Do you agree with Firas Zahabi's flow training?

Seems very simple to me that you can train longer and safer week after week by not going 100%. You just gotta figure out how to get the most training in without injuring yourself or being too banged up to really work.
This.

But you can tell that some will go full obtuse over it and split hairs for 3 pages
 
This is solid advice for any athlete though I think there's a caveat in that for the purposes of peaking you may have to push harder for short periods of time, though I believe this to be more true for strictly aerobic based sports like triathalons or even a sport that is more brawn than skill, like powerlifting.

It seems like a lot of MMA guys chill a bit then go balls to the wall for 3 months prior to a fight. That's a recipe for injury or uneven performances. Easier when you are young or have PEDs.

I'm always surprised when I see them training how hard some of them go even when there's no need.
 
Hard sparring us obviously bad for training. A fighter can only take so much in a career. Uf ur getting dropped and ko in training youre basically wasting your time imho..
 
He mentions multiple times that he is a fan of Russian training methods, which he cites for a lot of his background evidence.

He is talking about the long term span of training as an athlete for a sport, let it be MMA, boxing, wrestling etc.

I agree that there is a range comprising a "sweet spot" in training frequency and intensity. IMO it is a place where the athlete, given their circumstances like age and recovery ability, are not being overstressed either physically or mentally.

Most of us are young and we can get away with pushing our body. There were a few weeks where I kept training grappling then striking back to back, and I would feel slight pains in my tendons when I was resting, but I was still able to keep going if I wanted to as I had to stop as I was doing this during vacation.

What he is talking about makes sense. GSP is old by MMA standards, for sure he trained harder in his early days as champion than he did leading up to his last fight. A lot of fighters have recently retired because their body is breaking down and they can't push it like they used to, unless they get on a complex of some black market supplements.

It's just the way that aging works.
 
Meanwhile, GSP"s bjj coach, John Danaher

"It is said that John would easily spend 12-14 hours a day at the gym working on his BJJ and his skills as a coach. Renzo is said to have said that John Danaher would spend Christmas Day on the mats if he were allowed."

danaher.jpg

Danaher doesn't roll during those 12-14 hrs though. He's a talker and a coach to guys in the facility. He has admitted the rolling doesn't interest him anymore.
 
I can't see how it applies to weight lifting though. Like 3x8, 5x5, etc.

As an endurance athlete like MMA fighters it seems pretty reasonable but not the end all be all in my opinion.
 
If it weren't for GSP, Firas would be a nobody. What other champs does he have? That's correct.... GSP made this dude.
 
Yes i agree. I have trained that way ever since i went to Thailand for the first time
 
Ive actually been doing his "philosophy " since this first aired. Never going to max, train like a Ferrari not a mac truck, etc.

I must say, i like being able to lift almost everyday and not feel wrecked afterward.

I switched it up and made 1 week a 'ferrari' and another a 'mac truck,' cuz lets face it, we want to lift heavy from time to time.

Anyway, speaking from someone that has been sore as much as the next guy, ive not gained much but not lost anything either.
 
Everyone’s body is different and whatever, but I agree with the doing less but more often surpassing the going hard every time thing
 
I just want to say I think it’s hilarious this question is being asked to what is about 95% couch potatoes here.
 
No ones the same. What works for Firas doesn't work for someone else and vise versa. I think it's good for the individual person to find out what works best for them.
This pretty much. Can you argue against Dan Gable's method and results? Was there not some recent discussion that connected Flow Theory with playful Russian training methods? Yet Alexander Karelin was quoted regarding the reason as to his success :
"I train every day of my life and they have never trained a day in theirs."
 
I think that it's analogous to the same rationale for why I don't speed; you could travel farther distances in a shorter amount of time if you sped, but the risk of a car accident or getting pulled over increases exponentially, and if either of those two things occur then the delay will void whatever extra distance you were able to cover as a result of your speeding. The driver that wasn't speeding will eventually catch up or pass you, but unlike the driver who followed the speed limit, you now also have a damaged car/ticket to show for the risk you took.

Injury prevention should be the number one priority for both the fighter and the coach.
 
After i listened to this I tried it with pull ups. Started with 2 set of 7, but every day. 7 is okay for me when i am out of shape. After two months I can do 4 sets of 9 pull ups in "flow" state without killing myself, pretty much do this now every day. I didnt get any weight though. Maybe like 2 kilos.

Edit. So yeah i can say I agree with and like this flow concept. It also applies to things like learning new languages and skills. A little bit, but every day.
 
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The whole point is you don't have to kill yourself every training session. Training must be fun and enjoyable. He said some guys go all in 3 days in a week. Then the next day wakes up sore and unmotivated. You don't need to run 5 miles everyday. Instead you could run 2-3 miles everyday and repeat it whole year. He says hard training causes injury. In the end your overall training time will surpass hard trainers. You've trained more without damaging your body and it's good for your health, career in the long run.



When i was 13, I used to run on my own, whenever I enjoyed it, and thought i was a good runner.

I joined an elite running club, had a set training timetable, massively increased workload and hated every minute of it.

But my running abilities reached another level i never knew existed.

When i was 14, i started sparring mma with friends, whenever i enjoyed it...etc etc

You get the picture.

There's a reason why Thais train 8 hours a day in a gym with a metal roof, why cycling teams do 100s miles per week, and why wrasslers drill until they spew.
 
Danaher doesn't roll during those 12-14 hrs though. He's a talker and a coach to guys in the facility. He has admitted the rolling doesn't interest him anymore.

He might say that, but every BJJ guy loves to roll. The reality is his knees and hips are destroyed. Rolling must be very painful. That's the only reason he never rolled much.
 
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I love that you are mentioning peer reviewed, empirical data. Did you consider looking for research based on his methods to critically analyze? I found over a dozen studies in 2 minutes which (after skimming) appear to support correlation between improved performance and reduced intensity and duration of training. Here is a link to one which is easy to read, even though not the best example.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4562558/

We have the internet dude. We no longer have to take staunch positions on topics based on wild assumptions and confirmation bias. It takes like a minute to fact check anyhthing quickly before you make an idiot of yourself.

No offence, but those 'studies' are dog shit. Even the one you linked had such ridiculous limitations in its methodology.

A study of the training methods and results of the world champions in every sport would be far better than measuring 'hormone levels' in Joe Schmo off the street.
 
train at 50%. flow training is good for specific sequences but in roll sparring you gotta have some degree of resistance.
not one in competition will flow roll.
 
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