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The Home MMA Conditioning Workout

I have recently realised that most of you reading this may not live near an MMA gym where you can train and get fit. So I’ve decided to devise a FREE Home Conditioning Workout that anyone can do in the comfort of their own living room. The best part is it only takes a little over 15 minutes a day. So you still have enough free time to watch TV, spend time with your girlfriend/boyfriend or play video games (Final Fantasy 7 never gets old). In fact you can even do the workout while watching your favourite TV show. Kill two birds with one stone. Why not?

You don’t even need a lot of space to do this workout in fact it can even be done in your bedroom or a hotel room. You only need enough space to be able to lie down fully without hitting your head on anything.

You have absolutely no reason not to give this workout a try.

No pain No gain

A Word to the Wise

This workout is designed to push you but it isn’t designed to cause injury. If you feel any sharp pains or any discomfort besides fatigue and dull aches from tired muscles end the workout immediately.

If you haven’t done anything resembling exercise for a while I suggest taking it easy for the first couple of workouts. Try to set a pace that allows you to complete the workout or last as long as you can. Don’t be trying to do 15 circuits on your first go, it just isn’t going to happen.

Warm Up – 4 Minutes

40 Star Jumps (also known as Jumping Jacks)
1 Minute of Jogging on the Spot
1 minute of Side Planks (with a count of 5 then switch sides)
1 minute of Straight Ups (slow sit ups where you point your hands above your head to the ceiling)

Make sure you warm up properly and get the blood flowing round your body to every muscle before you begin the workout.

The MMA Conditioning Workout

Don’t be put off by the apparent simplicity of this workout, it is designed to give you a full body workout that will build lean muscle, and give your heart a good workout. These types of workout also burn more calories that simple cardio. I love to go for a good run but I would rather do what is more time-efficiant and what will give me better results. We are working out all the major muscle groups in our body using just three exercises!

If you recall I reviewed Georges St. Pierre’s RushFit on here a while back (which I fully recommend). But every workout in that DVD set is basically doing exercises that work out the same muscle groups as in this workout. So I am giving you a RushFit alternative for absolutely nothing. That’s the sort of guy I am

Level 1

Time: 15 minutes
20 Squats
15 Press Ups
15 Sit Ups (Reverse Crunches if you are prone to bad backs)
The idea of the workout is to bash out as many circuits of the above exercises as possible in 15 minutes. Of course keeping perfect form throughout, I do not want you getting injured trying to get fit, that would be pointless. If you are lay up in bed for a month with a bad back you will have lost any benfit of excersing in the first place. If you need to rest try and wait until the end of the current circuit but if you really can’t make it to the end just rest where ever you are.

If you start to feel any discomfort in your back doing the sit ups switch to Reverse Crunches.

Once you mastered that you can move on to the more advanced workouts

Level 2 (Novice)

Time: 15 minutes
20 Squats
20 Press Ups
20 Sit Ups (Reverse Crunches if you have a bad back)

The extra 5 sit ups and press-ups in the workout are really going to make your arms and core burn after a few circuits.

Level 3 (Advanced)

Time: 15 minutes
25 Squats
25 Press Ups
25 Sit Ups (Reverse Crunches if you have a bad back)

This is where it starts getting really difficult. Now we separate the men from the boys!

Level 4 (Expert)

Time: 20 minutes
25 Squats
25 Press Ups
25 Sit Ups (Reverse Crunches if you have a bad back)

If Level 4 was in a video game it would be the final boss right at the end of the game. It really is that tough!

Level 5 (Aka The Killer!)

Time: 20 minutes
30 Squats
30 Press Ups
30 Sit Ups (Or Reverse Crunches)

This will literally kill you, chances are it will break you mentally half way through and make you want to give up. Only attempt Level 5 if you are in a good level of fitness and have found the below levels too easy. At the time of writing I can’t even do this workout *yet*

The Aftermath

Getting up may be difficult at the end of the workout

After the workout you should be sweating like a crazy man not to mention tired as hell. It’s tempting to run off for a shower right there and then but make sure you stretch off to prevent any injuries before you go and get cleaned up.

The first couple of times you do this workout you will feel sore the day after but don’t let this put you off. That is just your bodies way of letting you know that it isn’t used to training at this level and intensity. Keep it up, getting in the best shape of your life is going to take some work.

Pick two or three days each week to do this workout
I hope you enjoyed this post and get a lot of value out of it. I use this workout myself and I always feel great after I’ve done it. Try it three times a week for a month and see how much fitter you feel at the end of the month. I guarantee when you’ve lost weight and feel twice as strong as you were before you’ll have the uncontrollable urge to name your first born after me. You don’t have to do that for me, just call it Megatron instead, much cooler.

