Work Capacity: Do It Stronger, Faster, Harder, and Longer
By
Matt “Wiggy” Wiggins
There are many elements to strength and conditioning (S&C) training as it
relates to mixed martial arts (MMA). Most folks think that it’s all about
“strength” or “cardio.” While those two elements are very important, there are
many others that are just as, if not more, important and should be trained as
such. There is power, strength-endurance, power-endurance, muscular
conditioning, flexibility, agility, and much more. When discussing these
different elements, the inevitable question usually ends up getting
raised—“Which one is the most important?”
MMA (and combat sports in general) is different than most other sports in that
it doesn’t focus on solely just a few elements of fitness. Many times, sports
tend to be more to one end of the spectrum or the other, with those ends of the
spectrum generally being toward maximal strength-based training or
endurance-based training.
MMA is totally different though. It not only requires high levels of strength
but also high levels of endurance. This endurance has to not only be
cardiovascular in nature (i.e. how in shape your heart and lungs are) but also
strength and muscular in nature (i.e. how long you can produce high amounts of
force and how long you can simply contract your muscles). Your levels of
strength are tested in weakened environments (due to being put into physically
weak positions and having to produce force against unwilling opponents) as well
as in very fatigued states (everybody feels good and is strong at the beginning
of the fight, but are you strong at the end of it?). In fact, I’d venture to say
that MMA is one of the most physically demanding sports out there, coming from
the perspective that it requires highly developed levels of so many different
physical elements.
So again, the question begs asking—which of the qualities that I’ve mentioned so
far is the most important? My answer? None of them.
This isn’t to say that they’re not all vital to any mixed martial artist’s game
because they are. However, I feel the most important physical quality that a
mixed martial artists can posses is one that’s a little more all-inclusive and
even somewhat less tangible—work capacity.
Work capacity is a pretty simple concept and is easy to identify with. Put
simply, work capacity is how much work you can do. How much can you lift and how
many times? How many overall pounds can you lift in a set timeframe? How hard
can you run two miles? In a more MMA-specific fashion, how many punches can you
throw in a round? How many times can you shoot in for the takedown? How many
times can you sprawl? If you know how many punches you can throw, how long can
you continue to throw hard ones? If you know how many times you can shoot in for
the takedowns, how many times can you shoot in and still be fast? How long can
you hold onto a submission hold? How long can you physically impose your will on
your opponent while on the ground? How strong and fast are you at the beginning
of the fight? In comparison, how strong and fast are you at the end of the
fight? An easier, though again somewhat less tangible way of looking at it might
be to ask yourself, “How big is my gas tank?”
Now, many of you might think that this sounds like conditioning. And to a
certain degree, you’re correct. I think many people misuse the word
“conditioning,” using it to only mean cardiovascular fitness when it
incorporates much more than that. But, that’s another subject for another time.
Work capacity doesn’t just entail conditioning or endurance elements though.
Work capacity is the “whole enchilada.” It’s everything—strength, power, speed,
athleticism, agility, endurance (cardio, strength, power, and muscular), and a
whole lot more.
Legendary catch wrestler, Karl Gotch, was known for saying, “Conditioning is the
greatest hold.” By this, he meant that if you’re in better shape and can do more
work than your opponent (given that his skill level doesn’t just totally
outclass your own), you can, at the very least, keep up with your opponent until
he gets tired. Once he gets tired, as famous football coach, Vince Lombardi,
said, “Fatigue makes cowards of us all.” You, being in better shape, then have
the upper hand, both physically and now mentally. Having more work capacity than
your opponent—being able to do more work than he can—gives you that upper hand.
So, how do we go about increasing our work capacity? If only there was one
answer to that question...
Because work capacity is such an all-encompassing element to S&C work, there is
no one single way to increase it. And increasing your work capacity in one area
won’t (necessarily) increase it in another. So, you have to focus on what your
weaknesses are and what you really need work on. For example, say your
strength-endurance is sub par. You start your fights off being very strong, but,
by the end of the match, you’re as weak as a wet noodle.
In this situation, a good way to bring this up is to decrease your rest times
during your strength training. If you’re normally resting 2–3 minutes between
heavy sets, start shaving time off your rest period. Go for an initial goal of
60–90 seconds. If you’re only resting 60–90 seconds between sets, try to cut
that in half. Doing this will condition your body to not only produce near
maximal amounts of force but do it more repeatedly and with less rest. This will
more closely mimic what might happen in a fight.
As another example, say your muscular-endurance is lacking. Say, for instance,
that you start your fights off throwing hard punches, but, by the end of the
fight, your shoulders are so tired that you can barely hold your hands up. They
(your shoulders) just “burn” too bad. A solution for this is to do
punching-based minute drills. Line up in front of the heavy bag with a timer set
for 60 seconds. For that entire minute, throw as many good, clean, crisp, hard
punches as
you can.
You don’t want any of these light little pats. Hit that bag! Go for broke
here. This is a “sprint” for the entire 60 seconds. Rest 60 seconds (eventually
get this down to 45 seconds) and go again. Repeat for 10 rounds. This will teach
your body to go all out, but because it’s only 60 seconds, you can go more all
out than you might be able to do in a three- or five-minute round. This will
allow you to throw more hard punches overall (in total). Increasing the volume
like this will increase the muscular-endurance in your shoulders.
Now, let’s say that you just plain need more overall capacity. To use a sort of
metaphor, you need to be fighting with a 20-gallon gas tank, but you’ve only got
a 10-gallon tank. The only way you’re going to fix this is to get more overall
activity/volume in. This can be accomplished by increasing your amount of skill
work, S&C work, or both. Find ways to simply get more volume in your training.
You just have to do it smartly though. You can go out and add a ton of volume to
your workouts, but you leave yourself open to overtraining, burning yourself out
mentally, getting injured, or any combination of the above.
A good way to add overall volume is to do little “mini-workouts” in the day.
These are short, little workouts, designed to just get more work in. They won’t
(necessarily) give you an intense strength workout, conditioning workout, or
skills workout, but they will add up over time and will help you increase the
size of your gas tank.
A good, sample mini-workout needing no equipment might be:
- Burpees X 25
- Push-ups X 25
- Squats X 50
- Sit-ups X 25
- Shadow box X two minutes
Do this mini-workout once or twice per day, 5–6 days/week in addition to all
your other skills and S&C work and see how much more work you’re capable of
after two months.
There are countless ways you could address work capacity. Just be sure that when
you do, you’re increasing your strength level and conditioning (or both) and
making sure that you don’t open yourself up to injury. Remember, all your S&C
work should be designed to make you a better fighter, and work capacity is one
of the best ways that you can do that.
Train Hard, rest hard, and play hard.
Elite Fitness Systems strives to be a recognized leader in the strength
training industry by providing the highest quality strength training products
and services while providing the highest level of customer service in the
industry. For the best training equipment, information, and accessories, visit
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