How to Structure your MMA Training like a PRO (Even if you're a Beginner)

Summary

In this video, Jack Crucial outlines a professional athlete's MMA and gym training structure, emphasizing the importance of balancing strength, speed, power, and endurance with adequate rest and recovery. He introduces the concept of maximum recoverable volume to prevent overtraining and injury, and suggests tracking training volume meticulously. Jack advocates for high-low periodization, alternating intense training days with lighter, skill-focused sessions, and provides examples of weekly training structures for various levels of MMA athletes. He also offers free resources for injury prevention and neck training to help viewers optimize their training.

Takeaways

• 🥋 To excel in MMA, a strong foundation in strength, speed, power, and endurance is crucial.
• 🏋️‍♂️ Consistent training and adequate rest are vital for longevity and performance in MMA.
• 📉 Monitoring maximum recoverable volume helps prevent overtraining and injury, allowing for continuous improvement.
• 🔍 Signs of exceeding maximum recoverable volume include stalling in gym lifts and a decline in performance.
• 📊 Tracking volume through weight, sets, and reps in the gym and by session type in MMA can guide training adjustments.
• 💪 Strength and conditioning are essential for increasing work capacity and improving overall MMA performance.
• 🔁 High-low periodization balances high-intensity training days with low-intensity skill work for optimal recovery and skill development.
• 🛑 Utilizing low-intensity days for technical drills and shadow boxing can significantly enhance MMA skills.
• 📝 Structuring a training week with high-intensity sessions, adequate rest, and low-intensity skill work is key for professional MMA athletes.
• 🆓 Free resources like injury prevention circuits and neck training programs can support long-term MMA training success.

Q & A

What is the key aspect to structuring MMA and Gym training like a professional athlete?

The key aspect is structuring your programming intelligently, planning and structuring phases of your training to train harder for longer and recover more effectively.

Why is rest and recovery important in MMA training?

Rest and recovery are crucial to prevent injuries, decrease the risk of performance decline, and ensure consistent training over time.

What is 'maximum recoverable volume' in the context of MMA training?

Maximum recoverable volume refers to the amount of training an athlete can complete until they reach their physical limit, beyond which there is an increased risk of injury and reduced performance.

What are some signs that you might be training above your maximum recoverable volume?

Signs include stalling in gym lifts, performance regression, feeling run down, and increased frequency of sickness.

How can you track your maximum recoverable volume?

You can track it by meticulously calculating total volumes in the gym or by monitoring your performance and subjective feelings in MMA sessions.

What is the benefit of strength conditioning in MMA training?

Strength conditioning allows you to improve work capacity over time, enabling you to train harder and develop skill qualities more effectively.

What is high and low periodization and how does it benefit MMA athletes?

High and low periodization involves splitting high-intensity training loads with low-intensity training loads across the week. It allows athletes to push themselves on high days and recover on low days, minimizing injury risk and improving recovery.

How can low-intensity days be used to an MMA athlete's advantage?

Low-intensity days can be used to improve technical proficiency through activities like Shadow Boxing, partner drilling, and light work, which are crucial for skill development in MMA.

What are the guidelines for structuring a training week for an MMA athlete?

The guidelines include categorizing high and low sessions, adding high-intensity sessions first, spreading them out, adding a dedicated rest day, and filling other days with low-intensity exercises.

How can someone who is mainly focused on the gym structure their training to optimize for gym performance?

They can structure their training by alternating between high-intensity gym days and low-intensity MMA days, ensuring they have adequate recovery and focusing on skill acquisition during low-intensity sessions.

What resources does Jack offer to help prevent injuries and improve MMA performance?

Jack offers over half a year of injury prevention circuits and eight weeks of neck training, which can be accessed for free through the provided links.

