How Hard Should I Train?

Train Hard, Train Smart

When it comes to how hard you should train, there are thousands of blogs, articles, podcasts, and videos, all offering different kinds of answers, recommendations, suggestions, and tips. The truth is, how hard you train is up to you.

No one knows the answer to the question of how hard you should train better than you. All our bodies are different, as are our goals. So how hard you should train MMA depends on how you answer a few simple questions. In this article, I’ll go over a few simple ideas you can think about that will help you figure out how hard you should train.

The one piece of advice I’ve been given that I know I can pass on to everyone, though, is to try to train smart. This means answering a few simple questions like what works for you, what are your goals, what’s realistic, etc. Knowing why you’re training and what you want to get out of it will help you determine how hard you should train.

What Works For You?

Do you work construction or some other kind of labor job? Do you use your body for work? More importantly, would an injury stop you from working? These are the kinds of questions you want to start asking yourself when you’re deciding how hard you should go on the mats.

If you push yourself to exhaustion, how will that impact your ability to do what you need to do the next day? If you’re in the office at 9 am, you might not want to do a mammoth 3-hour sparring session until midnight the night before.

The best piece of advice I ever got was to mix it up. If I’m training on Monday night, I know I have the whole week to get through, so I tend to keep things easy, about 60 – 70%. If it’s Friday after work and I’ve had a rough week, I’ll happily push myself up to 80 or 90%, knowing that I can recover the next day.

Similarly, if I know I can only get in once this week, I’ll probably hit it pretty hard. If I know I can get in four or five times, I will spread out the intensity over the sessions. I’ve found this helps keep injuries at bay as well. Remember, if you injure yourself, you won’t be training at all.

What Are Your Goals?

Do you want to lose weight, gain muscle, learn a new skill, or meet a new group of friends? Determining your goals when it comes to MMA will definitely help you determine how hard you should train.

If you’re planning on making money from fighting, obviously you’ll want to train pretty hard. If, on the other hand, you’re training because you want to learn a new skill, you might want to focus on mastering the techniques rather than pushing your body to is extreme.

However hard you go, it’s a good idea to focus on technique and form. When you first start, you might not want to go 100%. If you learn the correct way to throw a kick or set up a triangle, then, when you dial up the intensity, you’ll increase your percentages, but you’re also less likely to get injured.

Relax and Breathe

Learning to control your energy and exertion is an integral part of MMA training. If you go 100% and gas out after the first minute of sparring, if you haven’t tapped your sparring partner, you’ll be the one getting tapped.

When I first started training MMA, I used to go full force all the time while I was sparring. This probably had something to do with my body being in fight or flight mode and I felt like I was fighting for my life.

The more I’ve trained, though, and the more used to sparring I’ve become, the more important things like control and relaxation have become to my game. When I was tense and using all of my energy, I would get tapped as soon as my tanks were empty.

I’ve found that practicing yoga as well as breathing techniques has substantially upped my MMA game. Nose-breathing, in particular, has helped me sustain my energy levels throughout multiple 5-minute rounds, where I used to be gassed after just one!

Just Show Up

The best way to improve at any kind of martial arts training is to show up. It’s a good idea to set your goals, plan your training schedule, and work at form and technique, but if you don’t show up, it all goes to waste.

When it comes to deciding how hard you are going to train, try different things. Do it one way for one week and another the next week. Ask yourself which way felt better. Over time, if you take an active engagement in your own development and learning, you’ll figure out what works best for you.

The most important thing, though, is to show up and give it your best. How hard you train is up to you. Try to understand why you’re training the way you are and work on developing a training regimen that suits your body, goals, and lifestyle,