Kettlebell Training for MMA Athletes. What is the Kettlebell Fight System
Editors note: This is an article I wrote for Fighters Only Magazine a while back. If you are into MMA or similar sports, you will learn how kettlebell training can improve your game.
What Is The Kettlebell Fight System?
Here is the problem, you have to train your MMA game three hours a day, and still make time to improve your conditioning and get stronger all at the same time. Oh, and you only have a few weeks to be in top physical shape. What are you going to do? I hope you didn’t answer jog an hour each morning and lift weights another hour plus do my three hours fighters training because if you did you are going to be one burned out fighter come fight night. The fact is you need to be a machine that night so every second of your time had better prepare you for the task at hand.
Using Russian Kettlebell training to replace your jogging and bodybuilding routine will maximize your time and efficiency in the gym as well as your performance in the cage. Kettlebell training will dramatically improve your conditioning, your core strength and your grip. Most importantly though, it will teach your body to be strong for long! You will not only build strength and power but be able to display this force for an extended period of time. Much stronger than a fighter who jogs for conditioning; are you ever going to fight kind of hard for really long? Or the fighter who spends all his time and energy increasing his bench press; strength is only good until you are tired, then it is gone. Jogging is simply too easy to improve your fight conditioning and weight training does not teach your body to display strength for extended periods of time.
Look at the facts of your sport, fights last for 2-3 rounds of 2-5 minutes so why not train your body to go as hard as possible for that period of time? This is where kettlebells come in. You can use them to simulate a fight and prepare the body for what is to come so no one can ever gas you out!
Here is how to structure a great kettlebell drill session for your next fight.
How many rounds is the fight?
The drill will have one more round than this.
How many minutes is each round?
The drill will have 30 more seconds than this.
What are your weak muscle groups?
Always make sure to add extra exercises for your weak points!
Okay, let’s say you have a 3 round fight with 3 minutes per round. That means we will create a drill of 4 rounds with 3:30 minutes per round. I learned this great idea from Jiu Jitsu wrestler Steve Maxwell. The extra round and time are to create a buffer so we are not gassing out at the end of the fight. We want to feel very strong going into the final seconds of each round and especially the last round of the actual fight. We want your body and mind to have “been there before”.
Now that we know your workout times, let’s put together some exercises. It is best to have a mix of dynamic movements such as the swing, clean and press or snatch to build explosiveness mixed in with some more static movements such as windmills or renegade rows to build static strength. The reason for the static movements is that a lot of fighters gas out during the static wrestling periods of a fight. Think of the fighter who just got up from being pinned down and was barely moving for two minutes, yet he is totally out of breath. This is because he had all the muscles in his body contracting hard against his opponent’s. You need to be able to hold your body tight when fatigued and still have energy to fight afterwards! I learned this great point from an Alwyn Cosgrove interview I found online.
Finally, let’s say our weakness is hamstrings and abdominal muscles so we have to focus on them also. Here is an example of the exercises we could use in the fight round circuit drill:
Two hand swing 20 reps
One hand swing 10 reps per hand
One hand high pull 5 reps per hand
Military press for 5 reps with one hand, then Windmill for 5 reps
Overhead Lunge 10 reps hand (opposite leg lunges backwards)
Snatch 5 reps
Turkish get-ups 5 reps per hand
Rows 10 reps per hand
Kettlebell clean and press burpees 5 reps
Rotational cleans 5 reps per hand
Kettlebell rack squat 5 reps
Overhead push press 5 reps
Kettlebell deadlifts 10 reps
Kettlebell push-ups 10 reps (get in push-up position holding a kettlebell in each hand and do deep push-ups)
Kettlebell mountain climbers 20 reps total (same position, now do mountain climbers with the legs)
Swings until the round ends
If the time rings before you have completed the circuit, just pick up the next round where you left off. If you have plenty of time left you can start from the top or just keep swinging. Should a certain muscle group start to give out during an exercise simply move on to the next one as we are after systemic fatigue here. We want to push the body and mind to new levels of conditioning! You should be trying not to puke during this drill for the first few times as the lactic acid build up will be incredible. You will notice the mix of dynamic and static exercises, again this is to simulate a fight were burst of movement are followed by periods of static pushing and pulling.
Now, this is a much larger circuit than what you may be used to so start with a lighter kettlebell because it is crucial that you are able to last the specified amount of time. Most guys will be fine with a 16kg kettlebell for conditioning purposes. I have often ditched the bell half way through and used bodyweight movements to finish off a round so I could keep moving.
Another note, weight training definitely has its place in fight preparation as does long slow cardio work, but they should not be the priority as they really don’t prepare you to fight. Spend your time on what will make you an animal in the cage. Use the kettlebell fight system to prepare your body and mind for victory!