Outlines

00:00

🥋 Structuring MMA Training for Elite Performance

The paragraph introduces the importance of structuring mixed martial arts (MMA) and gym training like a professional athlete. Jack Crucial, the speaker, emphasizes the need for a strong foundation in strength, speed, power, and endurance while also highlighting the importance of rest and recovery. He discusses the concept of 'maximum recoverable volume,' which is the optimal amount of training an athlete can handle before reaching physical limits. Overtraining can lead to injury, decreased performance, and poor recovery. Signs of exceeding this volume include stalled gym lifts, regression in performance, and a general feeling of being run down. Jack suggests tracking this volume meticulously by calculating total volumes in gym sessions and differentiating between high-intensity and technical MMA sessions. The goal is to improve week by week without overtraining.

05:00

🏋️‍♂️ High and Low Intensity Training for MMA

This section delves into the benefits of periodization in MMA training, which involves alternating between high and low-intensity sessions. High-intensity sessions include max effort strength conditioning, hard sparring, and heavy bag work, while low-intensity sessions focus on technical aspects like shadow boxing and drilling. The speaker provides guidelines for structuring a training week, whether for a casual, amateur, or professional MMA athlete. The key is to add high-intensity sessions first, ensuring they are well spaced out, and then fill the rest of the week with low-intensity exercises. This approach allows for peak performance while minimizing injury risk and improving recovery. The speaker also mentions the value of low-intensity days for improving technical proficiency in MMA.

10:01

🛠️ Implementing a Smart MMA Training Structure

The final paragraph wraps up the discussion by providing actionable steps for structuring a smart MMA training program. The speaker outlines the importance of determining one's maximum recoverable volume to ensure consistent training without overfatigue or injury. The concept of high-low periodization is reiterated, with a focus on using low-intensity days for skill acquisition. The speaker encourages viewers to reassess their current training structure and make necessary adjustments based on the principles discussed. He also provides free resources, including injury prevention circuits and neck training, to support viewers in their training journey. The paragraph concludes with a call to action for viewers to implement these strategies and stay tuned for future videos that will cover more detailed programming for gym sessions and a broader range of MMA-related topics.

Keywords

💡MMA

MMA stands for Mixed Martial Arts, which is a full-contact combat sport that allows striking and grappling, both standing and on the ground, using techniques from various combat sports and martial arts. In the video, MMA is the central theme as the speaker, Jack, discusses how to structure training for those involved in this sport to enhance performance and reduce the risk of injury.

💡Elite Performance

Elite Performance refers to the highest level of performance in a particular field or activity. In the context of the video, Jack emphasizes the need for a strong foundation in strength, speed, power, and endurance to achieve elite performance in MMA. He suggests that proper training structure is crucial for maintaining and improving upon this level of performance.

💡Recovery

Recovery in the context of the video pertains to the rest and restoration period an athlete needs to allow their body to heal and prepare for the next training session. Jack stresses that adequate recovery is as important as the training itself, as it helps prevent overtraining and injuries, which are detrimental to consistent performance.

💡Maximum Recoverable Volume

Maximum Recoverable Volume is the concept discussed in the video that refers to the optimal amount of training an athlete can handle before reaching their physical limit. Exceeding this limit can lead to increased injury risk and decreased performance. Jack explains that tracking and respecting one's maximum recoverable volume is essential for progressive training and injury prevention.

💡Periodization

Periodization is a training method that involves planning training in distinct cycles or phases, with a focus on varying intensity and volume. In the video, Jack mentions high and low periodization, which involves alternating between high-intensity and low-intensity training days to optimize performance and recovery.

💡High-Intensity Training

High-Intensity Training refers to workouts that are performed at a high level of effort, typically leading to greater fatigue and stress on the body. In the video, Jack explains how to structure high-intensity sessions such as hard sparring, strength conditioning, and explosive exercises within a weekly training program for MMA athletes.

💡Low-Intensity Training

Low-Intensity Training involves exercises performed at a lower effort, which can be used for skill development, technical work, and active recovery. Jack discusses the importance of incorporating low-intensity days into an MMA training program to improve technique and reduce the risk of overtraining.

