Train Like a Mixed Martial Arts Fighter

Doug Balzarini, Owner of DB Strength, ACE-certified Personal Trainer: Hi. My name is Doug Balzarini,
owner of DB Strength here in San Diego, California.
I work with a number of top UFC MMA athletes here in town, and I'm here at ACE today
to take you through five of my favorite exercises that I do with my athletes,
exercises you can definitely incorporate into your routine as well.
They involve some upper body pushing and pulling, some lower-body movements,
and some rotational and core movements as well.
So, they really incorporate the full body, they involve power, they involve endurance, and involve, like I say,
a lot of core and mid-section activation.
So, definitely incorporate them into your routine.
All right. So, this pushup variation I really like to do is called a pushup with a sit-through or a pushup with a sit-out.
So, what Chris is gonna do now; he's gonna get in a typical pushup position.
He's gonna go down on the pushup and as he goes up he's gonna add some rotation through the hips.
Hips are crucial in MMA, so I have focused on that hip; that joint probably more than any other joint.
So, Chris, go ahead and show us a few. There is the pushup and then the sitout.
So you can see, as he's rotating, the same side hand is tapping the opposite side foot.
Perfect. Good. So, he's brining those hips through so he's getting rotation.
Also, getting on one hand so there's a little more shoulder stability that has to occur.
He has less of a base of support, so it makes it a little bit more challenging.
Go, let's give me two more, Chris. Good. So, we get in that pushup and then that rotation, like I say, is really crucial for those mobile hips.
Popups are a great exercise to really incorporate some explosive hips, OK? And the upper body as well.
So, it's a great exercise to work the full body.
But, like I say, we're really gonna focus on driving the hips through to power the movement.
So, we're gonna start on our knees, and, like I say, the movement is gonna start from the hips from the glutes,
so as he comes up he's gonna drive.
Now, we also, like I say, want to incorporate the upper body. So he's gonna drive the arms down and then explode up.
So, Chris, why don't you show a couple of reps here. Perfect. Good. And get low again. That's it.
So, you can stay right here, you can see as he comes up, he's alternating which foot leads. OK?
So, he's coming up in that staggered stance.
He's staying low on balls of the feet, so he's in that ready position or athletic position, ready for his opponent,
if he's gonna sprawl if he needs to sprawl or his opponent is coming in.
So, he's always quick, athletic, and ready. Good. Let's go one more time. Boom! Good.
So, like I say, great moment to involve upper body, lower body, and really focus on those explosive hips.
This exercise is called torso rotations. We're going to be using the superband here.
You could use any piece of tubing, really.
Anything that'll provide a little resistance on the rotation through the torso, and specifically the hips.
I don't want too much resistance where I'm affecting the muscle memory and the movement and the accuracy of his striking.
Just enough so he knows that they're there.
The point of this is to incorporate the lower body.
If you want a more powerful strike, it's from the ground up,
So you need to incorporate the lower body from the foot all the way up to the hip and transfer it all the way through to the fist.
So, what I'm gonna have Chris do is extend his arm straight out, so the superband's gonna go right around the hand
so it's right up into the shoulder.
And all I'm gonna do is just walk right around.
So, the key point here is to make sure that this comes right across the hip joint. OK? So, I have the resistance there.
Now what Chris is gonna do is basically rotate and throw a right straight and I'm going to provide a little resistance here.
Go ahead. And just start throwing a few, Chris. There you go. Good.
So, you can see he's pivoting off that back foot, getting the upper body to turn, and as he rotates in, he can feel that resistance.
So, there's a lot more core engagement here than if he was just throwing a regular straight.
Good. Give me two more.
Excellent. Good.
So, there's more going on there.
If he just relaxes, the superband's gonna turn him out of position, so he has to stay active,
keep that core on the entire time as he rotates and throws that punch.
This exercise I call the med ball sprawl and throw. It's a great conditioning tool.
So, what we're gonna do here, I'm gonna roll the ball to Chris as if someone; he has an opponent that's coming to take a shot.
OK? So it's gonna force him to stop the ball or stop the attack, get the hips back and get the hips low quick.
And he's gonna come back up and throw the ball back to me, and we're just gonna repeat, OK, for a couple of repetitions.
So, here we go, Chris. Coming down. Stop. Drop. Up and pop. Good.
So, he gets the hands down first, then the hips down quick. Good.
That's it. Hips low. Perfect. Good. Let's go two more.
Good. So, you can see he's getting that leg back, getting the hips low. Good.
When an opponent comes in, that's what they're attacking.
They're trying to grab that leg. Get control of the hips, because once they control the hips, they control you.
So, he wants to get back and get low and then come up.
So, I like this as partners. We can go back and forth. If he's by himself and has a wall, you can just do it against the wall for time.
Like I say, I like to use it in a circuit a lot because it's a great conditioning tool, similar to a burpee
where you're going down and getting up. It's really going to get that heart rate elevated.
I love pulling exercises, and this pulling variation is gonna involve the heavy rope.
It's great for strength, but also great for endurance, OK?
The longer the rope is, obviously, the longer he has to pull. So, what we're gonna do; I'm gonna have Chris grab the end of the rope
and he's gonna get in a ready position; athletic position, squared feet, hips and knees slightly bent, and he's gonna just start pulling.
Not yet though. So, it's basically gonna be like tug of war. And I'm going to let Chris win, but he's going to win slowly.
Great for grip strength, which is crucial in the sport of MMA, especially for those grappling sports: wrestling; jujitsu.
So, go ahead and start, and, like I say, he's gonna win but he's gonna win slow, so it's all that grip strength working. Perfect. Good.
Keep on pulling. So, he's taking big, long reaches but he's keeping a nice, neutral spine so it's healthy for the backside.
Good, now drop down. To make it even more functional, like jujitsu, as if he's pulling someone into his guard (keep going; keep going).
So, he's got to pull that person in . . . and rest. Good. Let it out a little bit. Good.
So, what we can do on there; you get a five-second break while I pull it back and then he could start again, so, again,
great conditioning tool like some of the other exercises we've gone through. Can use it in a station circuit and really work that backside.
(Text on screen): Thanks to DB Strength