A Theory on McGregors Cardio issue

Everything you said is true. His style also drains him too.
 
I run quite a bit since I stopped training MMA. I can run 5km in 21 minutes. I can swim 1km no problem. I was gassed after 3 x 2 minutes wrestling rounds the other week. 5 x 3 minute kickboxing rounds had me gassed harder than Conor going into the 10th against Mayweather. Straight aerobic training does not equal sport specific training. While boxing is primarily an aerobic exercise, it requires an aweful lot of explosive movements.

Cross training can assist in overall cardio and stregth gains, but there's literally no better endurance training than doing the thing that you want to me fit at. Why run 15 km a week if you've got bad knees and it only gives you a 1-2% increase in cardio?

At the end of the day, Cruz said it best about Conor: "he doesn't have the style to have long fights". Genetics has something to do with it, but at the end of the day he's an extremely explosive fighter. All his movements are fast twitch and he puts a lot of torque into his strikes. He's the literal opposite to a Diaz.
 
Ogata said:
What about swimming? It's easier on the joints and it seems like good cardio.
Click to expand...

Swimming is good. I mean swimmers are some of the best athletes on the planet, and I suppose if people trained like swimmers do then it could substitute. However, running seems more convenient, and easier to run then swim; and set-up a workout for running. I'm not sure don't have much experience swimming so would probably have to ask someone who knows about it.
 
champ145 said:
Swimming is good. I mean swimmers are some of the best athletes on the planet, and I suppose if people trained like swimmers do then it could substitute. However, running seems more convenient, and easier to run then swim; and set-up a workout for running. I'm not sure don't have much experience swimming so would probably have to ask someone who knows about it.
Click to expand...

That's true! Myself, I do sprinting on a hill which is good for interval training but long distance wise, my knee ends up hurting. So I started swimming as of late but not long enough to make a fully informed opinion on the benefits of it.
 
Great refreshing thread.

Was going to mention his knees but it has already been covered.
 
The running thing and maybe training in Vegas. He seems best fighting on east coast and training in Ireland.
 
paddy_da_pikey said:
Iv been thinking about McGregors ongoing Cardio issues or should I say recent Cardio issue

It appears McGregor has about 10-12 minutes then fades. 4 good paced rounds (12 minutes) against Mayweather, 2 solid rounds (10 mins) against Diaz, before alternating the final 3 rounds with a very tough 3rd (10th - 15th minutes) with Diaz

So why does someone who trains so hard have a difficulty with such prolonged cardio into the deeper rounds?

Well iv watched all behind the scenes access, embedded shows, all access and MacLife for all recent fights and thought of something...

All of McGregors cardio training is off his feet. I mean literally he does no road work or at least none evident, not even a treadmill for running.

We see him rowing, aerodyne, out cycling, pad and bag work but no running, no miles not ever - why?
In fact the only time we ever saw him 'running' was at the UFC performance institute in a specialised underwater treadmill to avoid impact and very slow paced which leads me to my point.

As someone who has cycled internationally and ran for my county I can tell you now the cardio for one movement doesnt transfer to the next. You will get a base level of fitness that will give you something to build upon when changing disciplines but I can tell you from experience just because I could comfortably do a 60 - 80 miles cycle didnt transfer to fitness for running a 10k for example and vice versa even though they both use 'legs'

Why? Impact! The impact of being on your feet and bounding and dealing with the gravity of carrying your own weight around is a very different type of fitness than non weight bearing cardio (the examples of which he prefers as outlined above)

Conor does not run and there must be a reason for this as to why he stays in his comfort zone as his 'legs going' as the boxing pundits would describe it or jelly legs if you've ever felt it is what McGregor concedes to when fights go into that 15 minute + time frame.

Keep in mind boxers or stand up fighters are notorious (no pun intended) for their road work, the early morning runs, the 5 miles a day (35 - 40 minutes = to fight duration of 12 round fight) the getting up at 5am or in Mayweathers case the 2am night time runs in the cooler Vegas weather - but they all put the miles in except McGregor?

So what is the reason?

