Combat Sports
Geoffrey Chiu
MMA Strength & Conditioning - Experts ...

With the pride, fame, and money that comes with prize-fighting, it's extremely important for strength and conditioning coaches to ensure the fighters are in top physical condition come fight night - the fighters' health depend on it.Strength and conditioning work must be balanced with martial arts skills training and psychological performance and therefore presents a complex problem for performance coaches to solve. Luckily there are professionals in the field to do just that - create strong and healthy athletes to elevate the sport of MMA.

MMA Strength & Conditioning - Experts ROUNDTABLE
Programming
Geoffrey Chiu
Periodization of Skill Acquisition & ...

Much of periodization has been focused around physical training, and how micro, meso, and macrocycles can be set up to aid in the improvement of strength, power and endurance. The periodization of skill acquisition and practice however, has yet to be examined to the same degree. In this article, I review a research paper by Farrow & Robertson (2016) and breakdown the "SPORT" framework of skill periodiation.

Periodization of Skill Acquisition & Performance
Programming
Geoffrey Chiu
Tapering & Peaking: How To Design A Taper ...

Part 2 will cover the details of a proper taper/peaking protocol. The manipulation of training variables will be discussed as well as the performance improvements that are expected from a taper.

Tapering & Peaking: How To Design A Taper and Peak For Sports Performance [Part 2 of Peaking Series]
Programming
Geoffrey Chiu
Overreaching and Overtraining [Part 1 of ...

Before we dive into the specifics of a deloading or tapering protocol, we must better understand why they're needed in the first place. Part 1 will go over the concept of overreaching, overtraining, and what type of stressors and symptoms an athlete might experience as a result of hard training.

Overreaching and Overtraining [Part 1 of Peaking Series]
Strength Training, Powerlifting
Geoffrey Chiu
The Building Blocks of Powerlifting Performance

First off, what is base building? It's a term I like to use to describe the rudimentary steps a beginner or intermediate strength athlete has to take in order to become successful 1, 3, or even 10 years down the road. 

The Building Blocks of Powerlifting Performance

Comprehensive RAMP Warm Up for Muay Thai Training

Comprehensive RAMP Warm Up for Muay Thai Training

The traditional Muay Thai warm-up that many fighters comfortably default to leaves a lot of stones unturned when it comes to getting the most out of your Muay Thai training. Here is a 3-phase comprehensive Muay Thai warm-up to ensure you’re performing at your best each session.

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Combat Sports Strength and Conditioning - Microcycle & Within-Session Programming [Part 2 of Programming Layers Series]

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Combat Sports Strength and Conditioning - Microcycle & Within-Session Programming [Part 2 of Programming Layers Series]

In part 2 of this article series, we’ll discuss principles and training methodologies that can be used to optimize combat sports training within-session and within the week.

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Combat Sports Strength and Conditioning : Macrocycle & Mesocycle Planning [PART 1 of Programming Layers Series]

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Combat Sports Strength and Conditioning : Macrocycle & Mesocycle Planning [PART 1 of Programming Layers Series]

In this article, we’ll discuss several strategies and philosophies I use when preparing combat sport athletes, which layers they can be utilized in and how a better understanding of programming can help us more effectively coach high-performance combat sport athletes.

Squats vs. Trapbar Deadlift, Hypertrophy Training and Plyometrics - Combat Sports S&C Q&A #2

Squats vs. Trapbar Deadlift, Hypertrophy Training and Plyometrics - Combat Sports S&C Q&A #2

This week’s topics discuss the differences between squats and trapbar deadlifts in a training program, the use of a “hypertrophy phase” for combat athletes as well as how to introduce plyometrics in a fighter’s training.

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Training Session Structure, Single Leg Explosiveness and High/Low Training - Combat Sports S&C Q&A #1

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Training Session Structure, Single Leg Explosiveness and High/Low Training - Combat Sports S&C Q&A #1

This week’s questions and answers session covers topics such as training session structure, single leg training for power and explosiveness as well as high/low training categorization.

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Alternatives to Olympic Weightlifting For Power Development

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Alternatives to Olympic Weightlifting For Power Development

Olympic weightlifting movements in the S&C environment is a controversial topic because some coaches are quite dogmatic about it’s use in power development. There are pros and cons to using them, depending on the context. Coach Jason lays out reasons to use alternatives and in what situations they would be best utilized.

