DO YOU CYCLE STRENGTH & CONDITIONING?

[MattKiefer]

I do mma, boxing, muy thai & BJJ Mon-Sat 6-9 pm
Run 3 miles every morning 5x a week
Right now im "power lifting"- modified 3 x 5 / 5 x 5 with weights on Mondays and Thursdays.
Man if i dont get to bed by 10 ( up at 7 every morning for work) and slam some ZMA i am DEAD for training the next day.

Do you guys cycle your strength work? LIke 4-6 weeks heavy weights then 4-6 weeks circuit style training?
I took 2 weeks off the weights and man i felt fast, explosive and overall just great the whole time.
I hate to quite the strength work because i know with all the mma training being so cardio based ill burn that muscle off...

What do you guys do? Should i just say fuck it and slam steroids in my ass cheeks? Kidding...fuck that. But seriiously, i appreciate anyone insight on how they balance their training.
much love-

 

[NurseKnuckles]

Can you try scaling back the 3mi. run to 2 or 3 times a week? Before you change things drastically?

Its tough because its different for everyone. But changing everything all at once is not likely going to improve your perception of things...

 

[selfcritical]

I have done block periodization where strength or conditioning will be solely on maintenance levels while i work on one trait in particular, and it worked well. Concurrent training tends to produce better compilance for me, because i don't have to plan very far ahead, but block training makes it super easy to manage fatigue.

 

[MandirigmaFit]

Yes. I cycle 4-6 weeks, but it's tapers, rather than completely switching training goals.

As a general transition example:

-4 week block of Maximal Strength will sometimes transition into a 4 week block of Max. Speed and Power.
-On the later portion of week 4 in the Maximal Strength Block, I will likely-- remove a strength session or lower volume for all strength sessions that week and then add in some Velocity/Power based training
-On week 5 (1st week of Speed/Power) I may use the first day or two to have a few Max. Strength sessions, then transition into Stimulation Method for a week
-By the middle of the Speed/Power block, I will be base most training on Velocity and Speed.

 

[Takanori Gomez]

Infinite Intensity by Ross enamait,plus added some things to fit my needs,minute drills from his Never Gymless book,grip/wrist training, and core exercises which I do every day.

 

[MattKiefer]

Yes. I cycle 4-6 weeks, but it's tapers, rather than completely switching training goals.

As a general transition example:

-4 week block of Maximal Strength will sometimes transition into a 4 week block of Max. Speed and Power.
-On the later portion of week 4 in the Maximal Strength Block, I will likely-- remove a strength session or lower volume for all strength sessions that week and then add in some Velocity/Power based training
-On week 5 (1st week of Speed/Power) I may use the first day or two to have a few Max. Strength sessions, then transition into Stimulation Method for a week
-By the middle of the Speed/Power block, I will be base most training on Velocity and Speed.

I like this

 

[JauntyAngle]

So, the thing where you felt great when you stopped lifting... that's actually normal. When you are training, there are two things going on. There is the training stimulus, which beats you up, and the training response, which is improvement in performance. All the time you are improving, but there is always the training pushing you down. If you stop training, there is only the response... everything goes up really nicely. But then it starts going down again, and after a while your performance and your ability to train hard goes down. That's one of the reasons people usually ease off before a big competition.

However, if you're feeling like crap, you need to do something.

A lot of amateur athletes don't need to do block periodization (dividing their training into separate focuses). The sign you need to do it should be either lots of injuries, or that you are not improving any more. At any rate, it's worth trying to tinker with a concurrent approach to see if you can make it work for you.

The first thing to do is to just give yourself a one-off break in what you are doing for a while. E.g. cut the weights you are lifting by 10-20% or the distance/frequency of running by 25%. Work back over a month. What might happen then is that, with less training stimulus, the response is much stronger. Your capacity to work grows, and when you are back where you were before you can handle it easier.

The second thing to do is to tweak what you are doing on a regular basis. E.g. for your lifting, if you are doing a really hard 5x5 every time, close to the maximum of what you can do- that's tough, and it gets tougher as you can get stronger. Try a programme that has more variation in intensity and is less ball-busting, like 5/3/1 or Juggernaut. For the conditioning, try varying it a bit more. Try things other than running, have some days where you run slower but go a bit longer. Give yourself some easier days.

