A key factor in mixed martial arts is strength. You need power and explosiveness to deliver hard blows with your hands and feet and you need strength to withstand them from your opponent. Weight training is crucial in this sport. You are not looking to build large muscles that display well like a bodybuilder is. You want functional strength that will help you attack and defend.
Training Sessions
When you are training for mixed martial arts, you are getting into the best shape possible. You are establishing a baseline condition for your sport; you are not looking at a specific, upcoming bout. Some weight training exercises you want to do regularly--three times a week--including the bench press, the Romanian dead lift, the power clean and lunges. When doing bench press exercises, you are best served by doing them on an incline bench to build the most power.
Prefight Training
When you are in fight preparation mode, you are in a three-week countdown before your bout. You are still looking to get stronger, but your main focus is on speed and quickness. When weight training, you should still do many of the same exercises but cut down on the amount of weight you are lifting, doing more reps and doing them faster. Squats, lunges and dumbbell lifts help prepare you for your bout.
Functional Strength
Some of the most effective strength exercises that mixed martial artists can do involve push-ups, pull-ups and ab crunches. To build explosive power, do wide-arm push-ups to build strength in the chest and do dumbbell push-ups to add strength in your arms and shoulders. For the latter, grasp two dumbbells when you are in the push-up position. Balance yourself on the dumbbell bar and push yourself up. Hold that position for a count of two and then return to the starting position. Do 15 push-ups in this manner, take a 30-second break and repeat the set. When doing crunches, place a 25-lb. weight plate on your stomach to make the crunches tougher and build more strength in your midsection.
Warning
Weight training is not an everyday activity. You have to give you muscles a chance to recover when you lift. That means that if you lift on Sunday you should not lift again until Tuesday. If you lift every day, you have a greater chance of suffering an injury but you won't get stronger because your muscles won't get the full benefit from the work you have done.
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