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Look Like the Man of Steel – Gym Jones GB GB link: : CLOSEDMMA (MASS GAIN)28 Days Disciple Level AccessWe love to say that no one has ever gained weight training at Gym Jones, and generally, this is true. Male athletes tend to lose about 10-15 pounds when they began training with us, and it happens during a period when they are also gaining strength. However, some athletes start out light, with little fat mass, so gain weight. In fact, we love to claim that we packed three whole pounds of muscle onto James Litz in six months, “he ballooned up to 128 pounds.” This extra muscle did contribute to a great season of climbing during which he sent several of the hardest routes in the country.For an MMA fighter gaining weight is not as easy task. The MMA fighter must develop and maintain many different skills and capacities so the weekly schedule is very high volume. Under these conditions it is difficult for the body to recover enough to repair and rebuild. John followed his plan, worked, and ate and slept for two months but only gained a few pounds. Then, a knee injury forced him to rest more about three weeks out from the fight, and that’s when the weight stacked up. He had been sending the “gain weight” message consistently. He was recovering well enough to maintain training volume but not well enough to repair his muscles and grow. The rest gave his body enough extra energy to rebuild. For the fight he cut from 181#, and continued gaining weight during the post-fight window of rest and recovery. The key lesson from this is that recovery is important. MMA (POWER ENDURANCE) 28 Days Disciple Level AccessThe following one month training plan is based on a lead-up to a fight I had on March 29th. It follows a 5 day “on” and 2 day “off” format. As a rule I find it important to stay in shape for most of the calendar year regardless of a competition schedule. During this time it is important to continue building strength, developing greater work capacity and injury proofing the body for the real training which begins the weeks before the fight. During this period the engine is redlined in order to develop the highest level of fitness possible for the task at handMMA/BJJ (STRENGTH) 33 Days Disciple Level AccessThis training plan is based on a five-week period in November and December of 2007 that our fighters (we use the term loosely since most compete in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, submission grappling, and judo though a couple do MMA) completed. This period, late in the year for them offers a 2-4 month break from competition so in 2007 we focused on strength and power development, letting power endurance slide a bit. This plan was written for the group, all of whom have similar training history and experience (two to two-and-a-half years training here), all have been studying BJJ for almost a decade, all are similar in size and bodyweight (5’10”, 175# as an average) though there are couple taller or lighter. Johnny scaled back prior to competing at Grapplers Quest on December 1st otherwise most followed the plan.The emphasis is on strength and power although there are some workouts classified as power endurance.The month features a lot of pulling. I had the guys pull in some way almost every day. After all, it’s what a BJJ player and grappler does.In addition to the workout sessions each individual also trains 5-10 times per week in BJJ, judo, boxing, take-downs, etc. Because the intensity and duration are variable, it is difficult to understand how the sport-specific practice affects strength and conditioning training, and vice-versa without seeing the athletes regularly, which I do. Their daily condition affects whether we follow the training plan exactly, scale it back, or add on to it. Each session begins with an interview and we adapt accordingly. This training plan is not done in a vacuum. It is right for this group, for these individuals.If you follow this program you may have to adjust the intensity of the sessions to account for your sport specific training.Notes: The Red Arrow indicates a how to video available demonstrating how the particular exercise is to be performed. All of the How To videos will be found in the How To video product# indicates lbs (NOT kilos)