Summary:

In this episode of the StrongFirst Podcast, your host Craig Marker talks with Mike Perry, Senior StrongFirst Instructor about training athletes from elite MMA fighters to teenagers.

Show Notes:

00:38 - Mike Perry and his wife, Amanda, run a large gym called Skill of Strength outside Boston.

01:30 - He works with 10-12 pro fighters either in the UFC.

03:00 – Mike talks about training short-term vs. long-term planning. Fight camps are generally 8-12 weeks.

05:50 – Mike talks about strength training for fighters. These athletes aren’t power lifters, they’re fighters. The sweet spot is 2x or 2.5x bodyweight for the deadlift. He likes his fighters to do weighted pullups.

07:20 Recovery is the name of the game and his athletes spend a lot of time on heart rate and recovery.

12:55 – Mike talks about flexibility in training. Early in his career, he would try to design the best training program in the world. He learned to work around injuries and recovery needs.

14:38 – FMS for fighters. A lot of the fighters move well, but prevention of injuries is important.

15:47 – Mike’s discusses his emphasis on one leg movement. With mixed martial artists, the single leg training is most important.

16:55 – Mike’s MMA fighters have high VO2 max levels and quick recovery.

20:06 – Training does not need to be like competition.

23:45 – Mike talks about training young athletes. Learning long-term athletic movement. It is organized play while teaching the basics of lifting. For middle school athletes, it’s movement variability. Middle schoolers don’t need to be trained like high school athletes. For high school athletes, it’s skipping variations, running, jump training, basic lifts.

27:20 – Mike discusses training the general population.

29:42 – Mike discusses his push-up program based off Pavel’s Fighter pull-up program.

36:15 – Closing advice and coaching tips.