Actually, I guess the real first thing is diet and rest. Consider eating more. If you are doing a fad diet where you cut out one food group, consider eating more of that food group. Don't starve yourself of carbs or fat. If you're not sleeping, do something about it. Then the other stuff I mentioned.

 

[Genghiz]

The only thing I cycle is aerobic base building. Once a year for 2-3 months. After that I switch to a more concurrent approach.

During Base it'll be all LISS and light-weight muscular endurance work. After Base it's Muay Thai for the rest of the year along with 2 days/week maximal strength training and the occasional HIIT session. I get enough cardio/conditioning from MT that keeps the conditioning I get from Base Building primed.

The reason I do Base separately and by itself is because a minimal amount of time & weekly frequency has to be put into LSS to see results. Also, heavy strength training and LSS have opposing adaptive effects.

 

[ROcknrollracing]

I agree with Jaunty but I am not the biggest fan of 5/3/1 or juggernaut. There are much better ways to program. Not saying they will not work at all as I have done 5/3/1 myself(not without modifications)but they are pretty far from optimal for most everything. As are most programs put together for the masses.

 

[Sano]

Jaunty had some good advice!

It's incredibly hard to train BJJ, MMA, Standup AND do cardio + strenght training(powerlifting). You gotta think about what is most important to you at this moment. It's hard to do less than two days of strenght training and get much out of it, but, the intensity can always be manipulated. It's never a bad idea to take 10-40% off the weights if you are overworking yourself and then work your way back up. Actually, it can be an advantage. You can use it to practice your form, get better at the lifts, you can do paused lifts and work on your weak areas. Soon enough the weight will get heavy again, that's not an issue really.

I've been really forced to slow things down to juggle both MMA training and strenght work, and it's actually helped me out more than harmed me. I am working up slowly on my squats and DL's(form is getting a lot better as a consequence AND my injuries are getting better). Also I'm doing more mobility work which is helping and I do slight deload weeks once a month and up my LISS and mobility a little bit during that week.

You could also cut the running down perhaps as well. I like running and think it's very benifical to martial arts, but it depends on how taxing it is for you and your body. Maybe even cut a day of MMA/BJJ/Boxing/Thai out and do 5 days instead of 6. I mean with your workload it's no wonder you are having a hard time.

Lastly, as Jaunty also mentioned, if you have a competition coming up, it's a good idea to taper anything down that is not sports related.

 

[selfcritical]

So, the thing where you felt great when you stopped lifting... that's actually normal. When you are training, there are two things going on. There is the training stimulus, which beats you up, and the training response, which is improvement in performance. All the time you are improving, but there is always the training pushing you down. If you stop training, there is only the response... everything goes up really nicely. But then it starts going down again, and after a while your performance and your ability to train hard goes down. That's one of the reasons people usually ease off before a big competition.

However, if you're feeling like crap, you need to do something.

A lot of amateur athletes don't need to do block periodization (dividing their training into separate focuses). The sign you need to do it should be either lots of injuries, or that you are not improving any more. At any rate, it's worth trying to tinker with a concurrent approach to see if you can make it work for you.

The first thing to do is to just give yourself a one-off break in what you are doing for a while. E.g. cut the weights you are lifting by 10-20% or the distance/frequency of running by 25%. Work back over a month. What might happen then is that, with less training stimulus, the response is much stronger. Your capacity to work grows, and when you are back where you were before you can handle it easier.

The second thing to do is to tweak what you are doing on a regular basis. E.g. for your lifting, if you are doing a really hard 5x5 every time, close to the maximum of what you can do- that's tough, and it gets tougher as you can get stronger. Try a programme that has more variation in intensity and is less ball-busting, like 5/3/1 or Juggernaut. For the conditioning, try varying it a bit more. Try things other than running, have some days where you run slower but go a bit longer. Give yourself some easier days.

Actually, I guess the real first thing is diet and rest. Consider eating more. If you are doing a fad diet where you cut out one food group, consider eating more of that food group. Don't starve yourself of carbs or fat. If you're not sleeping, do something about it. Then the other stuff I mentioned.

Agreed with pretty much all of this. People who aren't advanced can do stuff concurrently. I'd add to the list of example programming here Dan John's Easy Strength program (SUPER high frequency, super low intensity and per-session volume), and Alex Viada's The Hybrid Athlete templates, (basically any of the powerlifting plus another thing) as starting points