Power Training for MMA

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Take a look at this video of Martin Rooney (author of Ultimate Warrior Workouts) training Jim Miller for UFC 124 to develop his power to pick up and slam opponents or life them and throw them over and behind.

Martin Rooney explains that working out to get tired is all well and good, but that is not necessarily the same thing as working out to improve your power and through that your technique. Your power training for MMA has to work specifically on developing strength and power in a manner relevant to how you need to be able to perform in a fight. An aid to your development is to set goals and work towards their completion, taking note along the way of your successes and failures and then further reviewing your performance and setting new goals. If you are not achieving your goals then you need to review your training methodology.

Take a look at the video and follow the instructions below.

Power Dead Lift

Kneel in front of a barbell and grasp it with both hands. Explode your hips up and forward going from a kneeling position into a standing position in one fluid motion.

After a few repetitions (Jim Miller does 5 in the video) repeat the same motion from the kneeling position but add the actual dead lift. So go from a kneeling position to a standing position then pull the barbell up to your hips.

Push Jerks

This is one of Martin Rooney's favorite power training exercises for MMA.

Raise the (lighter) bar bell up to your chest as the beginning point of the exercise. Then jerk it up over your head. As you do so throw one leg forward and the other back to change your stance. As you lower the barbell return your feet to the starting position. Repeat 6 times, 3 times with each leg shooting forward.

Overhead Med Ball Throw

The final exercise is to squat down and grasp a medicine ball (Jim Miller is using a 6kg ball in the video). Pull the med ball up and throw it directly vertically up, jumping as you do so. Jim Miller is further complicating the exercise by aiming for a specific point (the beam above him).

Martin Rooney concludes by stating that you need to develop your strength first (see the Georges St Pierre workout for a good example of a free weight strength program for martial artists) and once you have your strength, you can begin to work on power.

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Georges St Pierre workout

Ultimate Warrior Workouts by Martin Rooney

Sean Sherk Workout