How To Do MMA Workout At Home as Professional

Since the beginning of 2020, people must decrease social interactions as well as social gatherings. Such cases make training MMA at the gym or training center struggling.

Therefore, more people change their habits into practicing MMA workout at home. What is the best way to conduct an MMA workout at your place? Read on, and we will show you the answer.

Equipments To Prepare For Mma Workout At Home

MMA is the umbrella term used for the combat sport based on striking, grappling, and ground fighting. What is distinctive about this sport is that there is no “unique” technique of MMA. To be specific, MMA fighters develop their exercises based on incorporating theories of other martial arts worldwide like boxing, muay Thai, etc.

If you are on the way to find out the answer to the question “Which equipments should I use for training MMA?”. Then, what we can tell you is that: a lot, but also, not any. Based on your training curriculum, there may be a different practice toolset for you to prepare.

However, most practice curriculums share some similarities, like bag training, shadowboxing, and bodyweight training. And for these exercises, you only need to buy one thing: a heavy bag to punch.

To add-in, you can do other exercises without any equipment. Therefore, if you are an amateur who just wants to do some strength and technique training, then a boxing bag is enough.

Let us tell you how to make out of the heavy bag in boxing. First, you can use it as a tool for developing punching skills. Besides, punching bags increase not only the tolerance and the power in fists but also the speed, accuracy, and responsiveness of the boxers.

In addition, we recommend you buy foam rollers to massage the muscles and release repressive hormones. Try not to overwork your muscles in the warm-up stage, or else your body will feel sore and exhausted quickly.

For advanced boxers, they may try doing the BJJ (Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu) at home. For this group, buying a grappling dummy is essential because BJJ is all about combat. So, in the condition of not having a partner (because you are self-isolating, right?), having a dummy to practice reactivity and strength is a must.  

There is no need for an amateur or not required to move to competition shortly. However, most boxers will have injuries while practicing if not wearing protective gear on core body parts, so better not than not, right? Here is the list of optional protective gears for you to pick up:

• Hand wraps (to cover your fists and protect bare hand skin)
• Gloves (to reduce the forces received from punching)
• Mouthguard (in case the partner may accidentally hit your mouth)

Best MMA Workouts At Home For You 

Jumping Rope

Jumping rope is a great training method for muscle building and for warming up. Scientifically, this exercise can raise the heart rate and provoke cardiovascular exercise. What you need is just a long, durable rope and a big space so that the rope will not stick into any objects hanging.

However, for beginners, this exercise can be quite exhausting. In fact, for normal people who don’t have a habit of jumping rope, they will get tired after a minute of jumping. But please don’t give up. The more you jump, the less tired you feel. And what you receive – muscles, fat-burning, fit body, strength, excitement – is definitely worth it.

In case you are new to rope jumping, we suggest you start with five 1-minute rounds with 1 minute of resting between each set. With this intensity, your body can slowly get used to the exercise, and it’s easier to raise the practice time. In short, 1 minute of jumping rope, then 1-minute rest, repeat five times.

Now, let’s upgrade the exercise a bit. When your body gets used to rope jumping, and you don’t feel out of breath anymore, extend one set from 1 minute to 3 minutes. Remain the previous pattern with: jump 3 minutes, rest 1 minute, then repeat the process five times.

When you feel at ease with the intermediate level mentioned above, it’s time to upgrade the intensity higher. From 3 minutes, now raise it to 5 minutes. The cycle remains the same: 5 minutes jumping, 1-minute resting, then rerun the process five times.

After completing the jumping rope exercise, you have already completed the warm-up stage in the MMA workout. Now, take a break, drink some water and walk slowly to decrease the heartbeat. Put gloves or any other protective gear on to jump to the next step.

Shadowboxing

Shadow Boxing is an exercise used in training for professional boxers to develop a player’s punching and responsiveness. When training shadowboxing, players will repetitively throw hits and punch into the air as if they have a combat with another partner. 

