Bodyweight Exercises for Mma Training
Mixed martial arts (MMA) is a full contact combat sport that combines disciplines such as striking, wrestling and submission grappling. Bodyweight exercises are activities that use the weight of the body itself as resistance rather than an outside source of resistance such as iron weights or machines. There are many bodyweight exercises that can help improve strength and conditioning for MMA and other disciplines such as wrestling and martial arts.
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Push Ups
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Push ups are a common bodyweight exercise that promotes strength and muscular stamina in the upper body, especially the chest, shoulders, triceps and biceps. A standard push up is performed by propping the body up on the toes and hands, with the arms and back straight, lowering the chest to the ground and then pushing the body back to the starting position. There are many variations of push ups that can increase the difficulty of the exercise. For instance, clapper pushups involve pushing up from the down position explosively and then clapping the hands quickly before supporting yourself in the up position. A variation of a standard push up is the handstand push up. Plant your hands six inches from a wall and then kick your feet up so that you are in a handstand with your legs resting along the wall. (If you have good balance, you do not need to use a wall.) Lower your head to the ground and then push back up to full arm extension. Handstand push ups are a very difficult shoulder exercise.
Pull Ups and Chin Ups
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Pull ups and chin ups are upper body exercises that are performed by hanging from a bar and then pulling the body up with the strength of the upper body so that the chin is above the bar. Pull ups are performed with an overhand grip (palms facing away from you) and focus on strengthening the muscles of the back and shoulders. Chin ups are performed with an underhand grip (palms facing toward you) and focus on the biceps. The legs can be placed on a chair to make the exercise easier, or use a weight belt to increase the difficulty.
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Burpees
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Burpees are a total-body strength and conditioning exercise commonly used in wrestling, but they work well for MMA training, too. Begin standing with your arms at your sides, and then squat and touch your hands to the floor. Kick your legs back into the up position of a push up, perform a full push up and then jump back to squatting position. Finally, jump in the air from your squat and at the same time throw your arms up and clap behind your head. Once you land from the jump, you will be back in the starting position. You can perform sets by doing as many burpees as you can in thirty seconds or a minute.
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References
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