Different Idea for Programming/Scheduling

Background: I am 19, 5'3" and weight 150-160 lbs (it depends on the week :wink:) I do MMA and Football (not competitively, but I am still very commited to them). As such, my workouts are focused on enhancing performance in my two sports.

Personally, I feel focusing on FBEs more would be more conducive to enhancing my performance over focusing on FSPs. I am not saying I don't recognize the importance of doing FSPs. I recognize their importance both for themselves and for developing the FBEs. I'm just saying I think I should focus more on the FBes than on the FSPs.

With that being said, Integrated Training has you doing each pair of FBEs only once a week (because you switch which pair you are doing each workout) and has you focusing on FSPs more than FBEs (because you can do more than 2 of them a workout and because you work the same FSPs each workout, instead of cycling, resulting in more days working on each position).

From personal experience, I think it's better for me to spend more than one day a week on an exercise, and, like I said earlier, I think I need to focus on FBEs over FSPs.

Because of this, I designed my program as follows:

Three days a week full body workout

Alternate between workout A and B

Workout A: FBE day

1) Alternate between Planche Pushup progression and Front Lever Pullups progression

2) Alternate between HSPU progression and OAP progression

3) Alternate between Ring Dips and Curling

4)Alternate between Pistol progression and GHR progression

Workout B: FSP day

1) Alternate between Planche progression and Front Lever progression

2) Alternate between HSPU progression and OAP progression (pretty much same as workout A because I don't have static goals for these positions)

3) Alternate between Back Lever progression and Manna progression

4) Alternate between Pistol progression and GHR progression (same as Workout A because don't have static goals for my legs)

I also do flexibility work and conditioning and MMA technique work during the week.

Granted both I.T. and my own program are full body workouts, however, my program results in each FBE getting an extra day of work every other week over Coach Sommers’ program.

Please tell me what you think about my program vs. I.T. and set me straight on anything you disagree with or think needs to be tweaked.

Thank you very much and sorry for such a long post.

Do Handstands for HSPUs. If you aren't doing handstands, you aren't doing Gymnastics Bodies Training or gymnastics at all. Ring Supports are another one you should really consider.

Also, FSPs build connective tissue strength that you will never build doing FBEs. Which as a MMA fighter, you should appreciate, since it will likely help your resilience when fighting off submissions, such as arm bars.

I am sure others will say it, but consider the WODs. They are already expertly programmed, and cover everything you need to start. They are all also scalable with the book and can be made as easy or as hard as necessary to complete the workout.

SDG,

I train MMA fighters, and your basic premise is wrong. As a fighter, the strength of your muscles are not as important as the strength of your tendons, and ligaments. You need to be explosive and resilient. Ex: Your dipping strength will not have very much carry over in a fight, but your RTO support hold will have a huge impact on your ability to fight off submissions. You want both FBE's and FSP's but your focus should be on the FSP's. You want to be training as many lock arm positions as you can! Any bent arm work should be done explosively. Hopping handstand push-ups are my personal favorite (Obviously proficiency at handstand pushups is required).

I don't know much about training football players but I can tell you that tendons and ligaments are the key to any athletic endeavor. You may be able to squat ridiculous amounts of weight but once you move outside of your tendon's range of motion, you're done. Just something to think about.

Dillon

Dillon Zrike said:

I don't know much about training football players but I can tell you that tendons and ligaments are the key to any athletic endeavor. You may be able to squat ridiculous amounts of weight but once you move outside of your tendon's range of motion, you're done. Just something to think about.

Spot On, Dillon. The head strength coaches I worked under in Division I football paid no attention to connective tissue or structural balance factors that would prevent injury to those tendons or ligaments of the joints. Consequently, the team had a constant stream of players with acl tears, ankle injuries, wrist problems, etc.

Corey, how was that football team weight training expertise? I've seen some footage of horror stories and lifts from collegiate teams. I've yet to watch UCB's team but I do wonder.

First of all, thank you for the great response. I'd much rather be wrong and productive than right and wasting my time.

Secondly,

Dillon Zrike said:

You want both FBE's and FSP's but your focus should be on the FSP's. You want to be training as many lock arm positions as you can!

I don't know much about training football players but I can tell you that tendons and ligaments are the key to any athletic endeavor. You may be able to squat ridiculous amounts of weight but once you move outside of your tendon's range of motion, you're done. Just something to think about.

Dillon

If I understand you correctly this means you'd recommend Coach Sommer's I.T. program over the program outlined earlier in this post.

Fine by me if that's the better of the two .

Forgot to ask, but just out of curiosity Dillon, how big of a part are gymnastic exercises in your fighters' strength training? As far as I know in the realm of professional sports (beide gymnastics) weights make up most of, if not all of an athletes strength work, so it would be nice to know that athletes out there somewhere are doing the same type of things I'm doing.