Well his first and last 3 rounder was against Holloway this was a very fast paced fight and while McGregor hurt his knee he did not drop the pace or did not appear affected by Cardio in this fight at all

Therefore there are 2 reasons why McGregor doesnt do the road work required to have the 'on feet' impact level fitness required to compete 15 - 30 minutes

1) He is lazy, soft and doesnt want to work out of his comfort zone as he doesnt enjoy running

2) He has joint issues (knee, hip, ankle) or potentially his reconstructed knee following Holloway fight simply will not allow him to run and put in the miles expected in order to get himself through a training camp and has thus sourced other cardio methods as previously mentioned, in fact making reference to the underwater treadmill when I googled it, it is designed exactly for NFL athletes recovering from injury to avoid heavy weight bearing on the joints - this is the ONLY time we say McGregor run in any of the build ups in previous fights


I dont believe it is Number 1, he is tough, he does have heart fighting through a knee injury to get decision over current FW champ holloway, he doesnt look to stay in comfort zone challenging himself immediately wanting a rematch at 170 against the 185 - 190 Diaz who had 'strangled him on live TV' months earlier. He moved up in weight class, fought every opponent in front of him and challenged the P4P no 1 and TBE in Mayweather. This isnt dick riding, thats just a list of facts so its not number 1

So in my opinion (I said opinion not fact) it must be Number 2 which is a fucking shame that he must have had to find a work around for cardio post knee injury as cardio was never an issue previously, he played football as a youth but since that injury... no running, every other form of cardio but weight bearing running.

And this is why I believe McGregor will always struggle to have the fight level fitness required to compete in later rounds as his legs simply cannot cope with the demands of the type of grinding road work necessary to get himself into that condition to be on his feet for 30 minutes during a fight

Just my opinion folks and an angle I havent seen proposed


*TLDR

McGregor needs to do more running for the appropriate cardio required to fight
Click to expand...

Dude I was reading your thread, thinking about raw road work from his interviews where he mentioned not doing it to protect his joints, and then you mentioned it.

I think this is part of the reason.
 
Honestly man I just think its his weight cut. Even at 155 he cuts a ton of weight. Like 20 lbs.
 
I'm pretty sure his "in shape" weight is around 168 though he may have put on more weight recently.
 
DaveHilly said:
Honestly man I just think its his weight cut. Even at 155 he cuts a ton of weight. Like 20 lbs.
Click to expand...
Tony Ferguson has one of the best gas tanks in MMA and he walks around at over 200lbs between his fights at 155 so I don't think the weight cut is the big issue, if anything Conor is a smallish LW.

One thing I've not seen mentioned is the adrenaline dump from fighting in such huge high pressure events, Conor might act like he doesn't feel pressure, but he's only human.
 
paddy_da_pikey said:
Iv been thinking about McGregors ongoing Cardio issues or should I say recent Cardio issue

It appears McGregor has about 10-12 minutes then fades. 4 good paced rounds (12 minutes) against Mayweather, 2 solid rounds (10 mins) against Diaz, before alternating the final 3 rounds with a very tough 3rd (10th - 15th minutes) with Diaz

So why does someone who trains so hard have a difficulty with such prolonged cardio into the deeper rounds?

Well iv watched all behind the scenes access, embedded shows, all access and MacLife for all recent fights and thought of something...

All of McGregors cardio training is off his feet. I mean literally he does no road work or at least none evident, not even a treadmill for running.

We see him rowing, aerodyne, out cycling, pad and bag work but no running, no miles not ever - why?
In fact the only time we ever saw him 'running' was at the UFC performance institute in a specialised underwater treadmill to avoid impact and very slow paced which leads me to my point.

As someone who has cycled internationally and ran for my county I can tell you now the cardio for one movement doesnt transfer to the next. You will get a base level of fitness that will give you something to build upon when changing disciplines but I can tell you from experience just because I could comfortably do a 60 - 80 miles cycle didnt transfer to fitness for running a 10k for example and vice versa even though they both use 'legs'

Why? Impact! The impact of being on your feet and bounding and dealing with the gravity of carrying your own weight around is a very different type of fitness than non weight bearing cardio (the examples of which he prefers as outlined above)

Conor does not run and there must be a reason for this as to why he stays in his comfort zone as his 'legs going' as the boxing pundits would describe it or jelly legs if you've ever felt it is what McGregor concedes to when fights go into that 15 minute + time frame.

Keep in mind boxers or stand up fighters are notorious (no pun intended) for their road work, the early morning runs, the 5 miles a day (35 - 40 minutes = to fight duration of 12 round fight) the getting up at 5am or in Mayweathers case the 2am night time runs in the cooler Vegas weather - but they all put the miles in except McGregor?

