Welcome to the Training Ground

In this page we will be presenting articles and interviews about topics that we hope will be of interest and help to mma fighters of all levels.

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WEIGHT TRAINING AND SUPPLEMENTS FOR MMA

We recently had the opportunity to spend some time with former Mr World, Bill Grant and shoot this interview with him. Bill talks about nutrition, supplements and weight training for mma fighters. He’s an entertaining guy so enjoy.

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PROTECTING YOUR FEET

By James Briggs, MSPT, CMP

Everyone experiences aches and pains especially when training MMA! We can all expect to be licking one or more wounds after a good sparring session like abrasions, contusions, sprains and strains. It’s all good. If you’re like me you carry those little blemishes like a badge of honor and periodically are reminded of your dojo, training, and friends when in the midst of turmoil at work or in general life. They bring a smile to your face!

But what about those recurring and nagging injuries? Specifically, foot and ankle pain? It can be felt along the bottom-inside of your foot (plantar fascia and/or posterior tibialis tendon) called the arch or, on the lateral pinky toe-side of the foot. This pain can start by frank trauma such as the patented foot stomp Chris “the Crippler” Leben doles out regularly but more commonly it happens as the result of cumulative trauma. Doing 100’s to 1000’s of the same activity with imposed body weight can cause the tissue on the bottom of the foot to break down and inflame. Eventually through attrition repeated stress damage can equal the damage produced by a few sudden violent blows. The difference is time. A combination of running for cardio, jumping rope, agility ladder work, plyometric training, and the footwork required during sparring can take its toll! With this in mind it’s important to find out what foot type you are.

The foot has a few specific functions. Its has to be able to switch quickly from a malleable flexible lever that adapts to terrain to a rigid propulsive lever at high speeds and with imposed load through it. A wonder of engineering! Also, it helps to blast a roundhouse upside someone’s temple or up kick an opponent in the chin who wants to drop a bomb on you from the standing position. As the heel hits the ground the foot unlocks and adapts to the surface you’re walking on and as the knee advances forward over the ankle the foot becomes locked and transitions force through our important big toe for proper push-off.

If your arches are flat as pancakes (over pronated) the foot stays floppy and may not become rigid enough for either initial contact at heel strike or for push-off. This can cause overstretching and breakdown of the plantar fascia and posterior tibialis muscle whose job is to decelerate the foot as it adapts to a surface. Hence, plantar fascitis and tendonitis! OUCH! The answer? Semi rigid inserts in your running shoes ids a start to support and take stress off the over stretched tissues. Avoid being barefoot as much as possible and DO NOT do the plantar fascia stretch where you put the ball of your feet at the edge of a step and drop your heels toward the ground. You’re just stretching overstretched tissue! Also, have your lower extremity flexibility and strength assess because abnormal mechanics at the knee or hip can contribute to force felt at the feet. The hip, knee and ankle work together as a functional so if one breaks down or doesn’t do its job the other two might pay for it in more stress and overuse!

Arch too high or supinated like a vaulted ceiling? That foot is highly stressed and may not be able to give and be pliable to imposed shock. Such things as lateral foot pain, 5th ray stress fractures, and palntar fascitis from an arch that’s too tight may occur. In this case put a soft insert in your running shoe and DO the stair stretch! You need to increase the length of the tight fascia to off-load the lateral foot and place a soft shock absorber in the running shoe so that rigid foot has a soft landing pad to land in.

Take care of those feet! Its hard enough using footwork to avoid a fist in the mouth, but a sore arch can put you that crucial second behind which might mean unneeded trauma. Fight on my friends and as always head down, eyes up, and mouth shut!
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James Briggs, MSPT, CMP has been a staff Physical Therapist for Rochester General Hospital since 1993. He holds a B.S, in Physical Therapy and an Advanced Master’s in Orthopedic Physical Therapy from Daemen College. He is a Certified Mulligan Practitioner. Jim is also al Therapist for Rochester General Hospital Physical Therapy since 1993 currently a brown belt in Tiakwa Karate and Kung Fu under Master Amos Postwaite

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WHAT MAKES YOU TAP?

