I first met Mark when he attended a Strike-fit MMA conditioning class that I was teaching for Fitness first in Wakefield. It was great for me to have a professional fighter take part in my class and for him to give it his seal of approval as the type of workout that MMA fighters do within their conditioning training. Follow the link below to see Mark in action within the class and the testimonial he wrote regarding the workout.

http://www.resultsconditioning.com/archives/1079

Mark will soon be competing at the forthcoming show Kudegra in October which will be shown on Sky TV on the active channel. For details of the show check out http://www.kudegra.com/

You can read an interview with Mark regarding his appearance at this forthcoming show at the fight lounge http://www.thefightlounge.co.uk/category/news/page/6/

Mark currently trains with the allegiance MMA fight team.

The shorts that Mark will be wearing at his forthcoming fight.

“Ok, so I arrive at Fitness First Wakefield to take part in a studio class called Strike Fit!

The advertisements say Train like a Fighter.

Today the class will be an event run/co-hosted by Mr. Richard Brewin (founder of the Strike Fit Programme.)

My First impression of Richard is good, he looks the part, looks fit! To be honest I half expected some guy who does not train trying to cash in on the MMA scene like so many others do, (I see this a lot some random trainer/club teaching MMA badly and simply getting off on hitting young lads.)

Anyway back to Strike Fit.

After speaking with Richard for a short while I realised this is no Bum trying to cash in but a serious Instructor that had clearly done both the groundwork and research to understand the concept that helped him formulate Strike Fit.

I decided I would take part in the session, even though I am sick as a dog and high on Lockets, HA!

What I see is a structured circuit layout with 5 – 1min stations then put into 5 rounds, just as a fight would be with 1 min rest between stations.

Sit-ups, sprawls, tucks, ground & pound, all totally authentic exercises that as a Pro-fighter I have used in training, the class is 100% MMA style training.

It is good solid work and I did get a good sweat on and feel the benefit of the session, and just when you think it’s over…the challenge round is thrown in, lol, awesome.

As a pro-Fighter I train 6 times a week and cardio is a big part of what we do, Strike Fit will allow you to ‘Train the way we do’ without the pain and commitment of the fight, it’s not for everyone.

You want to train like a Fighter? Get to a Strike session, and bring some guts with you”.

Mark ‘Superman’ Aldridge (Professional MMA Fighter.)

The class was 5×5 minute rounds of circuit training MMA style and included a mixture of aerobic exercises such as straddle jumps, explosive step ups and sprawls, ground and pound drills, abdominal exercises such as sit up with strikes and Russian twists and upper and lower body exercises such as medicine ball press ups and jump lunges. At the end of the 5 rounds we finished with a tough 5 minute challenge round. For more information on this class check out the link http://www.resultsconditioning.com/mma-conditioning or contact me direct.

Check out the below videos of the class in action.

Check out Mark “superman” Aldridge performing a sprawl with punch combination.

Gary Park:

Gary is one of the instructors at Fitness First who teaches the Strike-Fit class. He has a wealth of knowledge in both martial arts and health and fitness. Check out his website here.

http://www.twgpfitnesstrainingservices.co.uk/

For this evenings session we were again focusing on circuit training to help with Marlons cardio fitness, stamina and muscular endurance. Tonight’s session would follow the format of my R.E.P’s (Register of exercise professionals) MMA conditioning class. This circuit-based workout is currently being run by Fitness first health clubs around the UK on their exercise class timetables under the name Strike-fit. The workout uses a mixture of fight specific movements such as ground and pound and sprawling etc alongside plyometrics and resistance exercises to give you a high intensity session. Participant’s work through 4-6 rounds with each round lasting for 5 minutes. Rounds are made up of 5 exercises with each one either being done for 1 minute or for 30 seconds with each of the exercises being done twice. For this workout Marlon would be spending 30 seconds on each exercise. Rounds 1 and 3 would consist of one lot of 5 exercises with rounds 2 and 4 being made up of 5 different exercises. Once all 4 rounds were done we would finish off with a gut busting 5-minute challenge round.

Warm up:

For this workout the warm up is made up of shadow boxing. I would call out numbers 1-4 and Marlon would throw the corresponding combination, so for example number 1 was a single jab and 4 was a jab, cross, lead hook, rear uppercut.  As well as the numbers I would also call for front and rear knee strikes as well as the sprawl to help warm up the entire body.

Main workout:

The MMA conditioning class follows a set structure so that within a 5-minute round you will perform 1 exercise for upper body, lower body and core and 2 cardio based exercises.

Rounds 1 and 3.

Lower body: Step up to knee strike

Place one foot onto a step box. Push off the leg that’s on the step and as you do so bring the other leg up, forcefully driving the hips through to deliver the knee strike. Step back down and repeat, aiming to spend as little time with your foot on the ground as possible.

Cardio: Ground and pound

From either the mount position (knees either side of bag) or knee ride (one knee on, one leg off) throw a mixture of punches, elbows and hammerfists.

Upper body: Walk over step

Begin with both hands on a low step. Take one hand off the step and place it on the floor and perform a press up before returning your hand back onto the step and repeat to the other side.

Core: Crunch with med ball between knees.

Perform a basic crunch whilst keeping your legs in the air and holding a medicine ball that is positioned between your knees. This not only works your abdominal muscles but also the muscles used when holding someone in guard.

Cardio: Lateral jumps

Stand next to an object such as a low step, hurdles, powerbag etc and perform a 2 footed side jump. Aim to land soft by bending your knees on impact.

Rounds 2 and 4.

Lower body: Step jumps

Jump up onto a step box that is positioned in front of you, aiming to land soft by bending your knees on impact. Step back down and repeat.

Cardio: Ground and pound with armbar

Start in the mount position and throw 10 strikes before pushing yourself off the bag and throwing your left leg over the bag and falling to the left hand side. This forms the armbar position, which is a submission technique, used within MMA. From here scramble back onto the bag and repeat with an armbar to the right.

Upper body: Medicine ball strikes

Standing at arms length from a punch bag. Hold a heavy med ball in both hands and rapidly tap the bag. After each strike against the bag bring the ball back and tap your stomach. This exercise will help to improve the stamina in your forearms, which can benefit a fighter when it comes to grappling and clinching. It also gives your abdominals some impact training.

Core: Guard sit up

From a crunch position hold a medicine ball across your chest and then scramble to your feet without using your hands. Return to the floor and repeat.

Cardio: Sprawling.

From a standing position drop your hips to the floor as if defending a takedown. From here explode back up onto your feet. For this workout Marlon would throw a jab, cross into the focus pads each time he stood up.

Challenge round:

At the end of a MMA conditioning workout there is a 5 minute challenge round. This is designed to push people to their limits and simulate how it feels in the last few minutes of a MMA bout when faituge and latic acid really kicks in.

The challenge I used with Marlon used lateral jumps over a kick shield and ground and pound strikes. Place a shield on the floor and stand next to it. From here jump sideways over it and then back to your start position (this counts as 1 rep) then drop down and throw 5 strikes. Each time increase the jumps by 1 rep and the strikes by 5. I set Marlon the challenge of reaching 10 jumps with 50 strikes within 5 minutes. He completed it in under 4!

The video shows Marlon working through round 3.

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I am pleased to announce that Fitness First health clubs will be launching Strike-fit in the following  clubs in the next couple of weeks.

Mansfield

Solihull

Stoke

Manchester Gorton

Pontefract

Wakefield

Bradford Horton park

Moston

Manchester Central

Leeds

Chesterfield

For any more information regarding courses or classes please contact me.