New Waterbury MMA Article

[FirstNobleTruth]

http://www.t-nation.com/article/most_recent/7_steps_to_a_balanced_fighter&cr=

New article by Chad Waterbury about strength training for MMA. I thought this was pretty good. I liked how he even explicitly addressed some of the common critiques of his other articles (I remember people here disliking his maximal strength guidelines, which he now clarifies).

 

[Monger]

I thought his "clarifying" was more like back pedaling. Honestly, I don't like Chad Waterbury's articles in regards to MMA or even athletic training in general. If I had my choice of trainers to go to, he wouldn

 

[ChaseT.]

This is terrible overhead squat form:

 

[Donut62]

This is terrible overhead squat form:

I thought the same thing. Almost as good as writing articles about full body training because body part splits are ineffective, only to fill the article with pictures of professional bodybuilders who train with body part splits.

 

[Donut62]

I

 

[Monger]

I don't think I've ever seen him list or name a client.

It wouldn't surprise me if he had none.

 

[Jaxx]

I thought his "clarifying" was more like back pedaling. Honestly, I don't like Chad Waterbury's articles in regards to MMA or even athletic training in general. If I had my choice of trainers to go to, he wouldn

 

[Monger]

T-Nation is a rubbish website for people interested in athletic performance.

That's not entirely true. It's dependant on the author and topic... but ya, CW's articles are worthless in my opinion.

 

[ChaseT.]

That's not entirely true. It's dependant on the author and topic... but ya, CW's articles are worthless in my opinion.

A very large percentage of the authors are shills and/or wannabe internet gurus who have very little knowledge.

 

[Monger]

A very large percentage of the authors are shills and/or wannabe internet gurus who have very little knowledge.

I personally like...

Eric Cressey
Dave Tate
Dan John
John Berardi
Joe DeFranco

These guys have had decent stuff in the past as well...
Alwyn Cosgrove
Dave Barr
Mike Robertson

I don't know, that's a lot of writers in my opinion. Granted, they are NOT all S&P guys, necessarily... but in terms of strength, nutrition, and athleticism, they're a decent bunch.

 

[Matt Thornton]

Waterbury might have some controversial stuff but I think his articles have a lot of strong points.

I don't really know a whole lot of coaches who emphasize maximal strength training for fighters, and I think there are so many fighters who can benefit from it. One thing that's always frustrated me is the overwhelming amount of emphasis on "conditioning." I've never really had much of a problem with conditioning, being a skinny teenager I could roll for hours and hours. Endurance training helped some of the more muscle-headed guys in my gym who were big and strong, or who played football back in high school and were already strong.

After reading Waterbury's Hammer Down strength article I started doing maximal strength training. Every time I stay consistent with maximal strength training my performance on the mat skyrockets. I'm not naturally strong by any means and have a ways to go before being "pro athlete" strong.

Some of Waterbury's points:
-Fighters can benefit from maximal strength training
-Fighters should train their anaerobic pathway for endurance/GPP
-Don't work through pain
-Perform mobility drills, and avoid movements that will injure you

He might have controversial filler material, but his base-level material makes perfect sense.

 

[Monger]

Matt, you're spot on with your points.

I think there are more trainers out there than you think that preach the points you've listed though. Many of which do a lot better, in my opinion, at the details than Waterbury does. The bulk of Waterbury's articles seem to be centered around hypertrophy and wannabe bodybuilders. That doesn't mean that he doesn't know any thing about athletic training... but I've never been impressed with any of his writings it regards to it either.

 

[vince89]

I like the idea of doing light OHS for high reps and will be implementing it into my training.

 

[bacon]

I'll be trying some of the shoulder stuff in that article.

 

[millasur]

I'll be trying some of the shoulder stuff in that article.

Did those leaning Crufixes l nite, they were fukin hard work.

Also front squatted with a weight held in front, you do actually notice the shoulder tiredness at the end of the set..

 

[kiridoku]

I personally like...

Eric Cressey
Dave Tate
Dan John
John Berardi
Joe DeFranco

These guys have had decent stuff in the past as well...
Alwyn Cosgrove
Dave Barr
Mike Robertson

Agreed. Cressey is just aces. Cosgrove is no b.s. I don't know Dave Barr's stuff. I'll ck him out.

I think Chad W is good.
I'd add Mike Boyle & Martin Rooney to the list as well. I've incorporated exercizes Zach Evan-Esh espouses in his articles, too.
And Ross... no Ross mentioned?! Gotta have R.E.


It's all good. Most all of the good guys' stuff dovetails nicely together. Nothing is all that contradictory that I've seen. And there's so much that 85% all agree on that I'd never have time to incorporate the more esoteric stuff anyway.
Move a lot, take heavy stuff off the floor & put it over your head. Don't eat crap.

Well "it's all good" may be a stretch...I know there's some complete scheisterism out there but that isn't too hard to sniff out. The guys mentioned so far all are good eggs if ya ask me. Then again, my calves could be mistaken for dental floss.

 

[ChaseT.]

Mike Boyle is an idiot.

 

[Donut62]

Mike Boyle is an idiot.

Quoted for mother fucking truth. The epitome of an internet guru.

The fact is there is nothing new in training, and anyone saying otherwise you can write off immediately as an ass trying to sell product. Most of the articles are just trying to find ways to creatively regurgitate Verkoshansky, Zatsiorsky, Bompa, Medeyev, Issurin and other coaches who pretty much covered physical training years ago. If you hang around long enough you'll learn what you need to know. Guys like Ross will never be a big commercial sucess because he tells people what they already know, you have to work fucking hard and lift heavy shit, and do so consistently.

 

[Monger]

And Ross... no Ross mentioned?! Gotta have R.E.

To my knowledge, Ross has never written for T-Nation. That's only a list of common T-Nation writers, nothing more.

 

[MikeMartial]

Quoted for mother fucking truth. The epitome of an internet guru.

The fact is there is nothing new in training, and anyone saying otherwise you can write off immediately as an ass trying to sell product. Most of the articles are just trying to find ways to creatively regurgitate Verkoshansky, Zatsiorsky, Bompa, Medeyev, Issurin and other coaches who pretty much covered physical training years ago. If you hang around long enough you'll learn what you need to know. Guys like Ross will never be a big commercial sucess because he tells people what they already know, you have to work fucking hard and lift heavy shit, and do so consistently.

Well said.