💡Skill Acquisition

Skill Acquisition is the process of learning and mastering new skills or techniques. In the video, Jack suggests using low-intensity training days to focus on skill acquisition in areas such as shadow boxing, partner drilling, and grappling to enhance overall MMA performance.

💡Injury Prevention

Injury Prevention refers to采取措施 to reduce the likelihood of injuries occurring, especially in sports. Jack provides resources and training guidelines in the video to help MMA athletes prevent injuries by structuring their training intelligently and focusing on recovery and skill development.

💡Strength and Conditioning

Strength and Conditioning is a training regimen that focuses on improving an athlete's physical attributes such as strength, power, and endurance. In the video, Jack explains how strength and conditioning plays a crucial role in enhancing an MMA athlete's work capacity and ability to train harder and more consistently.

Highlights

Structuring MMA and Gym training like a professional athlete is crucial for success.

A strong foundation in strength, speed, power, and endurance is necessary for a mixed martial artist.

Rest and recovery are as important as training for maintaining performance and preventing injury.

Intelligent planning and structuring of training phases are key to effective training.

Training too hard five to seven days a week can lead to decreased performance and increased injury risk.

Maximum recoverable volume is the limit of training before reaching physical limits and risking injury.

Signs of training above maximum recoverable volume include stalling gym lifts and declining performance.

Tracking maximum recoverable volume can be done meticulously or through simpler methods.

Strength conditioning allows for increased work capacity over time, which is beneficial for MMA.

High and low periodization involves alternating high and low-intensity training loads throughout the week.

Periodization helps in achieving peak performance while minimizing injury risk.

Low-intensity days are ideal for improving technical proficiency in MMA.

Guidelines for structuring a training week are provided for various levels of MMA involvement.

High-intensity sessions should be spaced apart to allow for adequate recovery.

Dedicated rest days and low-intensity exercises fill the gaps between high-intensity sessions.

For those prioritizing gym performance, a different structure is suggested with a focus on strength and conditioning.

The provided training structure gives MMA athletes the tools used by the world's best fighters.

Free resources for injury prevention and neck training are available to help athletes stay on the mats.

Intelligent and hard training is necessary for MMA athletes to improve performance and minimize injuries.

