One week ago I was offered and accepted an incredible opportunity to co-author a book outlining the physical preparation training of 6-time UFC Champion Randy Couture.

This opportunity came to me through my great friend and former EFS Q&A member Neil Melanson. Neil is quickly establishing himself as one of the premier fight trainers in Southern California and is becoming well known amongst the world’s grapplers and MMA competitors. Having recently served as a technical consultant to a book outlining the training of perhaps the greatest MMA competitor in the history of the sport, Fedor Emelianenko, and soon to complete a book of his own outlining every conceivable aspect of triangle chokes, Neil is well on his way to becoming a premier name for in the field of fight training.

Neil has established a longstanding working friendship with Randy as well as many other fighters, and will continue to corner Karo Parysian as long as he is competing in MMA.

The book will be published by Victory Belt, which has quickly established itself as a leader in the industry by producing many of the finest MMA publications in print, including Fedor’s soon-to-be released book, Randy Couture’s Wrestling for Fighting, BJ Penn’s Mixed Martial Arts, and many others. Visit www.victorybelt.com for more of their publications.

I spent all day Wednesday of last week in Las Vegas at Randy’s MMA Gym - Xtreme Couture - with Randy, Neil, and Erich Krauss of Victory Belt. The day consisted of a highly extensive photo shoot with Randy, Neil and myself demonstrating numerous exercises and drills for the book in addition to a great deal of Q&A with Randy. I must state that Randy is an extraordinarily kind and humble individual who truly defines the title of “quiet professional.” It was an honor for me to share Randy’s company and discuss training with him.

As the primary author it is my responsibility to write the bulk of the text, as well as the descriptions for most of the photos.

I should note that as a self-proclaimed physical preparation coach, I perceive my skill set to be analogous with that of an architect. Note how the architect utilizes his understanding of the fundamental means of architecture to realize the creation of many different physical forms varying in complexity, function, stature and so on. Similarly, it is with relative fluidity that I am able to utilize my knowledge of the biodynamics and bioenergetics of various disciplines and training methodics to write and provide instruction in the training of my current athletes (American collegiate football players) as well as Navy SEALs, weightlifters, track and field athletes and mixed martial artists - as well as athletes who participate in many other disciplines. This is why I accepted the opportunity to co-author Randy’s text without hesitation. I subsequently wrote an outline for the book, reviewed it with Neil and Erich of Victory Belt, and presented the outline to Randy last Wednesday.

I have no doubt that this text will be the most thorough text on physical preparation for MMA ever to have published. Those of you familiar with my writing know that I leave no stone unturned, that I often discuss ideas and concepts that go against the grain of what is commonly understood as sport training in North America,  and that I am compelled to illustrate training concepts in great detail. My work for this book will be no exception.

Victory Belt publications are distributed through all major bookstores and Randy, Erich, Neil and myself are highly optimistic about the book becoming a gigantic success within the industry. Randy’s name alone carries an incredible amount of weight. Add to that hundreds of color photos accompanied by a highly detailed narrative and the extensive amount of information on Randy’s physical preparation for MMA that the book will feature, and the possibilities for spectacular success are vast.

In addition to this gigantic project I will be making a DVD out of my most recent lecture at the EFS VIP seminar, as well as filming a DVD outlining the training for the NFL Combine/Pro Day that is being produced by Rupert Young of www.charliefrancis.com and www.athletes-nation.com. This DVD will feature my perception of the training process for the Combine/Pro Day as well as athlete demonstration of the drills and other training means by an NFL cornerback.

As a side note, I will be changing the name of my DVD entitled Accumulating, Concentrating, and Intensifying the Training Load for Muscle Size, Strength, and Power to:

Block Periodization- A Strength Training Model.

I have elected to do so based upon the recommendation of my EFS associate Alwyn Cosgrove, whose business and marketing acumen far eclipses that of my own. As a result, the title will be simplified in order to appeal to a greater audience. Upon further consideration, I think this revised title is actually a much more accurate summation of the content of the lecture.

As a result of these undertakings, and due to my coaching responsibilities at the University, I will have little time to devote to answering questions on the EFS Q&A in my typical capacity. I therefore ask readers to be patient with my situation and know that I will provide updates and perhaps get to a question or two as time permits each week.

Here’s to Success! May we all get out what we put in.

The Thinker

Q&A

What is your opinion of unilateral leg exercises, and where do you fit them into the training of your athletes? They seem to be absent from the programs you prescribe.

It’s not that single leg exercises are absent in the training. I include some variation of these in the warm-up because this is all that I consider to be necessary.

Regarding single leg exercise for disciplines that require a great deal of single leg efforts (ergo single leg take off jumps in high jump, triple jump, long jump, etcetera) the transference of single leg work is only as good as the degree of dynamic correspondence that is satisfied via the exercise. The common misconception made by the pedestrian coach and trainer (of which there are too many) is that he/she looks at an activity, notices the athlete using single limb efforts, and then assumes that single leg exercises are strongly warranted. This type of layman’s observation is devoid of a deeper understanding of the biodynamics of sport that is unfortunately absent in exercise science/physiology curriculums that are saturated with information on aerobics.

The forces generated by single leg efforts during sport are nowhere near approximated by the typical single leg exercises used in training programs (ergo single leg squats, step ups, and so on). In order for the single leg exercise to have high transference to these types of single leg takeoff jumps or sprints, more criteria of dynamic correspondence must be satisfied then only performing exercises that include the same muscles.

It is for this reason why you will notice improvement in your vertical jump -  in part, from the use of single leg depth jumps. Had you, instead, used single leg squats (which in no way compare to the forces generated by the depth jump) I assure you that you would not have realized the same improvement.

Gaining an understanding of dynamic correspondence/transference is of the utmost importance.

Regarding weight training - would it be wise to use a HR monitor through a weight training session? Let me illustrate. For an anaerobic/alactic athlete (football), would it be wise to use a HR monitor along with timed sets? I would keep sets in the 3-10 second range. My goal would be to train the athletes’ alactic power and capacity by keeping their HR below their (estimated) anaerobic threshold. Readiness for the following set would be based on the HR and the athletes own Rating of Perceived Exertion.

What is your opinion of this? This idea came from an exchange between you and 62 (http://asp.elitefts.com/qa/default.asp?qid=26411&tid=) in which the discussion related to 40-60% 1RM. However, would it be possible to apply this to 60-80% (or higher) and still be effected? I'm thinking with the higher percent ranges that the CNS would be the limiting factor and that HR would not be an effected measure of readiness for the next set.

What you propose is valid if you are attempting to perform specific training in the weight room; however, in such a case you must ensure that the special exercise ensures very high transference. Your final thought is accurate.

You have identified a reasonable work interval that is associated with alactic work, however, (as you note) using HR for recovery interval must be replaced with a timed recovery interval according to time-motion findings on the field of play (unless you have already performed your time-motion study and know what your players’ average HR is during a play versus what it drops to during a huddle or time on the sideline). If you allow HR to recover to a level that does not correspond to that which is reached at the end of the huddle or after a series of downs, then you are not training specifically.

Now, if you are performing recovery work, then it is absolutely appropriate to use HR for work and rest intervals.

So if you have all the HR information from games then you can use that for regulating work-rest intervals during specific training; however, you must take special care to ensure that the specific training satisfies at least the General Specific criteria of Dynamic Correspondence that I outlined in my article entitled "Classification of the Means."