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That which does not kill me, makes me stronger (Nietzche)
Technical drilling and playfighting are essential, and for some, dynamic warmup and cooldown are also important to performance (though never for me personally). But from my experience, the fundamental principle underlying all training, is to shock the neuromusculoskeletal structure (including the mind) much in the same way that an NHB/MMA/submission fight might do. You do this progressively, by raising the intensity of your performance with each workout over a three-week period. The competitive fight time of around 30-35 minutes (5 X 5 minute rounds UFC, 1 X 10 minute + 2 X 5 minute rounds Pride, for example, and a little extra for good luck) is broken down into high-intensity efforts of short duration (10-30 seconds), long duration (3-5 minutes) and anywhere in between. During these 'rounds' specific and non specific exercises are performed with or without equipment or a training partner; you also do fight drilling, conditional and unconditional competitive fighting, and various mixes of them all. At the end of the three weeks you take 3 or 4 days off and start again.
By overloading the system with high intensity exercises within the anaerobic zone, and sufficiently resting between each workout and at the end of the cycle, you ensure that at the end of the three week peaking period the system will fight back harder than it needs to and overcompensate for this overload by coming back far stronger than it was before. This is a phenomenon of adaptability that allowed our primal ancestors to survive environments far more hostile than our own.
Of course, for some to achieve a level of anaerobic fitness or VO2 max necessary to even begin to engage in such a training program, quite a lot of preliminary work will need to be done. But the benefits far outweigh the pain, in that by having undergone such a program, not only will you be able to remain focused and retain form throughout a punishing and challenging fight or training session, but you will also be able to push your opponent or training partner into a zone which he is mentally or physically unprepared for, without becoming exhausted yourself.
And naturally, such training is only for those who are prepared to 'die' in the figurative sense of the term.
What I've learnt as a fighter and a trainer is that there are few prepared to go into the anaerobic zone for longer than necessary, most preferring instead to do the higher percentage of their fighting and training in the comfortable aerobic zone. I've often noticed in watching NHB fights and boxing matches, for example, that the work rate is too low. Both fighters are working within a comfortable zone, and if they exceed that zone, they quickly fall apart. By contrast, if you watch really good Thai boxers you will see that they are working at very high rates and still retain their form for the full duration of the fight. This is all down to having prepared with high intensity interval training on pads, bag, drills, etc, which raises the anaerobic zone threshold. The anaerobic zone is that zone where, if you work too hard, there is a rapid buildup of lactic acid and because you start to produce large amounts of carbon dioxide, not only do your muscles tie up within minutes, but the cardiovascular system is being pushed to the extreme. The trick with anaerobic threshold training is to be able to work just within the anaerobic zone and by toughing it out, train your system's ability to progressively and more effectively process oxygen and remove lactic acid.
A good way of initially training your muscles and cardiovascular system to work to the limit, say for a thirty-minute period, is to break the thirty minute period into sessions of 5 X 6 minute rounds of all-out efforts on a piece of cardio equipment such as bike, treadmill, or rowing machine, or combinations of all three, with a one-minute rest in between each round. Or, within another session, break the 5 minute round periods into something that's more specifically representing the fight, (still on the CV equipment) such as long intervals (representing grappling) or shorter intervals (representing striking) or combinations of both, with, for example, 10 seconds of low intensity work between hard efforts and adjusting the resistance accordingly. If you haven't got CV equipment, then another way would be to do 5 X 6 minute rounds of hill runs at all-out effort, jogging down and starting again. Or engaging in more variable runs including hills, sprints, etc. for a 30 minute period. You could also, within such a running session, add specific and non-specific dynamic and more static core exercises.
I have chosen a three-week period because you can work intensely for that length of time, every day or every other day, without breaking down, and because NHB fighters usually fight on short notice. This way, you have a high-intensity training program already in cycle, which you can adjust according to the date of your fight.
A comprehensive discussion of how to construct a training program can be found in The Physical Component.
A final note. The only one thing you know for certain is that you're going to have to fight for the full five minutes times five rounds, and get a minute's rest in between. Beyond that, just as you can't choose whether you're going to fight on the feet in the open or closed position or on the ground in the numerous possible positions, in a NHB/MMA/submission fight you can't choose the rate, the intensity, or the duration you're going to fight for outside these very loose parameters. Knowing that, better for you to be pushing him out of his comfort zone, than the other way around.
17 August 2004