Transcripts

hey everyone you're about to learn how

to structure MMA and Gym training like a

professional athlete my name is Jack

crucial I help athletes get out of pain

and injury and return to Elite

Performance be a successful mixed

martial artist you need to have a strong

Foundation of both strength speed power

and endurance production not only this

but you need to stay on the mats for as

long as possible and train as

consistently as possible so rest and

Recovery between sessions and across

weeks are just as vital as well and it

all comes down to one specific aspect

and that is structuring your programming

intelligently planning and structuring

phases of your training allows you to

train harder for longer as well as

recover more effectively so that you're

staying on the mat for as long as

possible why not use the same systems

that the best fighting athletes in the

world are using and I'm going to give

you this exact framework I see far too

often extremely stupid training

structures where people are trying to

train hard five to seven days a week

this is not going to allow you to have

the longevity that you need to perform

at your best for long periods of time

the first concept that we are going to

cover is maximum recoverable volume this

is the amount of training an athlete can

complete until they reach their physical

limit going Beyond this limit can lead

to increase of injury risk decrease in

performance and reduce recoverability

session to session we should be

improving week on week in an ideal

setting and if you're constantly

training above your maximum recoverable

volume it's going to be really difficult

to continue to improve your performance

what are some of the signs that you are

training above at your maximum

recoverable volume one of those signs is

that your gym lifts are stalling so

across two or three weeks you're either

stalling within your gym lifts or

they're starting to regress when you're

completing whether that's grappling

striking sessions whatever the case is

also subjectively feels like you're

performing worse and worse week after

week you also might feel run down you

might be getting sick all the time these

are really common signs that we're

training above our capacity so how to

track your maximum recoverable volume

two ways of doing this there's a more

meticulous way that you can integrate

and there's also an easier simple way if

you're not wanting to spend a ton of

time dialing this in so the meticulous

way first and foremost really breaking

down session by session exactly what

you're doing in a gym context you can

calculate total volumes by utilizing the

weight that you're lifting Times by the

sets that you're doing Times by the Reps

that you're doing so you can have a

total volume calculated and the beauty

of Gym training it is very very easy to

track the way that we're doing things in

terms of MMA sessions it's a little bit

more difficult however we can split it

up into two particular domains the first

domain would be hard sparring hard

rolling and things like that and the

second domain would be more so technical

work whether that's grappling drills

whether that's pad work whether that's

Shadow Boxing so you can really split

these apart and you can also factor in

the amount of rounds you're doing per

week or the total duration of each of

these modalities now you don't need to

dial things in this much it could simply

be a matter of tracking the way that

your lifts are progressing and it's very

easy to do this as well as just seeing

subjectively how you feel about your

performance week on week within an MMA

context if you feel like you're either

stalling or getting worse and worse from

a performance standpoint your roles are

getting worse your sparring is getting

worse it may be wise to look at the

amount of sessions you're doing and

potentially start looking at removing or

restructuring the way that you're

training one of the biggest benefits of

strength conditioning is you can improve

your work capacity over time somebody

who's a very experienced trainer within

the domains of MMA and the gym is going

to be able to do a lot more work than a

beginner in these domains and this is

the whole reason why strength

conditioning is so important regardless

of your sport especially if you're a

fighter the more work that you can do

the harder that you can train the more

that you can develop these skill

qualities over time that is the number

one benefit of doing strength and

conditioning on top of the MMA training

that you're doing high and low

periodization Charlie Francis is a

legendary Sprint coach and here's

somebody that used this exact training

principle a ton so it's splitting high

intensity training loads with low

intensity training loads and staggering

those across the week accordingly going

to show you specific examples if you're

both a casual MMA athlete as well as

somebody who's prioritizing MMA

completely but the purpose of

periodizing things in a high and low

fashion is it allows athletes to push

themselves on these high training days

such as sparring hard rolling these

sorts of rounds but also allows the

athlete to build technical proficiency

on the lower days and allows adequate

rest between high intensity efforts

essentially this principle allows you to

train up towards Peak Performance but

also improve your recovery between

sessions as well as minimize your injury

risk so you're getting all the benefits

of hard training whilst minimizing the

risk of injury so that you can continue

to train consistently this is the number

one cornerstone to getting better at

anything not just mixed martial arts no

not just strong in the gym it's staying

consistent and not missing time on the

mats because you're constantly injured

the biggest advantage that you have as a

mixed martial artist is you can make

really good use of these low intensity

days that you have as an example you can

improve your technical proficiency when

it comes to Shadow Boxing partner

drilling within a BJJ context and really

work and drill certain areas that you

have weakness points it's very rare to

have a sport where you can train at

really low intensities and get really

tangible benefit just because of how