“A Physiological Perspective”
by James Briggs. MSPT, CMP
What makes you tap? Being bludgeoned in the face by bombs dropping from the full mount? The impending loss of consciousness from either cessation of blood or air flow to the brain from various chokes and triangles? But what about those damn arm bars? Ankle locks? Knee bars?

How Ligaments Work
Ligaments make you tap. Why? Ligaments attach bone to bone and run across joints blending into other dense connective tissues called capsules. Every joint has stabilizing ligaments whose job is to prevent excessive joint motion, subluxation, dislocation, or fracture! Ligaments are collagen tethers that mechanically prevent abnormal or excessive joint angulations by resisting stress placed on them. I guess it’s the same collagen people inject into their lips but most MMA guys don’t do this. Mostly the ring girls I guess. Anyhow, ligaments are elastic structures that can bounce back when stretched and reapproximate a joint as long as the “fail” point is not exceeded.

Unfortunately, all biological tissue can fail if overloaded. The ligaments are rich in nerve endings and intimately involved with the central nervous system and muscle function. The nerve endings are continuously sending messages to the brain on the status of the joint. Some turn on when the joint is at rest and turn off when the joint is moving while others turn on when the joint moves and turn off when the joint is at rest. This assures a fool proof feedback system to help us maintain joint integrity and coordinate muscle output during activities. If it wasn’t for this ligamentous sensory system we could conceivably dislocate our joints without warning because our brain simply wouldn’t know the joint surfaces are no longer together. An electric current is constantly flowing from the joints to the central nervous system and back telling us if our elbow (finger, knee, ankle, neck… you get the idea) is at rest or if there’s some big-hairy jiu jitsu guy trying to make it possible for you to shake hands with your next opponent while your back is fully turned away from them.

Luckily, before the stress in a ligament approaches the failure point messages are sent via instant reflex loops and up to/down from our brain to activate the muscles that oppose the direction of motion where injury is impending. The pain associated with ligamentous/capsular distension is a signal to the brain that tissue damage is either occurring or imminent. From an injury standpoint, tapping out prevents ligamentous sprains, capsular disruptions, and even fractures! Not only do you lose the structural integrity of a joint, but when a ligament is damaged so are sense receptors that allow you to know where your body is in space at any given moment. If those receptors are destroyed it may be difficult for the brain to coordinate proper muscular adjustments which are crucial in the performance of daily activities let alone MMA training!

How to Properly Heal and Restore Strength
Therefore, after spraining a ligament it’s important to first restore the motion at that joint. Don’t push it! Remember that the ligament is scarring down and trying to repair itself! Any sensation greater than a mild pull can be causing a series of “mini-injuries” and prolong the healing process. Generalized exercise in the gym such as weight training can begin early as long as the load is light, the reps are high, and each rep is pain free. Staying within a pain free range of motion is important. Remember that ligaments become tight at end ranges of joint motion so cautiously work to end range without pain. Bracing and taping may be helpful to support the injured joint and prevent excessive motion or at the very least remind you and your training buddies to take a bit easier on you as you spar.

Lastly, weight bearing exercise is crucial. It helps develop compressive load tolerance to the injured joint and provides controlled dynamic forces which help train muscular coordination and joint stability. In the lower extremity squats, lunges, balancing on uneven surfaces, jump rope, agility ladders, and kettle ball swing in various planes of motion work great! Also, hit the elliptical, bikes, and eventually treadmills as pain allows. In the upper extremity it’s important to first start with cardinal plane motions and then combines motions into various diagonal patterns so the elbow or shoulder can experience all the motion options required for stand-up sparring or grappling in controlled manner. Working through a push-up progression from wall push-ups, to semi-inclined push-ups on a chair, to planks, side planks, falling to a low push-up position from kneeling and so on.

