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UFC fighters are among the most impressive athletes in the sports world. They spend time priming their bodies for combat. While sharpening one's skills through sparring is fundamental to success in MMA, so is matching technique with athleticism.
Mixed martial artists devote a large amount of time to improving their strength, speed, explosiveness and cardio. While not every fighter will possess the natural athletic gifts of genetic outliers like former UFC title challenger Yoel Romero and former UFC heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar, many work as hard as they possibly can to create a level playing field with foes of superior athletic stock.
Thus, UFC fighters tend to possess exceptional physiques with both the aesthetics and functionality of high-level athletes. This list examines the five ways in which you can attain a similarly well-built physique like a UFC fighter.
#5. Many UFC fighters employ sarcoplasmic hypertrophy-focused training
UFC fighters come in all shapes and sizes. Most, however, possess physiques with a fair amount of muscle mass. To increase the body's muscle mass, a variety of training methods are employed. Among these methods is focusing on the development of sarcoplasmic hypertrophy.
Fighters like reigning UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou and current UFC welterweight kingpin Kamaru Usman exhibit physiques akin to those possessed by bodybuilders. To achieve physiques of that nature, training to increase the body's sarcoplasmic hypertrophy is important.
Sarcoplasmic hypertrophy involves increasing glycogen storage in the targeted muscle, increasing its overall volume and size.
To do so, lifting weights at a repetition range of 8-12 in sets of 3-4 is integral. That isn't to say that those interested in acquiring better physiques ought to simply lift any weight they can comfortably move for 8-12 reps. It's fundamental that the muscle group being targeted spends as much time under tension as possible.
Thus, trainees ought to select a weight that requires some difficulty lifting once they've reached the eigth repetition in their set. If one isn't struggling to lift the weight by the eighth rep, the weight is likely too light and does not force the muscle to spend enough time under tension.
Furthermore, sarcoplasmic hypertrophy-training requires resting between 30-90 seconds after every set. However, the less time spent resting between sets, the better.
#4. Myofibrillar hypertrophy-focused training
Just as focusing on sarcoplasmic hypetrophy is important, so is myofibrillar hypetrophy, which renders the targeted muscles denser while simultaneously optimizing the central nervous system for strength. Former UFC strawweight champions Zhang Weili and Jessica Andrade are both prime examples.
They possess denser-looking muscles and exhibit greater strength than their contemporaries. While sarcoplasmic hypertrophy will help the trainee superficially resemble an athletic physique, athletic performance is also key. Thus, functionality must be respected and myofibrillar hypertrophy is required.
To do so, a focus on intensity over volume must be mixed into the trainee's workout routine. While volume can be defined as the quantity of work a muscle must do, intensity is the amount of weight a muscle moves under a given time. Due to this, myofibrillar hypertrophy-focused training entails lifting heavy weights under a low rep-range of 1-5 using compound movements like the bench press, squat, deadlift, military press, etc.
While the rep range is lower, the sets are higher, as is the rest time (2-5 minutes) between sets. Trainees ought to select a weight they can lift for 1-5 repetitions per set and no more. While sarcoplasmic hypertrophy training encounters a limit of roughly 4 sets, myofibrillar hypertrophy can be as high as 6.
By doing sarcoplasmic hypetrophy workouts for a few weeks before focusing on myofibrillar hypetrophy and vice versa, the body will be introduced to enough stimuli to attain a balanced physique.
#3. Endurance training
An impressive physique doesn't just revolve around size and strength. UFC fighters typically exhibit lower body fat percentages and greater cardio than the average person. Former UFC interim lightweight champion Tony Ferguson and former UFC interim welterweight champion Colby Covington are both elite mixed martial artists whose gas tanks never exhaust themselves.
To trim down the body's fat percentage for vascularity and muscle definition to become more apparent, endurance training is necessary. This entails basic cardio routines. Most workouts should start with a 15-30 minute cardio session. This needn't be anything more than running on a treadmill or jump roping for 15-30 minutes if the focus of that specific day is lifting heavy or at a high volume.
However, one day of the week should be devoted to cardio and light lifting involving weights that require little effort to move. Weightlifting for endurance requires a rep range greater than 12 reps in sets of 2-3 while resting no more than 30 seconds between sets in order to work the cardiovascular system.
In doing so, trainees will not only burn their body fat to acquire better muscle definition and vascularity, rendering the abdominal muscles, etc., more visible, but it will also increase the trainee's cardio performance.
#2. Structuring and nutrition
The same workout should not be repeated too often. The body adjusts according to the stimuli it is subjected to. Due to this, workouts require variation otherwise trainees will plateau and their physiques will not improve. The same chest and triceps workout routine should not be repeated every Monday, for example. New chest and triceps exercises ought to be introduced to vary the stimuli.
If a trainee spends the last two weeks resorting to the flat bench press, then they should opt for an incline bench press in the third week before eventually returning to the flat bench. Furthermore, trainees must have designated days to target specific muscle groups.
On Monday, the chest and triceps should be targeted. On Tuesday, the back and biceps should be targeted. On Wednesday, shoulders and abdominal muscles should be targeted.
The final two days of the week, Thursday and Friday, should be reserved for endurance training/cardio and legs, respectively. Additionally, resting is fundamental, as all of the work done at the gym pays dividends only with adequate rest. 6-8 hours of sleep is necessary as the body only builds muscle during sleep.
Lastly, a balanced diet is fundamental. Protein, fiber, and carbohydrates are important. Food with low fat content is advisable so as not to counter the work done in cardio sessions, just as food and beverages that are high in sugar are inadvisable.
It's important to remember that the body is primed for the absorption of nutrients within 30 minutes of leaving the gym after a workout, so eating within that time frame is of extreme importance. Water, at least 8 cups per day, is equally as important due to the amount of blood routed from the organs to the muscle groups being worked on during exercise.
#1. Consistency and supplementation
UFC fighters are consistent with their training. Most mixed martial artists who sport impressive physiques are rarely far from the gym. Training for a month before enjoying a break equally as long is counterproductive. Due to this, trainees are encouraged to commit to their workout routine.
This isn't to say that breaks are of no importance. Training for the entire week and the weekend would be counterproductive due to overtraining. The weekend is required for resting, and the odd break here and there isn't detrimental so long as it's sparse.
While the previous entry discussed nutrition, it is important to discuss it with greater nuance. If a trainee is relatively thin, a caloric surplus is necessary to fuel muscle growth, whereas if a trainee is overweight with a high body fat percentage, they should undergo a caloric deficit.
In simple terms, a caloric surplus is eating more, while a caloric deficit is eating less. What's fundamental to this, however, is that not everyone is capable of doing so. So, supplements are of great importance. Whey protein isolate, casein protein, meal replacements, multi-vitamins, etc. can all help in such cases.
Only supplements from reputable manufacturers should be considered, as some supplements are known to be high in their sugar content.