So what is the reason?

Well his first and last 3 rounder was against Holloway this was a very fast paced fight and while McGregor hurt his knee he did not drop the pace or did not appear affected by Cardio in this fight at all

Therefore there are 2 reasons why McGregor doesnt do the road work required to have the 'on feet' impact level fitness required to compete 15 - 30 minutes

1) He is lazy, soft and doesnt want to work out of his comfort zone as he doesnt enjoy running

2) He has joint issues (knee, hip, ankle) or potentially his reconstructed knee following Holloway fight simply will not allow him to run and put in the miles expected in order to get himself through a training camp and has thus sourced other cardio methods as previously mentioned, in fact making reference to the underwater treadmill when I googled it, it is designed exactly for NFL athletes recovering from injury to avoid heavy weight bearing on the joints - this is the ONLY time we say McGregor run in any of the build ups in previous fights


I dont believe it is Number 1, he is tough, he does have heart fighting through a knee injury to get decision over current FW champ holloway, he doesnt look to stay in comfort zone challenging himself immediately wanting a rematch at 170 against the 185 - 190 Diaz who had 'strangled him on live TV' months earlier. He moved up in weight class, fought every opponent in front of him and challenged the P4P no 1 and TBE in Mayweather. This isnt dick riding, thats just a list of facts so its not number 1

So in my opinion (I said opinion not fact) it must be Number 2 which is a fucking shame that he must have had to find a work around for cardio post knee injury as cardio was never an issue previously, he played football as a youth but since that injury... no running, every other form of cardio but weight bearing running.

And this is why I believe McGregor will always struggle to have the fight level fitness required to compete in later rounds as his legs simply cannot cope with the demands of the type of grinding road work necessary to get himself into that condition to be on his feet for 30 minutes during a fight

Just my opinion folks and an angle I havent seen proposed


*TLDR

McGregor needs to do more running for the appropriate cardio required to fight
Click to expand...
Ironman, 5 rounds no problem, 38 resting HR Bisping agrees
 
Nice thread TS <mma4>

For the record i was in bjj years ago and was an avid runner since my youth

But a surgeon fucked up my knee pretty bad 6 years ago (bastard) and i haven't took a long run since. I do some biking and i swim a bit, but i certainly do feel that my cardio is not the same <mma1>
 
He needs more strength and conditioning. Hector Lombard knows how to get strength and Diaz knows how to get contitioning
 
When I start running regularly I always notice I don't run out of breath but my legs can't keep up

I really like OPs take on this, good thread sir
 
Very interesting read, one of the few times when it's not complete bullshit. I agree that it's not #1 - he puts in a lot of work to try and improve and always looks to be in great shape. He's not like BJ Penn or Shogun - extremely talented but lazy. #2 sounds more reasonable, but I'd also add a third option that can be combined with #3, namely genetics. Some aren't built to be cardio machines, no matter what they do they simply won't reach an elite level (though compared to your average guy, they have great cardio). It could be that McGregor's knees are busted, but it could also be that he does train a lot of cardio just that it doesn't give him the same as result as for others. I've experienced this myself - me and a friend started running at the same time but his cardio improved a lot more rapidly than mine. No matter how much harder I worked, he was always a step ahead of me.
 
paddy_da_pikey said:
Iv been thinking about McGregors ongoing Cardio issues or should I say recent Cardio issue

It appears McGregor has about 10-12 minutes then fades. 4 good paced rounds (12 minutes) against Mayweather, 2 solid rounds (10 mins) against Diaz, before alternating the final 3 rounds with a very tough 3rd (10th - 15th minutes) with Diaz

So why does someone who trains so hard have a difficulty with such prolonged cardio into the deeper rounds?

Well iv watched all behind the scenes access, embedded shows, all access and MacLife for all recent fights and thought of something...

All of McGregors cardio training is off his feet. I mean literally he does no road work or at least none evident, not even a treadmill for running.

We see him rowing, aerodyne, out cycling, pad and bag work but no running, no miles not ever - why?
In fact the only time we ever saw him 'running' was at the UFC performance institute in a specialised underwater treadmill to avoid impact and very slow paced which leads me to my point.

