Discover the 5 best lower body exercises for MMA fighters

MMA fighters must have a constant focus on lower body training. It is a crucial aspect of your success.

Strength, power and speed are huge skills needed in kicking game for fighters.

These are all things that can be trained!

Too many fighters train incorrectly when they approach lower body training. Most fighters focus too much on long-distance runs for conditioning and low-weight, high-rep training for endurance. Both methods take the strength, power, and speed out of a fighter’s legs in no time! I’m going to talk about the 5 different moves that are essential in an MMA fighter program.

1) Deadlift

The deadlift is the big daddy of all lower body lifts. The deadlift helps strengthen your back, hamstrings, and glutes. The deadlift is essentially considered a full-body exercise, but I consider it primarily a lower-body pulling exercise. Deadlifts are a must and must be trained with a heavy load. The best weight a fighter can use to gain strength and power would be in the 3-6 rep range. Ideally, a strong fighter should be able to pull about 2 times his body weight, if not more. Good form should always be a top priority when training deadlifts. Poor form can lead to injury and decreased performance.

2) Bulgarian squats

Bulgarian squats are essential for unilateral leg training. These help distinguish each of your legs and help develop stability and strength at the same time. I like to use many different variations of the Bulgarian squats. You can use dumbbells, kettlebells loaded in the rack position, or just use a barbell. Sandbags can also be used very effectively. Either way, Bulgarian squats are a must to help build glute strength and power. Your core strength will also improve when using this exercise. The Bulgarian squats are more of an assistance exercise that should be used with medium to light weights. You can do repetitions of 5-8 to 12-15. You just have to know that the higher you go, the further you move away from developing greater strength.

3) Heavy sled push / pull

All MMA fighters must have access to a heavy sled, prower, or at least a tire that can be used for dragging. These are essential. Probably one of the most important exercises to include in your wrestling program.

These are really easy to do. Just load the sled, tire or prowler with considerable weight and push, pull or drag! With these you will develop an enormous amount of strength and endurance in your legs! There are many different ways to use this in your program. Short sets can be used for power and strength ALL FORCES or you can do longer sets for strength, endurance and cardio. All the forms will help you develop your cardio independently. You can choose to do this before, in between, or after workouts. I prefer to do them last because they will take a lot of energy out of you. Get a sled and get to work!

4) Energy jumps

Not enough fighters are concentrating on plyometric training. The power jump is an essential plyometric move for MMA fighters. These do two things: develop athleticism and power. Athletics is built because jumping requires a bit of coordination. I’ve had fighters who couldn’t jump, but once they learned, they became better athletes almost overnight! These generate a large amount of energy from the explosiveness of a single leg necessary to perform the movements. There are a few ways to perform energy jumps. With energy jumps, you can focus on the height or you can go the distance. For reps, I like to go for yards. 20 yards is a good distance to train when it comes to performing a high jump. Then for distance, I like to go 60 yards with a power jump. The power jump is best done at the beginning of a training session when the legs are cool. This will help create the most explosiveness in a fighter’s skills.

5) front squats

If Deadlifts is the big daddy, front squats are the grandson! Front squats are an essential move for fighters that also help build lower body strength, but they are also good for upper body strength. The reason that front squats work so well for strengthening fighters is based on how the weight is placed on the body. When the weight is loaded in the front, your core is activated much more.

With front squats, you develop core strength and lower body strength at the same time due to the load in the front. Carrying weight this way puts a lot of pressure on your abs to keep you in good shape. The lower rep range should be used when training front squats. Somewhere in the 3-6 rep range should be used for best results.

These should be added to all MMA fighter routines. They can be performed with dumbbells, kettlebells, dumbbells, and sandbags. You can even go as far as using a partner to do front squats.

There you have it! Those are the five essential lower body movements for MMA fighters. Add these to your program and you’ll see your kicking power, strength, and speed increase in no time!