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Optimizing The Warm-Up Using RAMP & Mobility Flows

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Optimizing The Warm-Up Using RAMP & Mobility Flows

The warm-up is also a component I’ve never stopped trying to refine over the years of coaching. I continuously ask myself: how do I help my athletes reach physiological and psychological readiness in the fastest, most efficient way possible?

A few principles I utilise follows the “RAMP” acronym.

Exercise Order - Principles For Sequencing A Training Session

Exercise Order - Principles For Sequencing A Training Session

The main goal of exercise sequencing when training athletic qualities concurrently (plyometric ability, rate of force development, maximum force output, muscular endurance, etc ) is to optimize the training adaptations from each single modality and reduce the detrimental effects of neuromuscular fatigue.

Optimizing exercise order is driven by two interrelated principles: fatigability and priority.

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Best Strength & Conditioning Books For The Thinking Coach

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Best Strength & Conditioning Books For The Thinking Coach

Almost monthly, I receive the question - “What books on strength & conditioning do you recommend?”. And every month I list out several books off the top of my head that I think ANY strength & conditioning coach can benefit from. But the reality is, the content you should be reading will be determined largely by your experience as a coach thus far in your career as well as the education you’ve received up until now.

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[Published on SimpliFaster.com] Individualizing and Optimizing Performance Training For Basketball

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[Published on SimpliFaster.com] Individualizing and Optimizing Performance Training For Basketball

In the world of performance training, a needs analysis of the sport is mandatory—but this only represents the first step to a fully optimized training program. Not all athletes of the same position will have the same playing style, and understanding this is important for designing and coaching a training program to optimize performance and injury mitigation.

8 Lessons Learned In The Field of Strength & Conditioning: A Coaching Reflection

8 Lessons Learned In The Field of Strength & Conditioning: A Coaching Reflection

What was originally planned as a journal for myself, I decided to edit and share with the world. As the title suggests, the list below consists of lessons I have learned throughout the years in the field of strength & conditioning and coaching. Many of them were unexpected and hard to bounce back from. But all of them made me a better coach at the end of the day.

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[Published on SimpliFaster.com] Plyometric Push-Ups and Progressions for Power Development

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Push-ups are one of the most commonly used exercises among fitness buffs and elite-level athletes. As a closed-chained exercise that targets the chest and upper body musculature, push-ups are highly effective for improving upper body pushing strength and endurance, and can be done with no equipment.

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Powerlifting Performance - 3 Commonly Neglected Areas

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Powerlifting Performance - 3 Commonly Neglected Areas

Having coached many competitive powerlifters for the last 3-4 years, I've noticed common areas in the realm of training and recovery that many strength athletes neglect. Either the importance of these areas have not been stressed enough by their coaches and the environment they lift in, or the athletes fail to see the impact it plays on their powerlifting performance.

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The Science of Core Training: Training Methods & Application (Part 2 of Core Training Series)

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The Science of Core Training: Training Methods & Application (Part 2 of Core Training Series)

Part 2 of this core stiffness article series will cover the core training principles and methods that drive short and long-term improvements in performance.

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The Science of Core Training: Core Stiffness & Performance Overview (Part 1 of Core Training Series)

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The Science of Core Training: Core Stiffness & Performance Overview (Part 1 of Core Training Series)

This article will overview the concept of core stiffness and how it's applied to several sporting performances and movements. Core stiffness may refer to the core's ability to maintain stability in response to the influence of external forces, which may vary in magnitude, direction and speed. 

MMA Strength & Conditioning - Experts ROUNDTABLE

MMA Strength & Conditioning - Experts ROUNDTABLE

With the pride, fame, and money that comes with prize-fighting, it's extremely important for strength and conditioning coaches to ensure the fighters are in top physical condition come fight night - the fighters' health depend on it.Strength and conditioning work must be balanced with martial arts skills training and psychological performance and therefore presents a complex problem for performance coaches to solve. Luckily there are professionals in the field to do just that - create strong and healthy athletes to elevate the sport of MMA.

about

My mission with GC Performance Training is to elevate the field of strength & conditioning for combat sports. Whether you’re an athlete or a coach, you’ll find content here to help you better understand the science and art of training.