Valentina Shevchenko's strength training routine

[Johnnny]

She is a very mannish woman, so it is possible.

 

[Mammothman]

Some athletes are full of shit. GSP has claimed several times that he doesn't lift weights while there is plenty footage of him lifting weights. I think it might just be lost in translation where they mean they don't lift heavy weights like a bodybuilder.

I'm thinking Valentina probably just does a lot of body weight stuff. Her core looks like a lifelong gymnast or someone that does calisthenics.

I agree, it's very likely she is on calisthenics, I l know a friend that was jacked as fuck on calisthenics only and considering Val is an elite athlete with A+ level genetics is not hard to believe it

 

[Bos Docken]

As far as is it believable? Sure, why not. She's 125lbs at arguably the weakest division in all of mma.

Would some sort of resistance training be beneficial for a large portion of mma athletes? I would say yes, although of course only a very broad answer is possible because it's all very situation-dependent. Probably not training for pure strength too much (1 rep max type training), but other modalities, sure, why not.

Look at the video @Zarate posted. That is Valentina's sister doing kettlebells and sled pulls.

If Valentina is working out with her sister, it totally contradicts what she said on that podcast.

Maybe it is a language issue, maybe she doesn't consider kettlebells to be "iron"...

 

[dogsdonutsdragons]

yeah shes telling the truth you can tell by her build. a lot of her strength in in her core.

 

[dhole]

Psych! She claims she does not lift weights.

As in, never in her life. According to her, the only strength equipment she might use is a resistance band for punching, sometimes.

Or hold rocks in her hand if she is shadowboxing outdoors (LOL).

Do you believe her? Everyone comments on her physique and how strong she is for her division.

Yet she is saying she never touches a weight and does no dedicated strength work.

It is the eternal debate. How important is weight lifting to martial arts and combat sports?

I bet she does plyometric workouts. Things like gymnastics will 100% build muscle.

 

[Kryptt]

This was posted reg her weight training from April 2020

https://www.health-yogi.com/valentina-shevchenko-workout/

Valentina Shevchenko Weight Training
Valentina Shevchenko doesn’t really focus a lot in this weight training session but she does some of the compound movement exercises and function training with weight to get her body toned and build strength while still keeping her flexibility.

 

[runjay]

But joe told me kettlebells are the secret.
That’s o-n-n-i-t

 

[Kryptt]

"Punchin Powah"

No wonder she jacked gurl's face up!

 

[blaseblah]

What is her actual routine? You can definitely get jacked without traditional weights.

 

[acannxr]

It is difficult for me to accept. Look at her lats, there are women in the gym doing chin ups and lat pulldowns and barbell rows for years... who wish they had lats like Valentina.

I've had traps like TRT-Belfort (nothing disproportional) since I was in elementary school, without lifting a single weight; genetics can be freaky sometimes.

 

[Luis Rivera]

Anyone that has ever set foot on any kind of martial arts/combat gym knows the trainig involves also streght exercises mostly in the form of bodyweight, a lot of core movements, push ups, etc, etc, so when she says she only trains martial arts, that is implied IMO.
If she says she doesn't lift weights, I believe her, why would she lie?. I have never seen footage of her lifting and her sister is not exactly lifting weights in that video, those are all functional movements, is not like she is doing legs curls or something, plus who says she does that regularly maybe she just tried that one time.

 

[G10]

If we're talking about looks, I think she could be telling the truth. She is very muscular and defined, but it's possible to get that way without lifting weights; lifting weights just makes the process a little easier.

In terms of her athleticism and ability in the cage, there are a lot of different schools of thought on that. I'm inclined to believe that someone with a natural affinity for fighting can fight as well as Valentina with enough training, but I can see an argument that suggests it's impossible without rigorous and intense S&C.

 

[TidWell]

Adama Traore definitely lifts weights. He might not lift extra weights but you can't look like this if you don't lift.

you can get jacked liek that just doing calisthetnics

Manny Pacquiao never lifted weights yet he has massive ass legs, his conditioning coach said Pacman does a lot of hill sprints

Kell Brook doesn't lift eights and he is rock hard muscular and shredded

 

[Eater of Souls]

I have been a fan of hers long before she joined the UFC. I have never seen any evidence of barbell work or anything similar (machines, kettlebells, etc.). Sure, pushups and other bodyweight exercises but little in the way of additional resistance.

I ran into a guy once when I trained TKD (before I found a MT instructor) and was going to talk to him (I am old, this was back when a lot of martial artists and fighters did not lift) and he seemed like the guy to talk to about integrating my strength training better in my martial arts as he was about my height but carried about 30 lbs. of muscle that I did not have with very little body fat.

He said he did not lift, his entire family was big. He said his Mom would probably still slap the shit out of most of people there.

In the, I think, 30 years or so since then I have run into a few genetic freaks who defied description.

Valentina, on the other hand, while musclar, is not at all large. At a height of 5'5" she has no trouble hitting the scale at less than 125 and for much of her career fought in MT with same-day weigh-ins. Yes, she is in phenomenal shape but it is not as if she is huge. Her physique is the result of decades of training (as in, since she was, what, five or six years old?).

 

[Eater of Souls]

It is difficult for me to accept. Look at her lats, there are women in the gym doing chin ups and lat pulldowns and barbell rows for years... who wish they had lats like Valentina.

She does pull ups. You will not find a Muay Thai gym where pull-ups are anything less than a religion.

 

[Bos Docken]

What is her actual routine? You can definitely get jacked without traditional weights.

One thing that is undeniable: The vast majority of her training time is dedicated to martial arts.

Punching, kicking, and grappling - not strength and conditioning.

 

[Iron Nick]

Well, she then obviously does other forms of resistance training.

@Hellowhosthat as for Traore, he technically doesn't lift (free) weights, but does resistance training on machines.
Bodybuilding YTer Greg Doucette did a video on him, showing clips of Traore doing HEAVY exercises - just not with free weights.

BTW: here's a picture of one of the cameroonian river divers - basically all of them are in absurd shape:

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/ar...tos-incredible-sculpted-physique-workers.html

Insane genetics are a thing sometimes...

 

[arrmike]

Same story Herschel Walker told for years. Along with a couple of bowls of soup per day...

 

[Thepaintbucket]

Seem believable to me. Nothing about her build looks ridiculous to me. She probably means she doesn't do stuff like benching or squatting.

On the other hand I've seen plenty of athletes lie about lifting weights when they clearly have odd muscle proportions from lifting. Either the sauce is just that good that they don't need to lift or they are lying for whatever the reason. We got 48 year old natty Herschel walker going around telling everybody he doesn't lift weights anymore with 19 inch arms.

 

[drbolony]

It is difficult for me to accept. Look at her lats, there are women in the gym doing chin ups and lat pulldowns and barbell rows for years... who wish they had lats like Valentina.

I met girls in military training who hadn't done a chin up in their life and had viable abs, lats, and defined arms. Life isn't fair sometimes.