Don’t over think your workouts. Like Nike says Just do it.

Honestly nothing would make me happier than to get an email in 6 months time telling me you’ve lost x amount of weight using this workout. I only make enough money from this site to cover my hosting costs. I genuinely do this because I enjoy helping people. So if it helps you in any way please let me know.

If you have any questions leave me a comment and I answer them all for you. Thanks for reading. Cheers!

My 10 Favourite MMA Fighters Of 2011

by Brendan · 0 comments

This is a feature I hope to start doing once a year. I watch quite a lot of Mixed Martial Arts so I thought I may as well talk about it sometimes as well. I know my site is supposed to be a MMA Training website but I figure a small amount of journalism dedicated to professional MMA wouldn’t hurt. It might even help improve the site.

To clarify I don’t buy into that “If they don’t fight in the UFC they aren’t worth ranking alongside UFC fighters bullshit a lot of other MMA websites peddle around”. It should be mentioned that a fair chunk of the aforementioned websites get paid by the UFC to write press about them. That is why a lot of websites seem to always take a pro-UFC stance. I’m happy to put any professional fighter from any promotion on my list.

10. Donald Corrone

Cowboy has had an amazing year so far (up until the end of it anyway). He started it off by beating British fighter Paul Kelly. He followed that up by beating Vagner Rocha, tapping out Charles Oliveira and finally besting Dennis Siver. It was only Nate Diaz that managed to derail his whirlwind year. Nevertheless Donald Corrone had a fantastic year in 2011 with 4 out of 5 wins. If he keeps winning he’ll surely be given a title shot in 2012.

09. Shinya Aoki

Shinya Aoki bounced back from an extremely disappointing 2010. Despite beating Tatsuya Kawajiri, Marcus Aurelio and Yokthai Sithoar, he dropped a decision to Gilbert Melendez and got knocked out by Yuichiro Nagashima in a DREAM/K-1 Special Rules bout. But in 2011 he has managed to submit Lyle Beerbohm, Rich Clementi and Rob McCullough using the exact same submission move which is a hybrid face bar and neck crank. Rob McCullough must have suspected what Aoki was going to do yet he couldn’t stop the BJJ phenom from doing what he wanted once the fight hit the ground. He topped off the year by beating Satoru Kitaoka by decision in DREAM’s new years eve show.

08. Dan Henderson

It’s been an eventful year for Hendo. First winning the Strikeforce Light-Heavyweight championship from Rafael Cavalcante. He followed that up by going up to heavyweight and knocking out Fedor Emelianenko in the first round. Something no one else has ever managed to do up until now. Dan Henderson then re-signed with the UFC and made his debut (is it classed as a debut if you have fought for them on two separate occasions previously?) against Shogun Rua, in what was one of the greatest MMA fights I’ve ever seen.

07. Edson Barboza

Probably the least known (along with Aoki) in my top 10 outside of the die hard MMA fans. Edson Barboza is a fearson Brazilian Muay Thai fighter with 6 of his current 9 wins coming via knock out. Did I also mention he’s had 25 wins as a professional Muay Thai fighter with 22 of them being Ko’s. He’s also a purple belt in BJJ so he’s rounding himself out well as a MMA fighter. His wins against Anthony Njokuani and Ross Pearson both earned him a fight of the night award. Expect big things from this guy in the future.

06. Anderson Silva

I’m sure anyone with a brain would have known I would include Anderson Silva on here somewhere. His Karate Kid-esq crane kick of Vitor Belfort could be a contender for knock out of the year. But his dominating performance and knock out of Yushin Okami, who was the last person to beat him showed that he will be champion for a long time unless Chael Sonnen manages to unseat him in a rematch of their 2010 slobberknocker.

05. Jake Ellenburger

I think no one would argue with Jake Ellenberger being included on this list with his two Ko’s and one decision in 2011. One of those included number one contender Jake Shields though Shields had just lost his father 3 weeks before so his head probably wasn’t 100% there for that fight. Though nothing should be taken away from Ellenberger who has had a fantastic year and must be only one or two wins from a welterweight title shot.

04. Carlos Condit

Carlos Condit hasn’t fought as much in 2011 as the other candidates on the list (especially Corrone) but his highlight reel knockout of Dong Hyun Kim is a legitimate contender for knockout of the year. He was supposed to face Georges St. Pierre at UFC 137 but an injury to GSP put that fight on ice. Now we hear that him and Nick Diaz will fight for the intrim welterweight champion. Condit is an extremely talented fighter and I believe he is more than a match for Nick Diaz. Mark my words it will be an entertaining fight!

