Beginner, Intermediate, and Advanced MMA Workout Routines
To help you make the most out of your MMA workout, we have listed a great set of beginner, intermediate and advanced MMA workout routines. Follow the basic structure that we have set out, adjusting as you know yourself, and you are assured of well-rounded athletic performance inclusive of explosive power.
We have also delved into a few basic exercises that every fighter should integrate for their own best benefit. Do so, and you will bolster your prowess and improve your chances of avoiding injury.
Beginner MMA Workout
Beginners need to train as little as three times a week to grow their performance steadily. As your stamina improves, you will be able to progress to a more arduous MMA workout routine. A beginner should aim to reach six training sessions every week before entering any form of competition. It is generally best to start with four.
Daily Training
If you don’t have a partner available, then increase the amount of time spent shadowboxing, training strength, and developing power through weight-based exercises.
Here is an excellent suggested daily MMA workout for beginners:
Intermediate MMA Workout
Those seeking to participate in MMA for fitness alone can give the morning session a skip. The combination of a grueling morning and afternoon MMA workout can be too taxing for those who do not compete professionally.
Yet if you manage to muster the strength, nutrition, and lifestyle needed to push through a morning and afternoon session, you are guaranteed to rapidly build strength, speed, endurance, and form.
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Advanced MMA Workout
This advanced MMA workout is suited to professional fighters who are training in preparation to fight. One should conventionally follow an intermediate training schedule unless preparing for a bout.
The sheer amount of time that this takes from your day is a dedication of devotion. Yet if you persevere and are looking to be in the best shape possible when facing your opponent, then follow this schedule for eight to ten weeks before your match-up.
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MMA Workout Routines for Conditioning and Injury Prevention
Regardless of your state of fitness or proficiency in fighting, there are specific exercises that should never be overlooked. MMA places certain areas of the body at a clear risk of injury.
By conditioning these areas, we diminish our chances of being injured, but we also gain an advantage over a less seasoned athlete.
Many fighters overlook critical areas such as neck strength, joint strength, and flexibility, whereas developing these facets is vital to a well-rounded fighter.
Neck Conditioning
To develop the muscles necessary to maintain a Muay Thai clinch and a solid defense against typical submissions such as the guillotine choke, one has to pay constant attention to neck strength.
Here are two of the best neck exercises available…
Isometric Neck Exercise
The following isometric neck exercise should become a part of everyone’s training regimen.
Push with both of your palms against your forehead. Attempt to push your head forward while resisting with your hands. Sustain this resistance for fifteen seconds. Put both of your hands behind your head and repeat the exercise. Push backward while resisting the pressure for fifteen seconds.
Next, you need to put your left hand on the left side of your head. Push your head to the left for fifteen seconds before repeating the exercise on your right. A second drill needs to be done to work a different set of neck muscles.
Repeat the entire exercise as before but push your head with your hands while resisting with your neck.
Free-Weight Exercise
For this more advanced exercise, you need a free-weight and a harness. Begin with just a five-pound plate and have your partner spot for you. Feed the harness through the center of the plate and then sit down on either a chair or the bench.
Place the harness behind your head and lift the plate up and down by slowly moving your head.
Shoulder Conditioning
All fighters need strong shoulder muscles. This will reduce the risk of injury and assist agility and maneuverability while in a clinch.
Here are two of the best shoulder exercises available…
Hand-Stand Push-Ups
Position yourself into a handstand against a wall with your back facing the wall.
Allow your heels to touch the supporting wall while slowly lowering yourself down and then pressing yourself back into your position.
Basically put, do a push-up while in a handstand.
This excellent shoulder fortifying exercise comes with one warning. Don’t push yourself too hard as there will be a lot of blood flow to your head.
Military Press
This excellent MMA workout builds your deltoids and trapezius. You need a set of dumbbells, a barbell, or a medicine ball.
Bring your dumbbells, barbell, or medicine ball towards your chest. Make sure that your elbows point towards the ground. Push the weights straight up over your head.
Try this exercise from a sitting position as this directly isolates your shoulder muscles.
Wrist Conditioning
This is one area of mixed martial arts that many people pay far too little attention to. Wrist exercises are easy to integrate into any MMA workout and will strengthen your punches while lowering your risk of injury dramatically.
Knuckle Push-Ups
Knuckle push-ups are not just a fighting movie cliché; they are highly effective for strengthening the tendons of your wrist.
As you grow stronger, put only one fist on the floor. Upon finishing the push-up, switch to the other fist.
These don’t need to be done quickly, but they’re fantastic for wrist strength.
Shell Rotations
Begin by holding a set of dumbbells vertically before your core.
Rotate your wrists outward. Make sure that they are parallel to the floor.
Flex both hands back to the starting position and then repeat the exercise, rotating inward this time.
