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Strength for Fighters

Increasing Max Strength, Explosive Strength, and Strength Endurance

Soishaman
Soishaman g Aleksandr Peskishev
9 Post(s)
9 Post(s) Gender: Male Goal: Train for a sport Date Joined: November 11, 2013
Posted

I compete in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, thus I need to be able to recruit as much strength for as little weight as possible. I'm dead in the middle of my weight class and decided that I would like to gain seven pounds over the next few months. More specifically I am looking to increase the three main types of strength that all fighters need; Maximal Strength (max effort exerted under voluntary movement), Explosive Strength (max effort exerted under a short period of time) and Strength Endurance (strength maintained over a period of time under stress). Strength Endurance is my best aspect so I'd like to maintain it while kicking up explosiveness heavily. Aesthetics mean absolutely nothing to me but functionality is key. Although I mostly compete in grappling martial arts I would like to ask the community to put in any knowledge they have regarding how to make maximum improvements of power to benefit all fighters (or really any athlete) while not forcing us to move up a weight class.

 

I'd also appreciate any tweaks and suggestions my fellow Hermanites may have towards how I structure my training regiment as well as examples of what other fighters, whether it be BJJ, MMA, Kickboxing, Wrestling or anything else use for themselves.

 

The way I structure my split is Chest-Back-Shoulders-Legs/Abs-Arms-Swim-Swim with the morning consisting of calisthenics and cardio right before training and the evening becomes weights with a general rep range of 12-15. My rest days are just swims during which the pace is set by how sore I feel.

Scott_Herman
Scott_Herman a Scott Herman
7.1K Post(s)
7.1K Post(s) Gender: Male Goal: Bodybuilding Date Joined: August 8, 2008
Posted
Posted By: Soishaman

I compete in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, thus I need to be able to recruit as much strength for as little weight as possible. I'm dead in the middle of my weight class and decided that I would like to gain seven pounds over the next few months. More specifically I am looking to increase the three main types of strength that all fighters need; Maximal Strength (max effort exerted under voluntary movement), Explosive Strength (max effort exerted under a short period of time) and Strength Endurance (strength maintained over a period of time under stress). Strength Endurance is my best aspect so I'd like to maintain it while kicking up explosiveness heavily. Aesthetics mean absolutely nothing to me but functionality is key. Although I mostly compete in grappling martial arts I would like to ask the community to put in any knowledge they have regarding how to make maximum improvements of power to benefit all fighters (or really any athlete) while not forcing us to move up a weight class.

 

I'd also appreciate any tweaks and suggestions my fellow Hermanites may have towards how I structure my training regiment as well as examples of what other fighters, whether it be BJJ, MMA, Kickboxing, Wrestling or anything else use for themselves.

 

The way I structure my split is Chest-Back-Shoulders-Legs/Abs-Arms-Swim-Swim with the morning consisting of calisthenics and cardio right before training and the evening becomes weights with a general rep range of 12-15. My rest days are just swims during which the pace is set by how sore I feel.

Hey @Soishaman, welcome to the site man! We would be more than happy to help you out!

 

Strength is super important when it comes to fighting and you want to gain as much as you can while staying in the same weight class I am sure.

 

You need to incorportate performing heavy movements like BENCH, SQUAT, OVERHEAD PRESS, and DEADLIFT. I would try to implement each one on one day of the week with a heavy 5x5 split (5 reps of 5 sets) lifting as heavy as you can.

However, I don't know your current daily workout split as you were very vauge on what exercises you are doing on which days.

 

IF you could be more clear, that will help. Also, what are your daily MACROS and your BODYWEIGHT & BODYFAT.

 

For BJJ... just put BJJ and how long the training is on the days you have BJJ.

 

YEAH!! Let's see you kick some ASS!

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Soishaman
Soishaman g Aleksandr Peskishev
9 Post(s)
9 Post(s) Gender: Male Goal: Train for a sport Date Joined: November 11, 2013
Posted

As a full time student my general routine gets split into two sessions a day. I usually start by going to bjj class which is about an hour or so every day excluding Friday and Sunday. After training I will do an extra 10-20 minutes of intense calisthenics. My calisthenics workouts are real simple/boring, usually just 3 sets of maximmum reps of a basic bodyweight exercise (I cycle push ups/sit ups/pull ups/Rest) in one minute with a 20-30 sec rest in between and then 2-4 variations of that exercise (something like incline push ups or leg raises) with the same times until I run through approximatelly 20 minutes.

 

In the afternoon I usually lift.

Monday: Chest

Tuesday: Back

Wednesday: Shoulders

Thursday: Legs with sometimes an extra bit of core exercises

Friday: Biceps/Triceps

Weekend: Swim or Rest

 

I do 4 exercises always starting with a compound exercise that doesn't change (Chest-Bench, Back-Weighted Pull Ups/Deadlift, Shoulders-Military Press, Legs-Squats, Biceps-Weighted Chin Ups, Triceps-Weighted Dips) and then 3 exercises that are more isolated. I try to incorporate bands into a lot of exercises such as Band Curls and Seated Squats w/ Bands. I end with cardio sessions that are made to somewhat simulate rounds in a fight often trying to do as high of a speed for 3-6 minutes for 3-5 rounds with 30-90 second rests in between. Before I would lift with a rep range of 12+ but for the last couple weeks have changed it to 6-10. I'm going to swtich to your 5x5 suggestion for a couple weeks though and see how that progresses my results.

 

As far as macros I have no idea what I eat in a day. I have been making sure to eat extra during the time I've been trying to gain weight and it's all rather boring but good food. I weighed in today at 171 with approximatelly 8% bodyfat

muscular strength
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