Ross Enamait advising 3 x 8-12???

[Nak-Muay]

Just been reading one of Ross' books and he says for boxers it is best to do 8 - 12 reps with 3 sets for the first 3 weeks of a 12 week cycle to build up to a fight. Just wondering what you guys think about that seeing as 99.9% of the combat sport population hate 3 x 10 type routines.

His reasoning is that you need to do it to build up the muscle endurance and strength with 6 reps week 4 - 6 to do circuit / complex based stuff for weeks 7 - 12, I kind of agree with that I mean circuits are difficult and you certainly need strength for them to make them worthwhile, but I would have thought the best way to build up your main muscle groups would be 5 x 5 type routines... but I am nout compared to ross I guess...

Here is the routine he gives in his book to do twice a day week 1 - 3

We are working both our strength and speed enough that they will balance out and the strength training only lasts 4 weeks anyway, then it goes on to complex circuit type training. So I thought I’d give it a go and man it damned near killed me!!!

Lower Body

3 x 8 - 12 Dumbell Lunges @ 30kg + bar
3 x 8 - Calf Raises @ 30kg + bar
3 x 8 - Drop Touch
3 x 8 - Dumbbell Step-Ups @ 30kg + bar
3 x 8 - Dumbbell Toe Touches @ 30kg + bar
Finish with 100 Sledge Hammer Swings - not today, no hammer
3 sets of each

Upperbody

Bench Press x 8-12 @ 20kg + bar (I know, weak as shit)
Shoulder Press x 8-12 @ 13kg + bar
Bent Over Row x 8-12 @ 40kg + bar
Barbell Bicep Curl x 8-12 @ 20kg + bar
Triceps Extension x 8-12 @ 15kg + bar
Straight Arm Raise and Hold x 5-10 seconds x 8-12 @ just light weight
3 sets of each

The straight arm raise and hold near killed me and I found the dumbbell step ups difficult too… All in all it wasn’t bad, fuck I need to work on my Bench Press though, that has really, really fallen, I used to be able to do 30ish with little trouble, although that was before I dropped weight class, still… 4 weeks of 2 x this and then I’ll move on… not too excited about it to be honest, I hate weights, haha.

Weights next to it are what I did today, thought I would give it a go as the gym was closed =/ Was fucking hard work, but I don't see how you would do it two days in a row, because tomorrow I am ready for some serious pain :D

Think I'll give it a go for the 3 weeks and then it becomes irrelevent anyway because we move on 6 reps and then to circuits... I'll give it my best :O I need to make a strong 70kg fighter i.e. why I am doing weights btw, I am coupling it with plyometrics and bodyweight circuits too.

[Nak-Muay]

Infinite Intensity is pretty good, but I think there are almost too many circuits for general days work, because as a boxer your arms would forever be dead... Where as in comparison I think the weight workouts he recommends are pretty tame and only once a week.

One Arm Dumbbell Clean & Press 4 x 3
One Arm Snatch 4 x 4
Superset x 4:
Weight one legged squat 5
Glute Ham Raise 5
Superset x 4:
Weight Pull Up 5
Weight Press Up 15

[Nak-Muay]

On Week 4 - 6 you do the same workout I posted in my first post for 6 reps and also add in plyometrics the day before the strength workout.

However Ross basically tells us that as long as we do this:
Tue Day 1: Plyometrics
Wed Day 2: Weight Lifting
Thu Day 3: Neither
Fri Day 4: Plyometrics
Sat Day 5: Weight Lifting

[taffdragon]

i havent read the Ross Enamait book your takeing the coarse from, but if your following his coarse should you be doing the plyometrics and bodyweight circuits as well? if your struggling with the weights you could be looking at over-training?

[Alex Gold]

Was there a question in there somewhere? If the question is 'is 3x8-12 a good idea for a fighter?', the answer is not usually but there's a time and a place where it could be ideal, as with most things!

[Rob Hannis]

Why is 3x 8-12 not good for a fighter? Is that too many reps for the first three week period?

[Nak-Muay]

Generally 3 x 8-12 is considered the worst type of routine for a fighter because it seems to have more cosmetic / bulk benefits than functional benefits compared to say lower reps (3-6) have for strength or 15+, which are recommended for endurence.

I know little about weights, just always read that as fighters we should keep away from the typical 3 x 10... although I know Hatton did a 3 x 10 for about a year.

[Rob Hannis]

I'd have assumed for some fighters though those benefits are useful (bulk rather than cosmetic) to get them up in weight ready for the losses that will occur from the intensity in the rest of the training camp. Personally I'd prefer the srtength gains from lower reps but would've thought their could be an argument for 8-12 early on, then strength further down the line?

[Waterboy]

I'd have assumed for some fighters though those benefits are useful (bulk rather than cosmetic) to get them up in weight ready for the losses that will occur from the intensity in the rest of the training camp. Personally I'd prefer the srtength gains from lower reps but would've thought their could be an argument for 8-12 early on, then strength further down the line?

Pretty bang on my thoughts - a 5 x 5 workout done properly is actually pretty taxing to be doing constantly year round, periodisation arguments aside. I'll do weights 2 or 3 times a week on top of all the MMA training, 1 day 5 x 5, 1 day 5 x 3 reps (strength), 1 day 5 x 12/15 (mostly bodyweight exercises for endurance, done explosively).

If I've not got a fight/and or not quite fit enough, I'll decrease the number of sets and do 3 x 5, 3 x 3, 3 x 12.

I completely agree with Ross' notion that if your MMA training is already of the right quality that weights/strength training is merely a supplement and needn't take up too much time. I imagine most people's Thai, wrestling and MMA classes are already plyometric-tastic and rather exhausting.

[Alex Gold]

Definitely. Plus, without wanting to sound like a bodybuilder, different rep schemes can be used on different muscles to bring up weak points for example.