That way when people say "If gymnastics is so good than why don't any professionals do them?" I can say "Good thing you asked because I know of some that do!" :wink:

SDG,

I recommend the WOD. Treat ring days as max strength, and try to be fast/explosive whenever possible. You must already have a higher level of max strength in order to be fast/explosive but that's up to your judgement. Ex: Instead of regular dips on p-bars I would like to see hopping dips and even swinging hopping dips, but if you struggle on a full ROM dip the hopping would not be advisable. I would say you have a good level of explosiveness when you can perform a swinging dip hop to handstand.Hopping/explosive movements should not be attempted unless there is already a high degree of maximal strength. Before working hopping dips, you should be able to perform 10 swinging dips to handstand.

The MMA fighters I train are mostly capoeiristas. Aside from practicing capoeira, my class is their sole form of strength and conditioning. Weights are used only for prehab. 75% of the workout is performed on the rings.

Dillon

They train capoeira for MMA, or it's just a hobby they do in addition to MMA?

Ratio,

They are Capoeirista's who fight in MMA matches. The instructor who owns the gym teaches Capoeira combined with some Wing Chun. It's a very effective mix.

Dillon

Any video on youtube of their fights? That's not a common mix seen in MMA today.

To be entirely honest, I cannot imagine them doing very well in actual MMA fights, since neither of those styles have proven to be very useful in MMA. I have have trouble understanding how they even work together, since they are nearly polar opposites in terms of theory...

It does seem like a weird combo. I didn't think much of it when I started training them, but I have watched the instructor use capoeira moves in a chi sao demonstration and it was incredible. Remember I have nothing to do with teaching them how to fight. I am simply their strength and conditioning coach. I hope that we do not turn this conversation into which styles are better than others.

I personally do not have any videos of the fighters. If you want to see Capoeira used in a MMA fight search: Marcus Vinicios or Lelo 20 second knockout on youtube. Both of them are the sons of Mestre Barrao who started Grupo Axe. Neither of them seem to be very polished, but it gives you an idea of how it can be used.

Nick_EOD said:

since neither of those styles have proven to be very useful in MMA.

My experience in fighting is limited, but you do know Anderson Silva is a capoeirista? He uses it in every one of his fights, he just knows how to hide it.

Dillon

The key is to not think of styles, but instead movements. Movements can always be interwoven. That is one of the beauties of martial arts: If you can imagine it you can make it happen, as long as your body can eventually let you move that way and you practice regularly. In that sense it's really no different from gymnastics. There are an awful lot of things happening today that no one could imagine back in the 20's.

Personally I think, and have said on many occasions, that the multidimensional movement and spacial awareness taught by capoeira has a huge carryover to an actual fight, whether sporting or not. I have surprised more than a few people with my admittedly amateurish level of skill in this sort of thing (capoeira) in sparring, because you just don't see that kind of footwork so you are not ready for it, and the ability to get out of trouble from any angle and fold yourself in strange directions is hard to deal with, especially on the ground.

Dillon Zrike said:

My experience in fighting is limited, but you do know Anderson Silva is a capoeirista? He uses it in every one of his fights, he just knows how to hide it.

Anderson really isn't a capoeirista, he only have a yellow rope... He just enjoy capoeira but not really train this like Ido does for example... BUT he have ginga anyways... :roll:

To be perfectly fair there are many purple belts in BJJ that can compete and win against black belts. Belt ranking does not always tell you how good or knowledgeable someone is. Besides, if you ask black belts you will find out that the majority of what they use are white belt techniques. They are just better at them and understand more of the "true" purpose of the techniques.

I don't know much about Anderson's Capoeira background, but he certainly has awkward movements and split-second timing. There is no question in my mind that capoeira would help with both of these attributes. It isn't the only thing that would do that, but what can I say... I like watching him fight when he isn't acting like an idiot.

Look this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Adm6UkbFQJo

He "joga" like a beginner what he is... He's a exepcional fighter, no doubt, but capoeira isn't 10% of his game... Just one thing: sometimes he fight like a idiot and win doing this, beacuse the oponents lose the patience and overlook the fight, this is 90% of his game...

Mikael,

I do not see your point, or what you are trying to prove. We all know Anderson Silva studies a number of martial arts. No one is trying to say that he only does capoeira. What he is good at is combining all of those styles effectively. He effectively uses Capoeira in his fights which was the main point.

Also, getting inside your opponents head is a great skill to have, and used in many sports. I was taught in track and field to be the last one in the blocks. The competitors who sat in the blocks the longest had a tendency to get jumpy and mess up their start. So I don't get how you're knocking Anderson for doing that.

Dillon

I'm not trying to prove anything, i just want mean that Capoeira isn't nothing in his repertory, he not train it, only enjoy... I saw personally his training with Shogun here in Curitiba... :roll:

Have you guys seen his training videos with Steven Seagal? They are pretty fun to watch. I don't know how well Seagal's able to react in an uncoordinated fight, but it's pretty funny to see him put Anderson Silva down time and time again when demoing techniques.

I'll have to look for that Sliz. Should be fun to watch though never as fun as watching his run-in with Gene Gabel. Too bad that wasn't filmed.

Hahaha, I heard something about Gene choking the crap out of Seagal! Is that what happened?