• Shot put of 60 meters
• The Kamehameha
• A rich library of memes for shitposting on your opponents' facebook page.

If you are able to attain these, you'll likely be unstoppable in most circumstances.

You forgot running the 40 in 4 flat.

 

[Kiwi Tricker]

In all seriousness, what makes you a better fighter is a combination of your sport-specific work and general physical preparation.

Sport-specific work is exactly that- working on your sport. If you're a fighter, that means shadow boxing, bag work, pad rounds, sparring, drilling, etc. Your general physical preparation is working on increasing the actual amount of work that you can do - this means your power, strength, etc. Specific activities will quite often improve certain traits moreso than others- for instance, pad work will improve anaerobic and aerobic endurance, muscular endurance, and other attributes to certain degrees. Some will be improved more or less. This is where your GPP will come in- filling the holes left in your conditioning in order to increase the overall amount of work that you are able to do.

So, this is where it's hard for people to tell you what to do. Not only is everyone individual, certain sports will have certain demands for certain attributes moreso than others. Certain sports, even within the groups of combat sports, require more or less of certain attributes than other sports. It should seem logical that a fighter doing 5-minute rounds will require different training than a fighter doing 2-minute rounds; further to that, in a sport like boxing or K1 there's much less demand for maximal strength than a wrestler or MMA fighter, due to the lack of a grappling element.

Now, what will make you a better fighter will depend on what your needs and weaknesses are. What are you competing in? How fast can you run 800 meters? How fast can you run 5k? What are your max lifts? How many push-ups or pull-ups can you do in a set, or in a minute? There are no set standards to answer these questions, but they are a good starting point for perhaps finding some outlying weaknesses. For instance, if your fastest 5k time is around 20 minutes, but your fastest 800 meter isn't much quicker than 3 minutes then you probably have some deficiencies in your anaerobic ability compared to your aerobic ability. You can use all sorts of exercises and metrics to gain an idea of where you are vs where you need to be, but there's no short simple answer to tell you what will make you a better fighter.

Can lifting weights make you a better fighter? Maybe. It depends on what you already can do.

 

[LatFlare]

The stronger of 2 equally skilled fighters will win and strength may make up for some skill deficit, like techniques can make up for a physical deficit.

 

[j123]

Attributes that will make you a superior fighter:

• Bench teh 275
• filling the room with uppercuts
• not getting ipads
• teh jab
• smashing Boise dimes

If you are able to attain these, you'll likely be unstoppable in most circumstances.

fixed