I’ve always said I believe fighters and soldiers are the best example of all-round athleticism and unstoppable conditioning.

Why? They have to be.

Any chink in the armourwill eventually be exposed and manifest itself in the form of head on mat, a broken nose or more cutting for them, defeat.

So how do they train?

I checked out Chuck Liddell, one of the greatest UFC fighters ever.

Here’s some samples from his training regime and how you can replicate this as much as possible in the gym if you can’t replicate it fully (strongly advised for maximum impact!)

Row-wrestle combo

Row on the Concept 2 as hard as possible for 2.5 minutes (Chuck notches up about 800m)

As soon as that’s done, wrestle with partner for 2.5 minutes under exhaustion to replicate fight night..

Rest 1 mnute then repeat for a total of 5 rounds.

Sledgehammer

Smash sledgehammer from overhead into tyre 100 times to replicate overhand punch.

Wheelbarrow

At training camp, Chuck sprints with a wheelbarrow up and down a 100m hill, 3 times with 1 minute rest between each.

Pretty simple huh? Well, Chuck puts 275lbs (about 130kg) of free weights in the wheelbarrow!

This is great for punishing the legs and shoulders as well as core muscles for stability. It also really workds the posterior chain of muscles on the back of your body on the way down – very useful for pulling opponents off you in the ring!

Pit wall ball

Chuck takes a 50kg medicine ball to his chest form the floor then powers it as hard as possible against a wall. If it doesn’t rebound 3 feet or more the rep doesn’t count.

5 x 5 reps with 1 minute rest between sets

Your workout

It is virtually impossible to truly replicate the intensity of this training in the gym but here’s some ideas.

Row-wrestle

Row for 2.5 minutes as hard as possible then perform 2.5 minutes of kettlebell floor press work (2 hand press, alternate press, rolling press).

5 rounds, rest 1 minute between each

Check out this video to see how Frank Shamrock performs the rolling press

Sledgehammer

Perform 50 single hand medicine ball slams on each side.

Do 2 rounds on each arm with no rest at all.

Wheelbarrow

Probabaly the hardest to replicate with any accuracy in a gym.

Try doing farmer walk shuttle runs with two heavy kettlebells or dumbbells for 100m at a time. Even this may not be allowed by the puffs who run your chrome-plated Cross Trainer fest of a gym.

Do  rounds with 1 minute rest between each to make up for lack of hill and wheelbarrow.

Wall ball

Again very hard to replicate in your average gym!

I use small tyres with my bootcampers – get it overhead then throw it as far as possible.

This can be done by using a medicine ball as Chuck does, by performing shot putt with a kettlebell then sprinting after it, or by shouldering a sandbag, getting it overhead then throwing it as far as possible!

5 sets of 5 with 1 minute between sets.

Like I said do what you can to properly replicate Chuck Liddell’s MMA training outdoors for full and fast impact on all round strength and conditioning!

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