What should I get for MMA workout room

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banethejuggalo

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I have a spare bedroom (13ftx13ft) that my brother and I would like to change into a mma room for us to spar, grapple, etc. My question is what type of equipment would you all suggest? This would be a work in progress but we will be training in Jiu Jitsu, Muay Thai, and Dirty Boxing. I have been training in Jiu Jitsu for a couple years so I have that covered, and I have plenty of gear for that. I would like to know what kind of Mat to get and what time of sparing equipment is suggested. Here is what I have figured in my head, please add suggestions:

A grappling mat
Heavy Bag
Speed Bag
Throw Dummy (with arms and legs)
Sparing Sets (head grear, gloves, shins, mouthpeice)
Medicine Balls
Hand Striking Targets
Curved Knee striking pad

If anyone has other suggestions what what else I should add, something else to replace what is on my list, or brands and types you all would suggest. That would be extremely helpful.
Thank you.
 
for your mats i would suggest puzzle mats. You can get them from home depot and put like two layers on top of each other. Enough to roll on. You can also check companies like Dollamur and swain (more expensive though).

Also you should get wall mounts for your heavy and speed bag since you will probably be taking them down when you aren't hitting em.

Throw dummy isn't exactly necessary.

For your sparring stuff use the search functions on this forum since there are tons of different kinds of gloves and insteps etc. (if your gonna be sparring and hitting the bag get two pairs of gloves.)


For thai pads and focus mitts i suggest these since there cheap and good.
Classic Thai Pads from Title MMA
Platinum Punch Mitts from Title MMA

i mean depends on how much your looking to spend. You could get kettle bells and medicine balls. resistance bands and some other stuff but its not completely necessary.

Search these forums and you can find a TON of information regarding brands and reviews of alot of gloves, mitts, headgear, etc
 
I don't know that you really need a speed bag.
Also, since you'll be rolling with someone who's got arms and legs, skip the grappling dummy with them, it's a space hog. Instead, get the title mma heavy bag/grappling dummy. I've got the 140lb version and it's excellent for throws and workouts, and it'll take care of 2 of your needs in one.

As far as mats go, you can do puzzle mats, but price them for your square footage, you might actually be better off buying the foam the swain type mats are made of for about 400 uncovered for a 6x42' roll (don't quote me exactly on the price or the length, but that's about right). I am just completing my sparring room today and I ended up laying out right around 3k. It can be done for way less depending on the type of sparring/training you want to do and your budget.

Having said all that, what's your budget for mats? And how handy are you with tools? For right around 500 you could build a top quality seamless grappling area with a frame surrounding it. Having just finished up my own space, if permanently mounting the mats to the floor wasn't an issue this would be the way I'd go in the future.
 
medicine ball, kettle bell, ab wheel maybe pull up bar and some grip strength tools
 
I really haven't set a budget. I am splitting cost with my brother so we can get high quality stuff. For the Mat I have looked at the Puzzle Mats on ebay, costco, home depot, etc. This looked like the best option for price, functionality, and something we can drop weights on. I am pretty handy with tools and I have a ton of power tools so I can do pretty much what I want.

I was wondering about ceiling mounting a heavy bag, or if I should get a stand? I worry about the ceiling take damage from rocking back and forth on a roof mount.

I have these already:
Ouano Gi's
Ab Wheel
12lb Nike Medicine Balls
Ouano Shooto Gloves
Kettle Bells
Jump Ropes

Pictures are coming, but be warned the before pictures will be unsightly because it is currently a storage room.
 
I just puzzlematted my garage last night.

I bought them from Lowes for $16.98 a 4 pack. Each mat is 2x2. That area there is about 12X10. The mats are only 1/4 inch think, but they are really comfortable to walk on, spar, hit the heavy bag, etc. It would be fine for real light rolling, but if you went hard or were practicing throws you would want something thicker.

house052.jpg
 
johnwinstrol said:
Having said all that, what's your budget for mats? And how handy are you with tools? For right around 500 you could build a top quality seamless grappling area with a frame surrounding it. Having just finished up my own space, if permanently mounting the mats to the floor wasn't an issue this would be the way I'd go in the future.
Click to expand...

How would one do this? Do you have any photos? I am very interested in doing this.
 
Large Mat space is most appropriate. Rolling can get pretty intense.
 
With 13x13 you will not be able to permanently fix heavy and light bags and have a suitable sparring or padwork area.