Conclusion
There are endless ways to develop explosiveness, stability, and agility in the upper and lower extremity. There are no all encompassing exercises you should do. Because some specific injuries require a specifically designed rehabilitation program, you should consult with a physical therapist to get you going in the right direction. Stay healthy, have fun, keep your head down, your eyes up, and your mouth closed.
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James Briggs, MSPT, CMP has been a staff Physical Therapist for Rochester General Hospital since 1993. He holds a B.S, in Physical Therapy and an Advanced Master’s in Orthopedic Physical Therapy from Daemen College. He is a Certified Mulligan Practitioner. Jim is also al Therapist for Rochester General Hospital Physical Therapy since 1993 currently a brown belt in Tiakwa Karate and Kung Fu under Master Amos Postwaite

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Joe from Mac’s MMA gives us his take on the growing importance of strength in mixed martial arts.

The Undeniably New Era of MMA

MMA has entered a new era. With the advent of Brock Lesnar defeating Frank Mir and grabbing the UFC heavyweight belt in the process, a new era dawned on the MMA world. The era of  strength being equally as important as technique itself is upon us. No longer can MMA practitioners rely on stand up, grappling and clinching. Even knowledge of your opponent and superior game planning is not enough.

Today’s MMA fighter must be strong!  You need arm strength to lock in the rear naked… You need back strength to secure a takedown. You need ab and leg strength to throw a stinging low kick and of course, you need a strong upper body to deliver the highlight reel knockout punch.

A strong clinch and the ability to smother your opponent is a lethal defense against even the most skilled mixed martial artist. That’s you! You’re the artist who has dedicated your time and energy to a balanced attack. You’ve seen the stand up artist get taken down to the ground and rendered useless as they succumbed to their opponent’s submission or even worse… the debilitating ground and pound attack. You’ve seen the BJJ master get picked apart by the devastating punches and kicks of the stand up artist who knew how to defend the takedown. Brilliant as the BJJ artist may have been, he was humiliated in the octagon because he didn’t respect the “mixed” part of the title mixed martial art.

You’ve learned from their mistakes and vowed not to be as foolish as those fallen fighters. You’ve trained the offense and defense of the stand up game, the clinch game and the ground game. You know that it behooves you to know your opponent’s strengths and weaknesses and plan your attack accordingly. You know that in order to make it to the third round and maybe someday the fifth round, you need to do your roadwork.

Now it’s time to take it to the next level and be a new era fighter. It’s time to develop the strength and density in your physique necessary to grasp your opponent with a smothering grip as you squeeze the will to fight out of him on his way to the ground. It’s time to snap a low kick to his leg that chops him down like Washington’s cherry tree or deliver a punch to the midsection that drains the oxygen out of his lungs.

I’m not merely talking about the knockout punch. I’m talking about the seemingly mundane punches thrown in a fight that when added up serve to soften up your opponent, making him ready for you to go in for the finish. Those punches, leg kicks and squeezes to the torso will be much more effective when there is super strength behind them. Yes, leverage has a lot to do with what I’ve already mentioned but do your self a favor… Watch the Lesnar/Mir fight again. Notice how Brock neutralized Mir by using his strength.

You might say, “There are weight classes you know”. Yes, there are weight classes but our bodies have an uncanny ability to obtain muscular density. Your muscle fiber can become stronger without necessarily becoming bigger. Strength training will not only make you stronger, it will change the composition of your body. I pose the age-old question, what weighs more a 10 lb. pillow or a 10 lb. rock? They both weigh the same, of course. They both weigh 10 lbs, but one is smaller than the other. Imagine how much larger a ten pound pillow would have to be than a ten pound rock. Why? Because the rock is more dense. There is more weight packed into a smaller area.

That’s what strength training does to your body. Without making you big and clumsy, it allows you to maintain your current size and weight, although much more shapely.

That’s the “why” of strength training. Stay tuned for the “how”

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