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. Despite the limitations of this conversational medium 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.

If you think that this circuit might be tiring, 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?

P.S. Click here for examples of other MMA conditioning routines.

P.P.S. Here is Denis teaching the Anaconda Choke, a submission he has used to great effect in MMA competition.