As someone who has cycled internationally and ran for my county I can tell you now the cardio for one movement doesnt transfer to the next. You will get a base level of fitness that will give you something to build upon when changing disciplines but I can tell you from experience just because I could comfortably do a 60 - 80 miles cycle didnt transfer to fitness for running a 10k for example and vice versa even though they both use 'legs'

Why? Impact! The impact of being on your feet and bounding and dealing with the gravity of carrying your own weight around is a very different type of fitness than non weight bearing cardio (the examples of which he prefers as outlined above)

Conor does not run and there must be a reason for this as to why he stays in his comfort zone as his 'legs going' as the boxing pundits would describe it or jelly legs if you've ever felt it is what McGregor concedes to when fights go into that 15 minute + time frame.

Keep in mind boxers or stand up fighters are notorious (no pun intended) for their road work, the early morning runs, the 5 miles a day (35 - 40 minutes = to fight duration of 12 round fight) the getting up at 5am or in Mayweathers case the 2am night time runs in the cooler Vegas weather - but they all put the miles in except McGregor?

So what is the reason?

Well his first and last 3 rounder was against Holloway this was a very fast paced fight and while McGregor hurt his knee he did not drop the pace or did not appear affected by Cardio in this fight at all

Therefore there are 2 reasons why McGregor doesnt do the road work required to have the 'on feet' impact level fitness required to compete 15 - 30 minutes

1) He is lazy, soft and doesnt want to work out of his comfort zone as he doesnt enjoy running

2) He has joint issues (knee, hip, ankle) or potentially his reconstructed knee following Holloway fight simply will not allow him to run and put in the miles expected in order to get himself through a training camp and has thus sourced other cardio methods as previously mentioned, in fact making reference to the underwater treadmill when I googled it, it is designed exactly for NFL athletes recovering from injury to avoid heavy weight bearing on the joints - this is the ONLY time we say McGregor run in any of the build ups in previous fights


I dont believe it is Number 1, he is tough, he does have heart fighting through a knee injury to get decision over current FW champ holloway, he doesnt look to stay in comfort zone challenging himself immediately wanting a rematch at 170 against the 185 - 190 Diaz who had 'strangled him on live TV' months earlier. He moved up in weight class, fought every opponent in front of him and challenged the P4P no 1 and TBE in Mayweather. This isnt dick riding, thats just a list of facts so its not number 1

So in my opinion (I said opinion not fact) it must be Number 2 which is a fucking shame that he must have had to find a work around for cardio post knee injury as cardio was never an issue previously, he played football as a youth but since that injury... no running, every other form of cardio but weight bearing running.

And this is why I believe McGregor will always struggle to have the fight level fitness required to compete in later rounds as his legs simply cannot cope with the demands of the type of grinding road work necessary to get himself into that condition to be on his feet for 30 minutes during a fight

Just my opinion folks and an angle I havent seen proposed


*TLDR

McGregor needs to do more running for the appropriate cardio required to fight
Click to expand...
You are spot on but unfortunately I believe it is option #1 and not #2. I blew out my acl really bad in high school and I love running - if you have the money for a good surgeon, and you do the proper time off of sports after the surgery and the proper physical therapy you can recover from this type of injury - I love running and I don't do it enough, but it's never ever even gotten sore on me once. Maybe that would be different if I ran 5 miles a day 5 days a week, but there are ways to recover from soreness like ice baths and things of that nature. Overall it's pretty amazing what conor has achieved without ever doing long distance running. That would be his problem against tony Ferguson, dude runs a lot
 
He didn't have the cardio for a 12 round boxing match because he has never been in a boxing match before.

After all, even blue chip prospects in boxing start their pro debut at 4 rounds.

Then, after a handful of fights, they schedule themselves for 6 round fights.

A couple of years after that, they get 8 round fights.

When they become a main event fighter, they get 10 round scheduled bxoing matches.

Floyd didn't have a 12 round fight scheduled until his 18th pro fight
 
While training for Marvin Hagler, Ray Leonard's team didn't know if he had the stamina for a 12 round fight, so on two occasions they brought in contenders to boxing him for 12 rounds.

They replicated what the match would look like: 3 minute rounds, 10oz gloves, 1 minute breaks, etc.

Even a seasoned fighter like Sugar Ray had to be sure he could still go 12 rounds, let alone on his first try as a boxer
 
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