Anaerobic Endurance for Fighters

[Steve Hill]

Doing a little research, in other posts the OP states that if his body weight goes up he "is screwed." He does not explain why, but I have to ask if this guy is eating anything. He's not going to go very far starving hisself.

Yeah, my numbers are seriously low. I've got nothing against getting stronger. But if I get any bigger I'm screwed.
I'm learning PCs as a matter of priority. I'll look into the others now that you've recommended them.
I know everyone says strenght and endurance can't be trained at the same time, but PP really doesn't say much about it in a negative way, actually - it gives you tips on how to do it.

[Mark Rippetoe]

I remember the guy now. Wouldn't go up a weight class because he was convinced that he would get killed by bigger fighters. Wonder why his pushups went down?

[dwm24]

I remember the guy now. Wouldn't go up a weight class because he was convinced that he would get killed by bigger fighters. Wonder why his pushups went down?

It can't be that guy..... That guy said he'd be benching 300lbs by Christmas.

[ZenGeek]

As a former pro MMA fighter, my advice is the same. You need to get stronger. In addition to this you state that you are also a novice at your sport specific task (striking...I'm hoping muay thai or boxing? or something useful). If you are a novice in the sport, you will naturally develop more endurance as your technique improves. The thing I have noticed about fighting is if one guy squats 500lbs and another guy squats 450lbs...that comparatively small difference will not show itself in the ring. On the other hand you do not want to be a guy squatting 200lbs fighting a guy who squats 500lbs. You are going to be seriously out muscled and the only way to maintain an advantage is with a very sizable skill gap. Basically, get as strong as you can and practice the technical aspects of your sport. You do not need to do anything else for a little while. I wish someone had given me this advice a long time ago.

I started out in Freestyle Karate 10yrs ago (at15), training under a Muay Thai fighter, he won a few titles and I think he was ranked 3rd (or better) in oceania. I'm not saying that this makes me any better, but yes my instruction was 'Useful'. I've been focussing on speed and technique becuase I find them most useful to the way I fight. I'm more powerful (on the heavybag) than guys that can out-lift the shit out of me. The thing is, they'll get more powerful as they get more practice. I need to get STRONGER to get more powerful.

As an MMA guy I particularly value your advice. A lot of gyms (especially the trash you see on TV) do Xfit type training, tyre flips, pulls, sledgehammers etc. I've never seen any of them saying "we do squats". On the otherhand, I'm sure that if they were any good, they'd be winning fights instead of doing reality TV.

I remember the guy now. Wouldn't go up a weight class because he was convinced that he would get killed by bigger fighters. Wonder why his pushups went down?

That's me. I'm a pussy, what can I say?
If the only way I can get stronger is to go up a division, then that's what I'll have to do. But if there's anyway to be the big fish in the little pond, then that's probably going to be better for my already swollen ego....(no, seriously)

Doing a little research, in other posts the OP states that if his body weight goes up he "is screwed." He does not explain why, but I have to ask if this guy is eating anything. He's not going to go very far starving hisself.

As above, weight divisions. I've lost BF and gained weight so I'm building something I'm just worried that it's water and sugar, instead of 'real' muscle.
Maybe if I eat more, I'll gain more muscle, but I haven't stalled on progress yet (Except OHP, but that's started to progress again), so I didn't think food was an issue.
I guess, I'll just eat more, cut before fights and make sure I'm properly recovered before I go to training (pushups).

[shootwillus]

A bit off the subject at hand -- do you think this advice of get strong first and practicing technique applies to Olympic lifting as well? I've been making excellent (I think) progress with SS followed by the TM, hitting my short term goal this week of 5x5 squats with 315# and 5x5 bench with 225# (BWT=190). I would really like to add the O-lifts to my regimen (beyond weekly power cleans and snatches), but don't want to screw with the strength gains, which seem to be continuing just fine. Should I just practice the O-lift techniques with little weight until some point in the future when strength levels off, or is there a better way to add the quick lifts without overtraining or messing too much with TM?

Honestly, I do not know. I am flattered for the quotation, but, I do not think my experience with fighting is entirely comparable to O-lifts. I simply have no good answer for this and there would have to be many people on this forum much more qualified than me to answer this question.

[ZenGeek]

It can't be that guy..... That guy said he'd be benching 300lbs by Christmas.

Wait, that's not me. For starters I use Kgs becuase I live in Australia.
That and I don't brag about my strength (I have none), I just brag about being fast.

[Misciagno]

Honestly, I do not know. I am flattered for the quotation, but, I do not think my experience with fighting is entirely comparable to O-lifts. I simply have no good answer for this and there would have to be many people on this forum much more qualified than me to answer this question.

No problem -- I think Rip answered pretty thoroughly and succinctly. I'm going to stick with the TM and just work on technique with light weights for the foreseeable future, since I'm adding weight to all exercises every week, and the occasional reset seems to work. Living at 8500 feet elevation in east Africa makes gaining weight a bit tough (for several reasons), but as long as the strength keeps going up, I'll be happy with 190# for the time being. Plus I'm back in the U.S. this summer and can start eating for real again...

[Bronan the Barbarian]

I'm building something I'm just worried that it's water and sugar, instead of 'real' muscle.

Ah yes, the dreaded sucroseplasmic hypertrophy.

[Steve Hill]

Ah yes, the dreaded sucroseplasmic hypertrophy.

The dihydrogen monoxide loading that usually goes along with it can be extremely dangerous, though.

[D_51]

I am no expert, this is just my experience. I started wrestling when I was 6, all of the guys I grew up with who worried about not going up a weight class stalled and never did anything beyond highschool. The guys that lifted and grew in the off seaon came back the next year up a class or 2, but stronger and better. In college, guys are still lifting and getting stronger, they are just much better at cutting weight. I saw the same thing when I was submission grappling and doing MMA. Get stronger, your body will figure out where it needs to be weight wise. Do not decide you shouldn't be bigger and stronger.
All of your conditioning now can come from your training. If you are training hard there is no need to go run. If you have extra energy, then you need to go harder in the gym. Sparring, bag work, etc develop skills and conditioning at the same time, which is what you need.
D