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Ok so I know how redundant this title is, but I'm asking for a way to incorporate cardio to improve my MMA performance. NOT lose bodyfat. I'm on CNS so that's already taken care of. The thing is I already train 5x/week and like I said I'm on CNS so I know that over-training is a potential problems. Should I just hope that my "wind" will improve overtime with the MMA training alone? It's not like I'm incredibly out of shape, but I'd like to be able to go a sparring session without gasping by the end of it. I've been reading some of Joel Jamieson's work and he includes a lot of long-distance "road-work", along with HIIT, and certain complexes to prepare his fighters. Obviously, all this work would lead to over-trainin for someone on CNS.Any thoughts?
As a former amateur mma fighter/boxer (planning to resume that once I get to Okinawa in August, mind you), here's my two cents. Fighting in general is incredibly anaerobic most of the time, especially in MMA because there are less opportunities to fight at a comfortable pace. As such, you are always better off training at high intensity for short intervals which will help you in the ring and increase your capacity anyways. The road work and incredible amounts of more aerobic cardio that trainers prescribe will probably either make your strength gains stall and your body lean up at best, and turn you skinny-fat while bringing your performance down at worst. Depends on the individual really.Besides, gassing in the ring often has a lot more to do with stress, fighting pace, experience and all that good stuff, not really pure cardio. Heck, I knew a guy who couldn't jump rope for more than 5 minutes who would outwork everyone in the ring, just because he was so comfortable and experienced.
Stiffmeister makes valid points. But I'd like to add:Your number one concern for increasing endurance, particularly fighting or high-intensity endurance, requires raising the lactic-acid threshold. Sprint-endurance training can accomplish this (under the right prescription) as well as HIIT. Road work, or any-kind of long-duration, sub-maximal work doesn't do shit except increase long-duration endurance and, does so with greater volume, detriment and in a longer time period than can be done with HIIT.HIIT on CNS should be done with the following protocol: 30s at 100% intensity then 4m easy, up to 6 cycles.Strength endurance (or sprint endurance) won't decrease your strength, but it does make the muscle fibers more dense and causes mitochondriabiogenesis, making your muscles more oxidative (i.e. raising the anaerobic threshold). But it does decrease your size (slightly) and will halt nearly all hypertrophy.I've decided to make Anabolic Cardio for CBL the first upgrade, as it seems to be the one people need the most for various forms of training. So, here's how I would incorporate (this is just a basic implementation):2 to 4 weeks of hypertrophy training (Heavy Duty for CBL would be an awesome four-week starter), with absolute minimum rest between sets (30s or so is good) and no cardio, followed by 4 weeks of 3x per week of 30s/4m HIIT performed 1 hour before resistance training. The resistance training during this HIIT phase should focus primarily on strength, not hypertrophy (a modified Shockwave would do nicely, but I can't lay that all out here right now). Rest between sets during this phase should be 1 to 3 minutes and 5 minutes between heavy sets in the 1 to 3 rep range.As to the why for all of this, the October Flex issue will have an article about Anabolic Cardio (that I wrote) giving the basics. The update will have a ton of detail.
Kiefer, is there any validity to the idea that HIIT can only be performed withing 2 days post Carb Nite? Or can it be performed later in the week, as long as the person sticks to the HIIT protocol you laid out in your last post?
Addendum (in response to your question zewski):The day after CN or two days after, the goal of cardio would be to help wipe out glycogen stores. The quicker you do this, the faster you'll raise your lactic-acid threshold during the rest of the week.So, to blow-out the carb stores the day after, use: 1 minute at 100% capacity (you probably can't maintain 100% for 1 min), then 2 min easy (very easy); perform this for 7 to 8 cycles. Do this ONLY THE DAY AFTER CARB NITE, or possibly two days after depending on when your body let's go of it's glycogen stores. (Sometimes, the day after Carb Nite, the body will actually protect glycogen stores and not utilize them effectively, that's why you have to push yourself into the extremes of the glycolytic cycle with 1 min 100% intensity). Ideally, I would implement this on a spin bike and after each "sprint", I'd walk around for the 2 min.I hope this helps.
Addendum (in response to your question zewski):The day after CN or two days after, the goal of cardio would be to help wipe out glycogen stores. The quicker you do this, the faster you'll raise your lactic-acid threshold during the rest of the week.So, to blow-out the carb stores the day after, use: 1 minute at 100% capacity (you probably can't maintain 100% for 1 min), then 2 min easy (very easy); perform this for 7 to 8 cycles. Do this ONLY THE DAY AFTER CARB NITE, or possibly two days after depending on when your body let's go of it's glycogen stores. (Sometimes, the day after Carb Nite, the body will actually protect glycogen stores and not utilize them effectively, that's why you have to push yourself into the extremes of the glycolytic cycle with 1 min 100% intensity). Ideally, I would implement this on a spin bike and after each "sprint", I'd walk around for the 2 min.I hope this helps.
Just out of curiosity would we add any resistance to the spin bike to help get that 100% intensity?Sent from my iPod touch using Tapatalk
Addendum (in response to your question zewski):The day after CN or two days after, the goal of cardio would be to help wipe out glycogen stores. The quicker you do this, the faster you'll raise your lactic-acid threshold during the rest of the week.So, to blow-out the carb stores the day after, use: 1 minute at 100% capacity (you probably can't maintain 100% for 1 min), then 2 min easy (very easy); perform this for 7 to 8 cycles. Do this ONLY THE DAY AFTER CARB NITE, or possibly two days after depending on when your body let's go of it's glycogen stores. (Sometimes, the day after Carb Nite, the body will actually protect glycogen stores and not utilize them effectively, that's why you have to push yourself into the extremes of the glycolytic cycle with 1 min 100% intensity). Ideally, I would implement this on a spin bike and after each "sprint", I'd walk around for the 2 min.I hope this helps.
This helps tremendously! Thank you very much Kiefer.
Kiefer, do you think that this kind of cardio could be replicated with kettlebell swings or sledgehammer slams? (I work out at home, dont have a spin bike, but I do have T handle, heavy hammers and a tire)
Kiefer, do you think that this kind of cardio could be replicated with kettlebell swings or sledgehammer slams? (I work out at home, dont have a spin bike, but I do have T handle, heavy hammers and a tire)
I think sledgehammer slams could work nicely, as could sprinting while dragging the tire (or a make-shift sled, or prowler). The goal of HIIT is actually to reach oxygen debt and expand the rib cage among other things. I've done that before in a race against someone for the most number of split logs in a certain amount of time and my intercostals hurt the next day from being stretched by the extreme breathing.
Would it be helpful to incorporate the use of a gas mask to further restrict breathing and reach oxygen debt quicker into HIIT training? As a boxer my endurance is very important but I am having trouble finding a way to push it to the next level.
http://www.trainingmask.com/#Such as this^^
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