YES...You Need Strength

I can't stand cliques. Or groupies. Or fads. Or trends. Or popularity contests. Or any of that kind of junk.

Especially in the fitness and strength & conditioning world.

Why?

Because too many people end up being concerned with what's "cool" than with what works. And that's just stupid.

Me, I could care less what anybody thinks. I'd rather look good when I'm bigger, stronger, and faster. I think it looks much more cool to win and have my hand raised in victory, than to be the guy standing in the shadows (or sitting behind the keyboard) saying how the winner could even be better if he did XYZ Program instead.

You'd think that with as many people in the world that don't train, don't work out, don't try and be healthy, that the fitness community as a whole would try to band together and be one solid unit. Join forces, go out, find the undertrained, weak, fat, and lazy, and whip them into shape.

You'd think so. But, you'd also think wrong.

Instead, you've got every faction in the fitness world pointing the finger at each other, trying their darndest to convince everybody why what they do is "right" and what everybody else is doing is "wrong".

And I'm not kidding. Powerlifters don't like Olympic lifters, and vice versa. Both can be kinda "iffy" when it comes to strongman. Throwers can be all over the place. Nobody likes bodybuilding. HIT trainers don't like Arnold Schwazenegger's books. "Athletic" trainers don't like isolation moves.

Ugh. All these people need are a letterman jacket, and a locker combination, and they'll be ready to fight over who gets to take Betsy-Sue to the dance on Friday night.

I see this a TON in MMA.

Now, MMA is a sport that has A TON of physical needs. It is very likely the most physical demanding sport there, if for no other reason, that it has such a wide array of physical needs. It needs strength, power, cardiovascular endurance, muscular-endurance, strength and power-endurance, work capacity, flexibility, etc.

But, some people seem not to think so.

In fact, I can't tell you how many times I've seen supposed "experts" on the internet (you knew that everybody on the internet was an "expert", right?) say that strength is vastly over-rated for MMA, and needn't be targeted.

You're kidding me...right?

Now, to think that the strength needs of MMA are moreso than the various conditioning and endurance needs of MMA would be wrong. I know that. You should know that. (If you didn't, now you do.) But to think that strength isn't needed to the point that it really doesn't have to be trained? C'mon, man.

Let me give you a few reasons why strength is vitally important in MMA.

1 - Power. You need power in MMA - power is what will give you (as long as your technique is up to snuff) powerful punches and kicks, quick takedowns, the ability to slam your opponent, etc.

All power is, is strength applied quickly. In fact, strength is the ultimate capability of power.

If squatting 500 lbs. is strong, and squatting 500 lbs. in less than a second is powerful, then ain't no way you're gonna be powerful without building the strength. You can't squat 500 lbs. in less than a second if you can't squat 500 lbs. in the first place.

2 - Speed. This is kind of an offshoot of power. Speed can be looked at in various ways - in a straight line (who can run 100m the fastest) or who can move the quickest? As in who has faster hands - Floyd Mayweather, Jr. or Tim Sylvia?

It takes a lot of control over your body to have this kind of speed. While coordination and natural athleticism play key roles, so does something called "relative strength". All this means is how strong you are for your size/weight.

The stronger you are (especially with increased skill training), the better control you're gonna have over your body. The better control you have over your body, the better speed you're likely gonna have.

3 - Confidence. I don't care who you are, or what situation you're in. If you're getting into a physical confrontation with somebody (which is kinda the point with MMA), then knowing you're stronger than the other guy gives you a confidence you just won't have when you're the weaker dude.

4 - Endurance. Everybody thinks MMA is all about endurance, endurance, endurance. While on some levels it is, if you don't have any strength to back it up, then what good is it? You can teach a guy to shadow-box all day long, so he has the endurance and conditioning to throw punches like a Joe Calzaghe. But if he never hits the heavy bag, how do you know if he can hit hard? More importantly, how do you know his zillion punches he can throw will have any effect on his opponent?

Now, sometimes, you can get to the point that you can build enough strength that you can work on maintenance and conditioning more, because strength isn't as big of a priority for you. Guys like this might be Sean Sherk, Matt Hughes, Brock Lesnar, or other such dudes.

Hate to break it to you, but you aren't Sean, Matt, or Brock. Sorry.

That means you still have to work your strength.

And when the skinny dude that looks like he just jumped off a MMA message board shows up and tells you you're doing it all wrong, take him down, and hold him down...and tell him that strength you don't need is about to make him tap out.

Train Hard, Rest Hard, Play Hard-
Matt "Wiggy" Wiggins
http://www.workingclassfitness.com

PS - If you know you need to have strength in your program, but aren't quite sure how to fit it in with everything else, then this can help you - and eliminate all the guesswork in the meantime: http://tinyurl.com/d67noo