In other words, just imagine that you are sparring with an imaginary contender, and you must throw as many punches and hits as possible and move around the imaginary ring to “win” the battle. This exercise helps you develop the technique, warm up your body, and increase the response speed.

We also suggest that the boxers extend their limit and raise the punching speed as if they are in a real battle. Such intensity will complement the footwork skill. To add-in, when imagining yourself in a real battle, you must reduce as many redundant moves as possible. 

This exercise’s typical process is 5 minutes of shadowboxing fast and non-stop, then 1-minute rest, and repeat three times. The core moves are just jab, cross, lead, hook, uppercut, rear, doing repetitively for boxers. 

The moves remain the same with kickboxers but add some new ones: leg kick, head kick, and overhand. Unlike the first step – rope jumping – all levels from beginner to advanced can apply the same process of 5 minutes boxing – 1-minute rest – repeat three times.

Heavy Bag Training

The third stage in MMA workout at home is heavy bag training. There are only two steps in this curriculum that require equipment: the first step -jumping rope and this one. What you need is a big, firm, heavy bag specialized for boxing.

Boxers can train this stage individually or with a partner as long as they feel stress-free. The typical pattern is the same as the two workouts mentioned above: 5 – 1 – 3. By that we mean, 5 minutes of practicing, a minute of resting, and repeating three times.

However, the movement of each practice set is different. In the first set, wear protective gloves, set up the bag, and start one 5-minute round of boxing, hands only. Remember to punch as powerful and fast as possible.

The second round lasts 5 minutes, just like the previous, but now, change the priority from punching to kicking movements. Try your best to remain at the right angle and proper strength when kicking because your knees are super fragile and can be broken easily if conducting wrong acts.

Here is the pattern we advise you to do when kicking: kick low, high, middle on the left, then changing to the low right, left, middle. 

Finally, the third set is when you integrate two parts – punching and kicking – together. Try to throw as many hits and kicks as possible. The main point is to maintain the intensity and the pace.

However, here is the top important thing you must learn by heart when doing sports: rest enough. Between each set, give yourself at least a minute to relax and release the stress. Never overwork your body because even if you try hard to endure the pain, your muscle will immediately react.

Related: How to Wrap Your Hands for Boxing Gloves?

Bodyweight Conditioning

If you don’t have a spacy room to workout, then doing some slight bodywork training is enough to warm up the muscles and review the technique. Most professional boxers do this exercise every day, especially when traveling abroad for competitions, because hectic schedules won’t allow them to always have a large practice space.

Therefore, the pattern of bodyweight conditioning workouts is similar to most MMA exercises depicted above. We also have warm-up acts like running, jumping, squats, burpees, punch, and kicks training.

Most famous MMA fighters follow the following cycles when starting their bodyweight conditioning exercise: push-up, mountain climbers, planking, burpees, crunches, all conduct in 1 minute. It takes you 5 minutes to complete the given cycle.

Consequently, rest for a minute, then repeat the course three times. Remember to remain at the same pace and intensity in the second and third sets, even if your body starts showing its tiredness. 

Finally, doing some intervals of sprinting or rope jumping in high intensity. Based on the space and equipment available, you can choose one between these two. Then conduct a practice round with 30-second work and 30-seconds rest. Repeat the rounds 5 to 10 times.

It is acceptable to mix up the number of rounds and practice time in the high-intensity set if your body is exhausted and sore then. However, it would be best to do these intense workouts at the end of the exercise, not in the middle.

Your muscles, after doing intense workouts, are completely repressive and out of energy. If you force the muscle to work, there is a high chance of injury.   

The Bottom Line 

We have discussed how to do an MMA workout at home. There are many different training sets published on the Internet by certified athletics, and our way is just based on our viewpoint after years of experience. 

Please feel free to look up more information to find out the most suitable for you.

However, remember that in boxing, training is essential, but resting shares the same importance. You must spend enough time resting and eating properly to get the best strength and result from the training.

Thank you for reading, and enjoy your practice!