MMA Home Training Exercise - Do Your MMA Workout at Home

MMA Home Training Exercise - Do Your MMA Workout at Home
By James Jameson

A lot of MMA athletes choose to train at home due in part to the high cost of the martial arts gyms. If you can't afford to pay for both the martial arts gym and a weight lifting gym, then lifting at home might be your only option. There are two routes you can take: 1. You can do body weight exercises, or 2. You can purchase some gym equipment for your home and use that to exercise. Both methods work, and I'll go over each one in this article.

If you choose to do bodyweight exercise, you'll probably want to at least invest in a pull up bar. These are irreplaceable and are some of the most versatile pieces of equipment for upper body training. Exercises on the pull up bar can be used to stress your abs, lats, traps, biceps, and shoulders. If you get a stand alone bar and set it up outside, you can also use it to work your triceps. If you start being able to do a lot of reps on, you can also throw on a pack back with some weight to make the pull ups more difficult. I don't recommend doing this, however, if you need to jump up to reach the bar. You run the risk of damaging your shoulder if you do that.

There are three main exercises that you can do with a pull up bar. The first is the standard pull up. This will work your lats and shoulders primarily, although it also places significant stress on your traps. This is a good basic exercise. Make sure you take a medium grip, since a wide one will compromise your range of motion. Since you're working for functional strength--this is MMA afterall--you'll want to maximize your range of motion for everything. The next exercise I want to mention is the chin up. The chin up is similar to the pull up, except it also places a good amount of stress on your biceps. The strengthening of the elbow flexor muscles will help you power out of arm bars and the like. Finally, you can do leg raises on the pull up bar. These will work your core and increase stability and strength. This is important for everything MMA-related; if you don't have a strong core, you'll be off balance and won't be able to hit hard. You can lift your legs to do the sides to place additional stress on your obliques.

If you choose to buy a home gym, I recommend getting a bench with a rack. This will allow you to do both squats and bench presses. While the bench press isn't that important for MMA, it still should be used because it strengthens your triceps and your shoulders. So far as weight goes, it really depends on how much you can lift. You'll probably want to invest in about 300 pounds worth of weight, unless you're under 170lbs. If that's the case, then you can probably get away with about 200 pounds. You'll also need an olympic barbell. Dumbbells are not important, but they can be useful for certain situations. A complete home gym should run you about $500. It'll pay for itself in about a year, so it's definitely a worthwhile investment.

The main exercises you'll want to focus on if you purchase a home gym is the deadlift. This is probably the most important exercise for core strength and something you should do frequently. Another great lift that you can use to increase your MMA conditioning is the squat, which'll also work your core and will make your legs much more powerful. Other good exercises are the bent over row, upright row, shoulder press, power clean, and snatch. All of these will build a significant amount of explosive power that's important in mixed martial arts.

You can learn more about how to improve your strength and conditioning for MMA by checking out Eric Wong's Ultimate MMA I recommend this guide to anyone that is looking to thrive in the sport of mixed martial arts.

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