I’ve received quite a few questions recently about how to assess various aspects of fitness and performance so I’d like to offer an “inside look” at part of the assessment process I use when working with any new fighter. I’m also going to give you an example of two assessments I did recently on a UFC fighter I’ve been working with to show you just how it works.
While you likely don’t have access to the same technology and tools I do, that doesn’t mean you can’t use a similar process for your own programs.
The assessments below were from August 18th and are from the Omegawave Sport system I use as part of all my training programs. The data it gives me provides a metabolic and cardiovascular profile of exactly where an athlete is and further breaks down the status of each of these different systems.
Having assessed a great many fighters with the system, I have a model of exactly what metabolic and cardiovascular profile is needed for the best performance in MMA. In other words, I know where each of these systems should be for optimal performance so when I work with someone new I can assess them, compare them to the ideal norms, and develop my training blueprint accordingly.
The first assessment from August 18th:
(click on a thumbnail to enlarge the images)
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From these assessments I was able to determine the areas and exact systems that needed to be improved for his conditioning to be where it should be for the fight. I then set specific training goals for his program:
- Increase parasympathetic tone (this has to do with autonomic regulation and is vitally important)
- Improve aerobic system status (120-126 is where I typically would like this number to be)
- Raise anaerobic threshold (the higher the better though it can only be marginally improved through training)
- Increase System Adaptation Index (how quickly his energy systems can recover)
- Improve power output at anaerobic threshold (determined by looking at power output at his ANT of 170)
Now that I had his training goals and what we needed to work on to improve his conditioning, I was able to determine which methods I was going to use based on what adaptations we needed to achieve through the program. Many people make the mistake of setting training goals without first assessing where they are at. If you don’t know where you’re at, how do you know where you should be going?
After I had outlined the methods I was going to use I then started setting his training schedule according to the time he was going to be spending on his MMA skills training. When designing any program you have to take into account the total picture of training. You can’t design any of the pieces of training in isolation because each piece affects one another.
The training I do with him affects his performance when he’s training in the gym and vice versa. I have to take into account what he’s going to be doing in his MMA training on each day and then develop his overall training schedule accordingly based on this. I also have to look at when the fight is and plan the entire program around making sure his performance is peaking at the right time, this is what programming is all about.
Once all this has been taken into account and his program has been designed, the next step is to simply implement it and manage the training process. This means you have to monitor the training to determine if your program is working as it should be. Is the athlete recoving from their workouts? Are they making progress in the direction they should be? If you don’t pay attention to these questions it’s easy to either overtrain, or not provide enough stimulus to see the improvements you’re looking for. You must be monitoring as much as possible to make sure your training blueprint is taking you where it should be.
After nearly 8 weeks of following the program you can see that we achieved the training goals and each aspect we focused on had indeed improved. Assessments from October 7th:
{gallery}AssessmentsAfter{/gallery}
If you click on the thumbnails you will see we were able to achieve several important functional changes:
- Parasympathetic tone was much improved (you can see this most easily by looking at the PNS gauge)
- Aerobic status index improved from 117 up to 120
- Anaerobic threshold went from 170 up to 174
- System Adaptation Index improved from 207 up to 215 (this means his enery systems can recover much faster)
- Power at anaerobic threshold increased 20% (this was measured through a direct test)
- Resting heart rate decreased from low 50s to upper 40s (this wasn’t a direct goal but still beneficial)
So what can you learn from this example? First, while you probably don’t have access to the same level of technology I use to do my assessments, the process I use to design my programs can be used regardless of what assessments you may be doing or training goals you might have. Every program should begin and end with an assessment and training goals should be set and managed throughout the program accordingly.
The formula for developing effective training programs is actually a very simple 7 step process:
- Assess where exactly you are at to begin with (make sure you are using the right assessments)
- Determine where it is you need to be and set your training goals accordingly
- Outline the methods that are most effective in achieving the changes that are necessary to reach your goals
- Develop a training schedule taking every aspect of your training program and timeline into account
- Implement your training program
- Manage the training process to make sure you are making progress and make changes to the program as necessary
- Finish your program and assess its effectiveness
Even though you may not be fighting in the UFC or be able to use some of the techology I do, following this 7 step process will help dramatically improve the effectiveness of your training programs. If you look at most programs out there, they are invariably missing one or many of these steps and thus they do not achieve the best results.
Next time to you begin to develop a training program I would suggest looking over this process and see what you are doing well and what you could improve on. Do you train with a purpose? What are your training goals? Have you taken your work schedule, MMA training schedule, conditioning schedule, etc. into account when developing your program? Are you using effective assessments? Are your training methods actually accomplishing the physiological changes you need them to? How will you know if you need to change your program along the way or not? Answering these questions will go a long way towards making sure you are training smart not just training hard, and I guarantee it will dramatically improve your results.