5 Strength and Conditioning Workouts You Can Try

LockerRoom Team

23 Apr 2022

Strength and conditioning workouts are beneficial to your overall fitness as well as your Combat Sports game. Whether you're training for power and strength or conditioning and endurance, weighted exercises should be altered accordingly.

In general, if you want to gain strength, you should use heavier weights and lower reps. Do more reps at lighter weights for fitness and endurance. Here are five essential exercises that any martial artist should begin doing right now to advance their skills.

Strength and Conditioning workouts you should try.

Pull-ups
Push-ups
Squats With A Barbell
Deadlifts
Burpees

We will be taking a look at each of the workouts in detail below.

Pull-ups

Pull-ups strengthen your upper body by strengthening the muscles in your upper back. These are necessary for controlling your opponent with pulling motions in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, as well as the clinch in Muay Thai and mixed martial arts.

Start with easier exercises like jump pulls or negative pull-ups, where you stand on a platform if you can't complete a proper pull-up. By jumping or stepping onto a platform, raise your chin above the bar, then slowly lower yourself.

Both of these progressions emphasize the controlled downward motion of the pull-up, which will aid in the development of the strength required to perform a perfect pull-up.

Push-ups

You can't talk about martial arts strength and conditioning without addressing the simple push-up. The pushing motions assist increase strength so you can put more power behind your punches, which is beneficial in the striking arts.

Make sure your arms are tucked in and your hands are beneath your shoulders when doing a perfect push-up. As you perform the action, your elbows should slide down your rib cage.

BJJ practitioners can try a medicine ball-assisted push-up variation. Push up on a medicine ball, then roll it to your other hand and repeat. This is a fantastic way to improve your balance.

Squats With A Barbell

Squats with a barbell are another crucial leg day workout that targets your core, quadriceps, glutes, and hamstrings. The emphasis should always be on form.

Front squats, in which the barbell sits under your chin on your shoulders, and back squats, in which the barbell rests behind your neck and trapezius muscles, are both useful. Back squats, on the other hand, usually allow you to use greater weights.

Those with lower back problems, on the other hand, should avoid the back squat. To prevent putting additional strain on your joints, steadily lower yourself using a three-second count, making sure your knees do not collapse inwards and travel further than your toes. After you've reached a complete squat, explode upwards before immediately lowering yourself.

Deadlifts

Deadlifts work your glutes, hamstrings, lower back muscles, and core, and they're perfect for BJJ because they also help you develop your grip.

When it comes to deadlifts, the emphasis should always be on proper form, so don't go too heavy initially.

As you look ahead, your toes should be pointing forward, and your back should not be rounded. Stick your buttocks back with your knees slightly bent as you descend the bar in a straight vertical motion. You should feel the stretch in your hamstrings rather than your quads if your form is proper.

Burpees

Although few people enjoy burpees, they are nonetheless one of the most effective bodyweight exercises for martial arts. Many of the level changes you'll have to make while grappling or BJJ are modelled by the movement of sprawling and springing back up to your feet.

Burpees are an effective approach to increasing endurance and cardiovascular fitness since they instantly raise your heart rate.

Apart from these, you can also try out overhead press and thrusters to aid your strength and conditioning journey for martial arts.

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