technical the sport of mixed martial

arts is so use this to your advantage

this is something that most athletes

commonly avoid they don't do enough

Shadow Boxing they don't do enough

drilling use these opportunities to

become a better mixed martial artist

here are the guidelines that you can

utilize to structure your training week

whether you're just dabbling in MMA or

you're training as an amateur or even

professional fighter you can use these

same guidelines I've also included over

half a year of injury prevention

circuits that you can do immediately

after MMA sessions and it's in the link

in the description below I've also added

eight weeks of neck training which are

one of the most common injury areas as a

mixed martial artist that you can also

access for free I want to keep as many

of you in the ring and on the mats as

possible so these resources will really

help you to do that so now I'm going to

give you two examples of how to

structure your entire week whether

you're an amateur professional MMA

fighter I'll also give an example if

you're mainly just doubling an MMA and

want to structure your programming so

that you're optimizing for your gym

performance so so let's start by

categorizing our training sessions the

high sessions would be Max effort

strength conditioning tends to be lower

body in nature hard sparring Sprints and

explosive jumps and aerobic conditioning

and heavy backgrounds our low sessions

would be technical sparring Shadow

Boxing Zone to aerobic conditioning and

drilling

so here are the four steps to

programming your specific MMA training

for the week we're going to start by

adding the high intensity sessions first

the MMA based high intensity sessions

most gyms have fixed timetables so we

need to work around this we can add Gym

training days any day that we need to so

this allows us let's start with the

fixed variables as you can see let's use

an example we've got hard sparring we've

got heavy backgrounds and we have hard

wrestling rounds once we have these in

place try and select classes that are as

far apart from each other as possible so

in this example we've done a Monday

Wednesday Friday where we've got high

intensity sessions

now something that tends to confuse

people at the start is that I've added

hard shrink conditioning on those same

days the reason that I've done this is

so that we can dedicate a full day to

high intensity activity so as a result

on the Wednesday we've added our first

strength and conditioning session so

that that entire day is a full high

intensity day this gives us much bigger

breaks instead of us as an example

putting that string conditioning session

on the Thursday where we don't have

adequate recovery between hard sessions

we're treating an entire day as a high

intensity day instead it's a much

smarter way for us to better recover

session to session what we do from there

is add one dedicated day of rest and

then fill every other spot up with lower

intensity exercise you'll see as an

example on the Tuesday we've got Shadow

Boxing rounds and light pad rounds on

the Thursday we have grappling 60

intensity rolling light positional

specific train you can do some injury

prevention stuff with the combat

circuits and then Saturday we have

either off some additional MMA

conditioning things of that nature so

that's exactly how to structure things

now if we cover

somebody who's dabbling in MMA and their

main focus is the gym this is how I

would go about programming this

structure so on the Monday if we cover

the gym stuff first Monday's our lower

body Session One Tuesday is our upper

body session one this is overall less

taxing so I've classified it as a low

intensity day Wednesday rest Thursday

lower body number two Friday upper body

number two

as I mentioned we're adding high

intensity days as a whole so on the low

body days we're also doing a high a Muay

Thai BJJ wrestling at a high intensity

as well as the same concept on the

Thursday the Friday will be upper body

session two and some light MMA stuff

because Saturday and Sunday are lighter

sessions we can get away with what I

would classify like a low medium

intensity day and that's signified by

being colored yellow so this is a

general training structure that you can

utilize today and you can make changes

to the way that you're training

based on these principles alone you can

make these changes instantaneously so if

you want to continue to improve your

performance whilst minimizing your

chance of getting injured these are the

following steps that you need to follow

step one is working out what your rough

maximum recoverable volume is this

allows you to train below this limit and

ensure that you can consistently stay

less fatigued minimize injury risk

continue to increase performance week

after week second would be utilizing

high low periodization so splitting your

sessions up into high intensity sessions

as well as low intensity sessions

according to the table that we discussed

previously and finally using those low

intensity days to improve your skill

acquisition Shadow Boxing partner

drilling really light work to improve

your skills and techniques these are

arguably just as important those as

those hard sparring and rolling rounds

that we do throughout the week which we

love and enjoy guaranteed there's at

least one thing that you learn today

that you can Implement into your

training as of tomorrow so really look

at your weekly structure really look at

the way that you're training and

programming things make sure that you're

training intelligently as an MMA athlete

you need to train both smart and hard

and this allows you to do that the way

that we structured this today gives you

the same tools that some of the best

mixed martial artists in the world use

as I mentioned also use the free

resources that I provided for you I've

given you over half a year of injury

reduction circuits you can integrate for

the rest of the year thanks for watching

and stay tuned for future videos where I

cover the exact ways to actually program

gym sessions so that it benefits your

MMA performance also be covering a ton

of topics across a broad spectrum all

the way from injury to Elite Performance

so stay tuned and I'll see you in the

next one cheers