Eric Wong’s MMA Workouts for the Local and Systemic Anaerobic Lactic Energy Systems

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By Eric Wong, BSc, CSCS

If you’re goal is to develop never-ending cardio, then you need to be specifically targeting your anaerobic alactic system in your MMA workouts. The anaerobic lactic energy system gives you what many people describe as ‘strength-endurance’. It’s also known as the glycolytic system.

To fully develop this system for MMA, you need to be doing 2 different styles of workouts: systemic and local.

Systemic workouts tap into this energy system using muscles all over the body, and create a large amount of lactate, which is the by-product of anaerobic lactic energy production, that must be processed by the liver. An example of a systemic workout would be the following:

Systemic Anaerobic Lactic MMA Workout

Do the following in circuit style, moving as quickly as possible between exercises. Remember to breathe throughout each movement. Good form is key!

Reps: 10

Tempo: 401 (4 seconds eccentric, no pause, 1 second concentric)

Intensity: -2 RM (pick a weight you could do 12 reps for in perfect form and do (-2) 10 reps)

Rest: No rest between exercises, 1-2 min after a set of each exercise is complete

Sets: 2-4

Exercises: Squats, Pullups, Reverse lunges, Flat dumbbell presses

If you’re closesly following the prescribed tempo and you’ve picked the right weight, you’ll feel the power of this workout!

Local workouts tap into this energy system specifically targeting a small group of muscles, such as the muscles around the shoulder. Lactate is produced, but on a much smaller scale compared to the systemic workouts.

One of my favourite anaerobic lactic local workouts if for the shoulders. These muscles need great strength endurance to be able to battle in the clinch, grappling, and for throwing combos for 3 full rounds. Here’s one of the workouts I use with my athletes to develop their anaerobic lactic energy system for the shoulders:

Local Anaerobic Lactic MMA Workout

Again, this is circuit style, pay close attention to form throughout the complex.

Reps: 10

Tempo: Control

Intensity: -3 RM for Dumbbell lateral raise (pick a weight you can do about 13 reps for)

Rest: No rest between exercises, 1-2 min after a set of each exercise is complete

Sets: 2-4

Add these two killer workouts into your training scheme and you’ll never have to worry about running out of gas again.

If you want to be completely confident that the plan you’re following will elevate your strength and conditioning for MMA so that you are as explosive in the first as you are in the third, be sure to check out one of the top MMA Workouts on the internet.

Watch more videos from Eric’s Ultimate MMA Strength

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Eric Wong MMA Workout – Core Exercises For MMA Using the Heavy Bag

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Here is a short article on core exercises for MMA using the heavy bag.

When you think of a core exercise, most people think of doing situps, crunches, and the hundreds of variations of these exercises. These exercises are good for when you’re on your back in MMA, but aren’t as applicable to developing your core for striking power.

To develop your core so that your punches and kicks get harder and faster, you need to train your core in a standing position.

The medicine ball is the perfect tool to use to develop explosive hands because it develops your rotational power. But using the medicine ball requires you to be able to throw it – something not possible for many people who train in the gym (or have to train in the gym in winter, like here in Canada).

To get the same benefits as using a medicine ball, you can use a heavy bag.

You’re going to learn 2 exercises that will really develop explosive striking and you can do them at your MMA club.

Here’s the first one:

Heavy Bag Chest Throw

  1. Stand in front of a heavy bag and push it up until it’s at a 45 degree angle and you’re holding your body at an angle
  2. Take a wide stance and bend your knees to get in a quarter squat position
  3. Throw the bag up and forward and catch it and repeat immediately

This exercise gives you the sagittal plane stability that you need to keep a solid base when you lean into a punch and connect.

The next exercise gives you the transverse plane stability for generating explosiveness in your strikes:

Heavy Bag Hand-to-Hand Pass

  1. Stand in front of a heavy bag with a wide stance and bent knees
  2. Keep good posture throughout
  3. Throw the ball with one hand to the other as hard and fast as you can without losing your posture
  4. Keep your abs tight (braced)

Now for each of these exercises, you want to do them quickly and explosively, but never lose your posture. Maintaining your posture is how you train the core muscles, once you lose it, the muscles you want to be working stop.

Instead of doing these exercises for reps, do them for time. Do as many as you can in 10-15 seconds, rest a minute between sets, then repeat for 3-5 sets each. You can also superset them, depending on your current fitness level and what you want to get out of the training.

Sometimes it can be tough to follow exercises from descriptions, so to see exactly what I’m talking about, click the following link to watch a video of these two exercises:

=> Core Exercises for MMA Using the Heavy Bag

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