03. Nick Diaz

What can I say about Nick Diaz that I haven’t said in the past. On one hand he is one of the most talented fighters in the welterweight division. On the other he is his own worst enemy. If we forget how he beat BJ Penn, he still had two incredibly memorable fights with Paul Daley and Cyborg Santos, who are both good competitors in their own right this year before the Penn fight. He was able to beat all three. That is why Diaz gets my number three position.

02. Jon Jones

Jon Jones has had quite a year. First he knocked out Ryan Bader, then won the UFC light heavyweight championship from Maurício Shogun Rua, and then successfully defended it against Quinton Rampage Jackson. The year wasn’t over yet though as Jones defended his championship again against Lyoto Machida. He submitted Machida in spectacular fashion with a modified guillotine choke to retain the belt. So to recap in the space of 12 months Jones has beaten 1 number one contender (Bader), won a championship belt and defeated three former champions (Rua, Jackson and Machida). In my opinion he now has a legitimate argument for being the number one pound-for-pound fighter in all of MMA. But I’ve only ranked him at number 2, so who will be number 1?

01. Frankie Edgar

Are you really surprised that this guy is my number one? He survived not one but two first round beatdowns at the hands of Gray Maynard, who is a much, much bigger fighter and even came back to knock out Maynard in the fourth round of their second fight. How much heart do you have to have to come back twice from getting destroyed in the first round of two fights in a row? A lot that’s how much. Jones might be the most naturally gifted fighter on the list but Edgar beats him hands down in heart and the desire to win. You can’t learn that in gym. That is why Frankie Edgar is my number one fighter for 2011.

Honourable Mentions

Roger Gracie – After beating Trevor Prangley so convincingly he would have been a shoo-in for my top ten if he hadn’t been knocked out by King Mo in September. He was pushed into a fight with Lawal far too quickly in my opinion after only having 4 professional MMA bouts. It was a case of Strikeforce needing some big name fights after fighters started jumping ship to UFC. Couple this with him being a world grappling champion and Lawal being a former light-heavyweight champion and it was a no-brainer for Strikeforce but a very bad move for Gracie.
Gilbert Melendez – The way he came back from injury and dominated Tatsuya Kawajiri was quite a stunning victory. Unfortunately he only fought once at the time of writing. He didn’t quite impressive me enough this year to be included on my list. But there is always next year.

Needs To Try Harder In 2012
Charles Oliveira – It was a pretty bad 12 months for this young fighter. Billed by everyone as a future UFC lightweight champion by most who have seen him fight. 2011 saw him drop one fight and have one fight ruled a no contest by kneeing Nik Lentz in the head while Lentz had all four limbs on the ground. His performance was so dominating up until that point he looked like he would have easily been a top 5 on this list.

Who are your 10 favourite fighters of 2011? Do you disagree with any of mine? Is Frankie Edgar not deserving enough of the no 1 spot? Let me know what you think in the replies.

Thanks for reading, cheers!

Nick Diaz – Will He Ever Learn?

by Brendan · 2 comments

Nick Diaz

Former UFC title contender Nick Diaz has come under much scrutiny this week. Controversy seems to follow him wherever he goes if it’s not failing a drugs test and getting one of his most high profile victories overturned it’s getting reprimanded for brawling on national television. And last week after being scheduled for a long awaiting shot at UFC Welterweight champion George St Pierre, he rises to the occasion by missing two promotional press conferences, lying to UFC president Dana White, hiding from his coach / mentor Caesar Gracie and his team mates (including Jake Shields and Gilbert Melendez).

He then took to YouTube to explain himself in a maddening self shot video diary while driving! It is just about coherent enough for fans to detect a delusional smugness.

Nick Diaz “I’m sorry I didn’t make it to the beauty pageant”

“Funny, one second I’m about to come into some money, do a little boxing, you know, fucking, probably lose some teeth. But um, I’m ready to get paid, you know. So, I’ll fight whoever, whatever, anything you know. I’d definitely rather fight GSP of course. You know, I was ready to do some boxing, and they didn’t like that. So they got me out of that, and they got me in the fight with GSP for the same money, or more money, or whatever. But now it looks like they get to save money, and I don’t get paid, and I’m locked in a new contract. All these deal makers making deals. All I know is I’m ready to fight. I’m sorry I didn’t make it to the beauty pageant. But, you know, I’ve never not showed up to a fight. I’ve never backed out of a fight in my life, that’s not what I do. So I just wanted to throw that out there.”

I’m not a doctor and neither is trainer Caesar Gracie but he knows Diaz better than anyone so when he says he think he has social anxiety disorder I’m inclined to agree (especially after this latest bout of sabotaging his own career). The difference between missing this press conference and the Strikeforce pressers of the past is this fight was the biggest and likely most profitable fight of his career. He’s complained for the last few years about not getting paid the same amount for fighting as GSP does. His chance had finally arrived to start earning that champion type of money he has wanted for years and he throws it all away.

