Sports analysis, training considerations and applied methods for mixed martial arts

Abstract

Introduction. Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) is a combat sport and a form of martial art that combines striking and grappling skills. Due to there not being any restrictions between switching from striking to grappling, the sport requires multiple skill sets usually derived from different martial arts. This combined with the fact that MMA requires the athlete to be highly conditioned both from an endurance and strength and power standpoint, places very large challenges on how to optimally design training programs so that individual athletes get the most out of them (Schick et al. 2010, Lenetsky et al. 2012, Alm et al. 2013, Lachlan et al. 2013, Souza-Junior et al. 2015). Psychological factors also play a huge role for MMA performance and will also be briefly addressed. Research is young and limited in MMA and therefore presents multiple issues in drawing strong conclusions. No studies have been done on female MMA athletes yet so the physiological characteristics and physiological requirements all are directed towards males. This however only is a minor limitation in context to what a female MMA athlete can get out of this paper. This paper is directed towards professional MMA athletes or athletes seeking to become professional.

Biomechanics. MMA involves stand-up and ground based combat in multiple forms so biomechanics are a challenge to isolate for MMA. None the less, strong general guidelines can be found to efficient energy transfer (avoiding energy leak) by moving through kinetic chains and directing that energy in multiple biomechanical planes. Clear differences in energy transfer can be found between high level and low level martial art athletes where usually the key difference is the use of the lower body and the hip as the main source for power.

Endurance demands. With 3-5 rounds lasting five minutes with one-minute break between rounds MMA is least to say quite demanding on all three energy systems (alactic, lactic and aerobic). Due to the long round lengths MMA seems to place more demand on the aerobic energy system compared to other combat sports, although high post bout acidosis has been reported based on RPE and blood lactate values (Antmann et al 2008, Kirk et al. 2015). Evidence towards the clear need for a strong aerobic engine can be observed from V02max tests done on male MMA athletes where test results on amateurs and professionals ranged from 57 – 62 ml/kg/min (Schick et al. 2010. Alm et al. 2013), and not surprisingly, high anaerobic thresholds are advised (Alm. et al. 2013). MMA is a highly interval based sport with its bursts of activity. Therefore, MMA athletes also require substantial anaerobic development and an efficient buffering capacity.

Strength and power demands. Because a lot of efforts in MMA require a lot of power training in different areas of the force – velocity curve becomes evident. A high relative maximal strength for the lower body (~2 x own body weight deadlift/squat) and the upper body (~1.2 x body weight in bench press, with probably the same value for the opposite muscle group) are needed. This serves as a base but to see it in performance maximal strength needs to be converted toj high levels of speed and power. Around 50 – 57 cm countermovement jump results have been reported among high level male MMA athletes but unfortunately no horizontal jump tests have been done (Schick et al. 2010. Alm et al. 2013). The capability to produce horizontal force can also be measured indirectly via looking at acceleration results via sprint testing. Unfortunately, only wrestlers have been tested in such criteria and have reported 10 meter times of ~1.73 seconds (Demirkan et al. 2015).

Periodization. As mentioned before, due to the multiple demands of the sport, programming for MMA presents a lot of challenges. Because both endurance and strength training are used it is wise to first explore what currently concurrent training research says about interference effects and how to avoid them. Once this is established solutions for programming in MMA are found in periodization methodology. There is no single approach that works, therefore multiple tools are advised. In general, though, while taking into consideration the risk of short notice fights, a combination of linear (block) and undulating periodization methods are advised (Lenetsky et al. 2012).