How to get a ripped physique like UFC fighters

#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.

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#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.