Also, if you plan on practicing throws or incorporating takedowns you will need good mats (also, doing this in a bedroom!?), and a good deal of self control (finishing a double leg through a wall is highly possible).

If it were me, I would get Swain/Dollamur/Zebra home mats at 12x12 (definitely make sure the dimensions work so you don't have buckling). I would get a good set of Thai pads, a good pair of bag gloves (IMF, Ultimate Classic, Fairtex, Windy) and if sparring, training gloves (same brands). I like "Fightgear Bomber" headgear, as it is machine washable, and does a good job.

I would also get a good Thai bag, fixed by chain, that would be removed and stored in a hallway or closet during other training.

My budget would be about $1300 for those products. I would expect to spend 500-800 on the mat/s. If I had to cut costs anywhere, I would not skimp on the mat/s or bag. Honestly I would either do it right or not at all.

I have sparred in an empty bedroom before. You have to be very careful. Even with measured intensity, I nearly put my roommate through a window. If you move outside the direct center, you're cornered. It will definitely help your inside game.
 
Get a camera to send us some pictures :D everytime I see a thread about these sort of things I die a little inside from envy that I dont have the space.
 
In my basement, 12' x 16', I have the floor covered in puzzle mats, a free-standing heavybag (that can be moved in and out of the closet), a tredmill, an ab wheel, thai pads, punch mitts, med ball, about 130lbs of free weights,and then all of my personal gear (headgear, gloves, etc.). All of this works pretyy well. I don't think you need the treadmill, but I would definately not do the throwing dummy if I was you. you can just use each other as partners to practice shoots and take downs, the throwing dummies are really best used for gnp, but you could use a heavybag on the ground for that. You might also use a kicking shield.
 
To be honest, if I had your space I would not worry about any heavy bag or stand or anything like that. 13' x 13' isn't really all that much space when it comes to rolling, and I feel like that would be most important to your room. Little things like jump ropes, ab wheels, medicine balls, thai pads, etc. are good because they can easily be moved.
 
mechanikjoe said:
To be honest, if I had your space I would not worry about any heavy bag or stand or anything like that. 13' x 13' isn't really all that much space when it comes to rolling, and I feel like that would be most important to your room. Little things like jump ropes, ab wheels, medicine balls, thai pads, etc. are good because they can easily be moved.
Click to expand...

That pic on page 1 is 12x10, so 13x13 seems doable. As long as he hangs bags from ceiling (dunno if you can do that in your basement, never hung one myself), and moves them when its time to grapple, it looks like it'd be fine. As for free rolling, not sure if that area is large enough, as long as you're aware of the walls it might be ok. But that should be good for drilling or positional training IMO.
 
dengar said:
I would also like to see pictures of this.
Click to expand...

I'm actually going to go down now and take some pics of the area. You guys will have to pardon their quality, my digital camera died and I'm relying on my cell phone for it.

Also, as a side note, I went with foldable mats, because my area is a converted garage, and while it's too da*n small to actually park in, I still use it to back in and take the top off my Jeep (I mounted a winch to the ceiling for 1 man removal of top).

I priced Zebra, Swain, Mancino and ultimately went with a company called Tiffin. All of the above seem to produce the same high quality mats. And it occurred to me afterwards that, perhaps like so much other gear, maybe these companies don't actually make their own, but have a company who makes them and then they each print their company logos? Either way, price them all and see. For me, Tiffin was not only the cheapest, but I was able to constantly harass the sales rep on the phone and she even special ordered me some banners with their logo to put up (they aren't in yet). Tiffin is also the only company I saw who had the option of just buying the foam and making your own area and covering it with vinyl (they sell that as well). Doing this, as I mentioned would make for the cleanest look AND get you the best quality area while still saving money. You'd just have to be handy enough to use a tape measure and be able to buy some 1x4s at home depot to make a frame to lay the foam between and use to hold the vinyl taught over top.

What really drove my cost up was the shipping. If you EVER see a place offering you free shipping (swain occassionally has it included in their price), do the math, but most likely this will be your best bet. I have wall mats on 3 sides (I didn't really want to get thrown or roll into concrete), and the wall pads are heavy and really drive up shipping costs.

Shipping costs and all, for what I wanted Tiffin still came in below the cost of the competition and I've got 2.5" thick mats, suitable for the throws of BJJ, Judo and MMA. Mine are set over concrete, so I still may add a bit of padding underneath after I test everything out this weekend (I've got a 285lb freestyle wrestler coming over to break them in).

Sorry for rambling. I'll get pics up hopefully before lunch.
 
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