Problem with recovery

[ele]

Hi everyone,

I’m 31 years old and having trouble with my cardio during MMA training. Yesterday, I had to stop during sparring because I was too exhausted. I sleep well and eat a balanced diet, so I don't think those are the issues.

Here’s my current routine:

Monday:

• Circuit to failure:
  • Kettlebell swings
  • Abs rollout
  • Russian twist with landmine
  • Weighted jump squats
• 3 round: 3 minutes heavy bag (max intensity), 1 minute rest, 3 minutes ground and pound, 1 minute rest (alternating)

Thursday:

• MMA collective class

Friday:

• Hard sparring

I can’t seem to recover and my cardio isn’t improving. I'm considering attending more MMA classes instead of one but keeping the intensity low to focus on building my aerobic base (Zone 2 training).

Any advice?

Thanks!

 

[ROcknrollracing]

Circuit to failure is probably the culprit. Start doing more traditional cardio instead of completely taxing yourself that day for no reason.

 

[maximus__]

Hi everyone,

I’m 31 years old and having trouble with my cardio during MMA training. Yesterday, I had to stop during sparring because I was too exhausted. I sleep well and eat a balanced diet, so I don't think those are the issues.

Here’s my current routine:

Monday:

• Circuit to failure:
  • Kettlebell swings
  • Abs rollout
  • Russian twist with landmine
  • Weighted jump squats
• 3 round: 3 minutes heavy bag (max intensity), 1 minute rest, 3 minutes ground and pound, 1 minute rest (alternating)

Thursday:

• MMA collective class

Friday:

• Hard sparring

I can’t seem to recover and my cardio isn’t improving. I'm considering attending more MMA classes instead of one but keeping the intensity low to focus on building my aerobic base (Zone 2 training).

Any advice?

Thanks!

You aren't doing enough MMA to really adapt to MMA. If you have time hit up another session.
If you were doing grappling, striking etc you would see more improvement with only 1-2 MMA sessions.

You would be better off dropping that random circuit and doing an extra MMA or aerobic session.
Your total weekly conditioning volume is 18 mins of bag work and 2 MMA sessions with one being hard sparring.

You could add some extra LSS conditioning work to build your aerobic capacity. MMA will still feel hard, but you will recover between rounds more.

it comes down to how much time you have available and what your base is. MMA will always feel hard, but you shouldn't be struggling to finish the session even if it's hard sparring.

 

[MilkManUK]

How long have you been training MMA? Like @maximus__ said, you aren't really doing enough MMA to adapt to its rather specific demands.

I'd also +1 for adding some LISS (Low Intensity Steady State) work to build a decent aerobic base.

 

[TheToneZone]

Train some more dude. Replace any social media/drinking/TV/video game/doom scrolling time with training or resting.

 

[Fahcough]

Train some more dude. Replace any social media/drinking/TV/video game/doom scrolling time with training or resting.

There are 5 extra hours in a day that people don't know about. They spend it staring at a piece of glass.

 

[TheToneZone]

There are 5 extra hours in a day that people don't know about. They spend it staring at a piece of glass.

Big time.

 

[ele]

For all the readers wondering, I found my solution:

I was training at 30 like I was 20 by habit.

Like in strenght training, you dont test your 1 rm everyday, in MMA or any other type of exercise, except if you're very young, is better to not go all-in in every class.

Yesterday I focused on technique and got a less intense class, so today im still fresh and I could go again to another class.