Have you ever watched a professional MMA event such as UFC and thought to yourself how do these competitors get in such good shape? Have you ever had the stream of thought that you would like to have a physique like this and wondered how they did this, what their diet is like, their training regime and is it possible for individual that do not want to be the world’s best mixed martial artist to reach this goal using their methods? I believe many of you would have and yes it is possible and no you do not have to actually cage fight.

Firstly we need to outline the processes in which an MMA fighter undergoes to be ready for competition. We need to look at their training, diet, motivation and what you can take from this and apply to your training program to succeed. Remember you do not need to fight to get the physique of a fighter.

All MMA fighters train like champions, they train hard and have a never say die attitude as this is what is needed when stepping into the cage. Besides all the sparring hours in which they participate to hone their skills, they undergo a specifically designed strength and conditioning program which focuses on certain attributes which the fighter needs to be successful in the cage. Common attributes a fighter needs to work on include strength, speed, power, agility, cardio respiratory endurance, muscular endurance and flexibility. As you can see a fighter needs many attributes to be at the top level of mixed martial arts which is why most fighters’ physique is characterised by being lean, muscular and powerful.

Now strength and conditioning programs are specific to the individual and what they want to achieve. There is no use in doing long distance road runs to try and develop speed; this will only help your cardio respiratory endurance not your speed. MMA fighters incorporate Olympic style weight lifts, sprints, the use of tyres and sledgehammers, medicine balls, boxing bags, battle ropes and many more items in which are useful to training. I see all items which are accessible to either buy or train with at any good local gym or martial arts centre. There is no secret equipment used by these athletes that individuals that want to get super fit cannot obtain.

It is the formulation of the program in which you may think will be hard to do. Wrong, like we mentioned earlier you do not have to fight so it is not necessary to plan a program that is designed to develop each attribute specific for the fight. That is knowledge that individuals go to university for and are hired to get athletes to the top of their sport. For individuals not competing to be at the top of the sport but for fitness and physique just completing the same exercises and movements as a fighter would do in a workout that lasts for about 25 to 30 minutes, 2 to 3 days a week will get you well on your way to your goal. High energy activity is the key to burning a high amount of calories stripping fat, completing activities until exhaustion and continuing past that will increase your calorie burning for far longer after the ceasing of exercise. Your body’s natural response to being put under high stress is to aspire to never feel that stress again for that given work rate. Your body will then adapt improving itself for example, adding more muscle which will provide more strength to complete the exercises easier. This is just one example of an adaptation of the body to improve fitness attributes.

We have established that 25 to 30 minutes of high intensity activity 2 – 3 times a week is a big step in getting you towards your goal of looking like a MMA fighter. You will need some more time exercising outside of your strength and conditioning to achieve your goals. To prevent overtraining which can lead to degradation of the body and cause injuries I suggest to cycle 3 days a week for 30 to 45 minutes varying high intensity with low intensity. An example is 30 second cycle sprint then 30 second half pace pedalling. This can be done for 10 minutes then adjust the high intensity to low intensity ratio per minute until the 30 to 45 minutes is up. Alternatively you can using rowing as your exercise mode, I suggest these exercise modalities as they are low impact, non weight bearing activities which cause less stress on your body than a weight bearing exercise like running would.

Some of you are probably thinking that it consumes too much time to get all this done but in reality it is only exercising 5 to 6 times a week totalling no more than 4 hours of exercise. This can get you the physique you want; lean, muscular and powerful but exercise only goes some of the way towards this, you need a great eating plan to accompany this exercise; after all no serious MMA fighter that is in fantastic shape will tell you they can eat absolutely whatever they want. Yes this requires some dedication but anything to easy is usually too good to be true, use motivational techniques such as youtube videos to help you get through.

Any individual who can manage to fit a low 4 hours a week of exercise into their life can achieve their goal, 4 hours is not a long time this is just over half an hour a day. Yes it will mainly be high intensity exercise but you have to train hard to get the results you desire. A great positive attitude accompanied with a good eating plan will get you the success you are looking for. I hope you enjoyed this article; more will be on their way about MMA nutrition, training and sample programs.