The Martial Athlete

First of 4 articles about "Optimizing Combat Sports Performance with Interval Training". In this article we talk about the possible applications for Interval training in combat sports. Hajimé! https://lnkd.in/dDj6myjx

How to improve the martial athlete's max strenght? In the cluster method, short intra-repetition recoveries are used. It is an alternative method to the traditional one but is good for multi-joint movements. For single-joint exercises it does not have great benefits, since in that case you work to exhaustion. It is excellent for power because it allows you to avoid central fatigue and therefore the consequent reduction in execution speed. It is also suitable for Fmax because it allows you to recover CP reserves in short breaks, thus allowing you to lift more volume in the same time or lift the same volume but with less fatigue. This occurs both acutely and chronically, since the same adaptations in terms of strength and power can be achieved but with less fatigue and this is useful for those who use athletic training with overloads as a method to improve performance in their sport. Here you can find a simple example to improve squat 1RM of a martial athlete in 6 weeks. Maté!

Should a martial athlete train with weights? What is the point of training with weights for a martial athlete? To improve in your discipline. There are tons of scientific studies that demonstrate that training with weights has a positive impact on the fighter's performance. Training max strength increases the performance in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu athletes. Yet this improvement is not directed at the execution of the technique. So why does training with weights have a positive transfer on the discipline? Here are the reasons: Training with weights improves the resistance of tendons, ligaments, cartilage and bones and therefore allows you to carry out increasingly intense technical training, reducing the risk of injuries It allows you to improve joint mobility Improves intramuscular (between muscle fibers) and intermuscular (between various muscles) coordination, reducing latency times in the execution of techniques It increases the neural component of strength, making the fighter stronger without excessive weight gain It allows you to reduce muscle imbalances caused by discipline It allows you to work on the athlete's weak points at a muscular level It increases the athlete's motor skills, who learn to move differently and become more efficient It allows the fighter's training to vary, reducing monotony Does the fighter have to train with weights? Yes, because strength training is a tool available to the martial athlete to improve in their discipline. It is an easily applicable tool, with notable benefits and (if performed under the supervision of a competent trainer) risk-free. The fighter who thinks he doesn't need this very powerful tool to improve not only greatly limits his own potential but is implementing rather stupid reasoning. From: “Maximal Strength Training Improves Strength Performance in Grapplers” (Journal of Strength and Conditioning research, 2018) Maté!