“I talked to Dana White about this before, and I think a big problem with all of this is Nick has social anxiety,” Caesar Gracie said. “He doesn’t like to go and be away from home. He has no trouble fighting in the cage, though.

“He doesn’t feel comfortable being around people. He has a very deep ingrained social anxiety, and it’s something he probably needs help for, I think. I think that’s why he self-medicates with the marijuana. That’s my amateur opinion.”

White has been quoted in the past saying Diaz “Has to play the game” if he wants to get back into UFC. I don’t think this is what Dana had in mind. After he [Diaz] was pulled and replaced with Carlos Condit for the fight White expressed that he wasn’t surprised by Diaz’s behaviour, but he was extremely angry with him, so angry that he was close to cutting him from the promotion entirely. Removing him from the fight was understandable. Diaz has been quoted as saying he finds the media portion of the fight business a waste of time, as a lot of fighters do. But it is still part of their job, if I don’t bother turning up for my office job I get fired. That’s why I get up at 7am every morning because I have to.

I think Condit is arguably a more well rounded fighter than Diaz so I think he will give St Pierre a better fight at UFC 137.

It begs the question if Diaz beats BJ Penn (his new opponent when the main event and co-main event were switched around) will he get another title shot? Surely that would put the UFC in the same predicament as they were in last week. So it begs the question; what was the point of pulling him in the first place? Above all I think Ceasar Gracie needs to get Nick Diaz some professional help for his social anxiety or else he will end up having a mental illness blight his career like it has Karo Parisyan’s.

Even though this piece seems like I’m being overly harsh towards Diaz I’m actually a really big fan and hate to see him throwing his career away by making stupid childish decisions. He’s an extremely entertaining fighter and always comes ready to fight.

What are your thoughts of the Nick Diaz fiasco. Leave me a comment and let me know your thoughts. Thanks for reading cheers!

12 Reasons Why You Are A Mixed Martial Arts Dick

by Brendan · 0 comments

The great thing about Mixed Martial Arts & Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu gyms is the sense of camaraderie and belonging you get from training there. You train, sweat and improve together. Strong friendships are formed from training together. The gym I train at promotes a friendly atmosphere and we help each other get better. Unfortunately from what I’ve seen I don’t think every gym promotes this sort of positive environment.

You train hard together, exchange tips, help each other improve and get better like a sort of extended family. I don’t know if every gym is like this but every so often a guy will join my gym or train at another gym but start turning up to our training sessions. I don’t like to judge people so I will always give him the benefit of the doubt for the first month or two. Unfortunately the reality is he’s usually a mixed martial arts dick

This list is really meant for more entertainment value than anything else though I stand by everything I say in this article. Here are 12 reasons why you are a Mixed Martial Arts Dick:

You can bench over 200lbs and thus think strength is everything.
You constantly take your shirt off at least once every training session to show everyone else how ‘ripped’ you are. Here’s a hint for you: We don’t give a shit.
You slam your partners when you roll / spar.
You go 100% in training as if you are competing in The Mundials or UFC, because you’d rather injure your training partners than get submitted or beat. Stop being so competitive.
You use foot locks and heel hooks when rolling even though you have been specifically told by the instructor not to use them due to the danger in using them.
When you roll all you ever do is lay on top of your partner in side control / side mount, because you know it would be terrible to get submitted and actually learn something to help you get better.
You make an effort to only be friendly to certain people at the gym (and ignore everyone else).
You have been training for over six months yet when you get someone in a submission such as an armbar you put it on with 100% force to the point where you nearly break your training partners limbs. We are here to train and get better, not maim each other.
You only roll with people you know you can beat. You won’t learn anything by only sparring with them, you have to constantly challenge yourself.
You train at another gym but turn up at our gym for a training session and try to injure everyone there.
You dominate guys that have only been training a few weeks instead of giving them a fair chance. Don’t you feel like a big man now? The girls must love you douchebag!
You are only in it for yourself. You only turn up to training to improve your own skills and deliberately don’t teach or help newer people improve their own skillset.

What do you dislike about the actions of others you train with? Are there any bad one’s that I’ve missed? I’d love to hear what you have to say, even if you disagree with me. Please leave me a comment and let me hear your opinion.

Thank you for your support. Cheers!

Guillotine Choke: The Only Guide You Need

by Brendan

The Guillotine Choke is a choke hold in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and other Martial Arts. The choke is applied to the front of the opponent and it involves using the arms to encircle the opponents neck in a fashion similar to a guillotine, hence the name. The Guillotine Choke has long since been the death note [...]

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Does MMA Finally Deserve Acceptance Socially?