What Is The Kettlebell Fight System?
Here is the problem, you have to train your MMA game three hours a day, and still make time to improve your conditioning and get stronger all at the same time. Oh, and you only have a few weeks to be in top physical shape. What are you going to do? I hope you didn’t answer jog an hour each morning and lift weights another hour plus do my three hours fighters training because if you did you are going to be one burned out fighter come fight night. The fact is you need to be a machine that night so every second of your time had better prepare you for the task at hand.
Using Russian Kettlebell training to replace your jogging and bodybuilding routine will maximize your time and efficiency in the gym as well as your performance in the cage. Kettlebell training will dramatically improve your conditioning, your core strength and your grip. Most importantly though, it will teach your body to be strong for long! You will not only build strength and power but be able to display this force for an extended period of time. Much stronger than a fighter who jogs for conditioning; are you ever going to fight kind of hard for really long? Or the fighter who spends all his time and energy increasing his bench press; strength is only good until you are tired, then it is gone. Jogging is simply too easy to improve your fight conditioning and weight training does not teach your body to display strength for extended periods of time.
Look at the facts of your sport, fights last for 2-3 rounds of 2-5 minutes so why not train your body to go as hard as possible for that period of time? This is where kettlebells come in. You can use them to simulate a fight and prepare the body for what is to come so no one can ever gas you out!
Here is how to structure a great kettlebell drill session for your next fight.
How many rounds is the fight?
The drill will have one more round than this.
How many minutes is each round?
The drill will have 30 more seconds than this.
What are your weak muscle groups?
Always make sure to add extra exercises for your weak points!
Okay, let’s say you have a 3 round fight with 3 minutes per round. That means we will create a drill of 4 rounds with 3:30 minutes per round. I learned this great idea from Jiu Jitsu wrestler Steve Maxwell. The extra round and time are to create a buffer so we are not gassing out at the end of the fight. We want to feel very strong going into the final seconds of each round and especially the last round of the actual fight. We want your body and mind to have “been there before”.
Now that we know your workout times, let’s put together some exercises. It is best to have a mix of dynamic movements such as the swing, clean and press or snatch to build explosiveness mixed in with some more static movements such as windmills or renegade rows to build static strength. The reason for the static movements is that a lot of fighters gas out during the static wrestling periods of a fight. Think of the fighter who just got up from being pinned down and was barely moving for two minutes, yet he is totally out of breath. This is because he had all the muscles in his body contracting hard against his opponent’s. You need to be able to hold your body tight when fatigued and still have energy to fight afterwards! I learned this great point from an Alwyn Cosgrove interview I found online.
Finally, let’s say our weakness is hamstrings and abdominal muscles so we have to focus on them also. Here is an example of the exercises we could use in the fight round circuit drill:
Two hand swing 20 reps
One hand swing 10 reps per hand
One hand high pull 5 reps per hand
Military press for 5 reps with one hand, then Windmill for 5 reps
Overhead Lunge 10 reps hand (opposite leg lunges backwards)
Snatch 5 reps
Turkish get-ups 5 reps per hand
Rows 10 reps per hand
Kettlebell clean and press burpees 5 reps
Rotational cleans 5 reps per hand
Kettlebell rack squat 5 reps
Overhead push press 5 reps
Kettlebell deadlifts 10 reps
Kettlebell push-ups 10 reps (get in push-up position holding a kettlebell in each hand and do deep push-ups)
Kettlebell mountain climbers 20 reps total (same position, now do mountain climbers with the legs)
Swings until the round ends
If the time rings before you have completed the circuit, just pick up the next round where you left off. If you have plenty of time left you can start from the top or just keep swinging. Should a certain muscle group start to give out during an exercise simply move on to the next one as we are after systemic fatigue here. We want to push the body and mind to new levels of conditioning! You should be trying not to puke during this drill for the first few times as the lactic acid build up will be incredible. You will notice the mix of dynamic and static exercises, again this is to simulate a fight were burst of movement are followed by periods of static pushing and pulling.
Now, this is a much larger circuit than what you may be used to so start with a lighter kettlebell because it is crucial that you are able to last the specified amount of time. Most guys will be fine with a 16kg kettlebell for conditioning purposes. I have often ditched the bell half way through and used bodyweight movements to finish off a round so I could keep moving.
Another note, weight training definitely has its place in fight preparation as does long slow cardio work, but they should not be the priority as they really don’t prepare you to fight. Spend your time on what will make you an animal in the cage. Use the kettlebell fight system to prepare your body and mind for victory!
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