Optimum Performance is no longer a hit and miss proposition when it comes to improvement. You must train properly and with specificity. Training properly means that your training needs to be functional.

That means that your practices must serve the purpose for which they are intended. If your desire is to be the best in the world, then your training must reflect that. At Intocombat we understand that what is functional for one athlete is not necessarily functional for another and because we understand that - we train with not only functionally, but with sport specificity.

The principle of Specificity dictates that you adapt to the specific demands of the training stimulus. If you train long and slow, you increase your endurance at slow speeds. If you train for fast repeated sprints, you increase your ability to repeat sprints. To properly prepare a fighter’s metabolic machine, one must first look at the physiological imperatives and psychological demands of combat; this is often referred to as a “needs analysis.”

In order to develop a specific conditioning program we have to answer some simple questions.

Well, questions like........

• What is the work to rest ratio of the fighting discipline we are preparing for?
• What are the specific movements performed?
• What are the intensities of these movments?
• Although the bout is scheduled for X minutes, how long does the average bout last?
• What is the major factor for success Power, Strength or Endurance?

Combative sports require near maximal intermittent work lasting under 10-30 sec, followed by 10-20 sec of light recovery work. (click here for example) The work to rest ratios can range from 1:1 - 1:4 and the event can last for 2-5 minutes (i.e. periods or rounds). These periods of combat are separated with short rest periods lasting from 20 seconds (e.g. between wrestling periods) to 1 minute (e.g. between MMA rounds).

Short, high intensity intervals require the ability to quickly restore immediate energy supplies so that another burst can be performed. Furthermore, in instances when sustained, high energy is required, high levels of lactic acid produce an acidic environment that will shut down muscle contraction. The ability to quickly recharge the immediate energy stores within the muscle, and to buffer the acid in the system (i.e. the Hydrogen), are NOT improved significantly by steadily jogging a few miles! If you want to create these very important adaptations remember “specificity of training.” Train in repeated, short and intense bursts with incomplete recovery – the way it happens in combat! So in a nutshell, you can get strong without training long.