A Theory on McGregors Cardio issue

[n.diazismylife1999]

This is my theory on why he gasses, too. I really hope he starts running.

Interesting ideas, I can't speak much on fighting but do know a bit about running, I've done multiple ultra marathons and marathons but the first time (and last time) I walked in to a boxing gym I found out that, at least for me they were different games. I'm very interested in how fitness in different sports interact, I mean if you look at triathlon the cyclists are the ones who stand out rather than swimmers or runners, a painful lesson I learned first hand.

I certainly don't think running is a bad idea but I think wth Connor he has chosen to be a technique and fast twice based fighter, if he spent his training time running he would be tired for his technique training. It's actually super interesting to think that in this regard maybe this is why him and Nate are the perfect foils for each other, if Nate never did Conors training and ditched the triathlons he could be so much sharper and if Conor did Nates training he would be slower but he could last longer.

Actually, in a weird way, maybe this discussion is a reflection of the whole sport, in MMA no-one can be everything, no matter what you concentrate on you lose something elsewhere so you just have to decide what works for you.

So, in a roundabout way I disagree with OP but at the same time I actually would like to see what happened if Conor tried this.

All this falls apart when you take into account the fact that boxers with lightning fast hands and great cardio run a lot. It doesn't take away any sharpness.

 

[legkicktko]

What about swimming? It's easier on the joints and it seems like good cardio.

Not saying my opinion is the end all be all, but I taught strength and conditioning at a sports specific gym in south Florida. There were ufc fighters training there all the time (basically how I got into the sport).

The gym I worked at had a triathlete program with a couple of world clsss guys that placed in different categories and one or two even in the olympics. I never did the triathlete training back then, but there wasn't a swimmer in the bunch that didn't have massively fucked up shoulders. They had brick classes (running + biking) and the consensus was you couldn't swim very regularly for injuries sake. You save that for close to the race.

Granted, I know it's different at those distances verses interval training but it was still interesting for me to see because I always thought runners would be more injury prone.

 

[jjdowns]

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

Chael Sonnen or Bisping just said this on their podcast. Can't remember which one.