How many of you actually train with a top level fighter? This week Stephan Kesting gives us an inside view with one of his good friends Denis Knag. Kang is one of the top middleweight mixed martial arts fighters in the world. Not only is Stephan a great BJJ grappler with a black belt from 7th degree black belt Marcus Soares but he has numerous hours rolling on the mat with Kang himself.

This week you get an inside view on what it takes to become a MMA fighter as you can see one of Denis’ training session in Montreal Canada at the Georges St Pierre camp. If you have Kang on you cell phone speed dial wouldn’t you know what you are talking about? Well Stephan does.

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A Sneak Peek Into a Fighter's Conditioning Session

Most of my text message communications to my friends are pretty short and mundane. Recently, however, I had a very interesting conversation with MMA fighter Denis Kang, partially over the phone but mostly using text messages. Somehow, despite the limitations of the text messaging format and after many questions, I came away with some great insights into MMA conditioning.

Denis has spent the last several months in Montreal Canada, both to help George St. Pierre's with his pre-UFC training camp, and also to prepare for his own upcoming title defense in the Spirit MC organization. Denis has worked with a great number of top conditioning coaches, but he told me that while working with coach Jonathan Chaimberg his strength and endurance has jumped to new levels.

One of the things that Denis and George St. Pierre do are circuits which incorporate heavy low-repetition exercises (like weighted pullups) followed by explosive plyometric movements (like medicine ball slams). This combination of weight training and plyometrics is called 'complex training'

To illustrate what complex training in a conditioning circuit might look like, Denis put one circuit, a small part of his workout, onto Youtube and agreed to let me tell the Grapplearts readership about it. You can see it at:

If you think that it would be tiring to do this circuit then imagine doing it several times in a row, with far too little rest in between.


Oh, and before you even hit the weights, make sure you first 'warm up'
with some leg-shredding and heart-pounding Tabata sprints on a steeply inclined treadmill!

Now you have an insider's perspective on what these athletes go through to mold their bodies to be ready for the rigors of combat sports. Isn't the life of a professional fighter appealing?

For other online MMA conditioning routines please visit:

www.grapplearts.com/2007/07/online-conditioning-videos.htm

Click here to find out more about Tabata-style sprints www.grapplearts.com/2004/08/going-anaerobic-part-3-more-routines.htm

See Denis teach the MMA-proven Anaconda Choke

Stephan Kesting
www.grapplearts.com

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