StrongFirst Podcast Episode #09
Summary:
In this episode of the StrongFirst Podcast, your host Craig Marker talks with Mike Perry, Senior StrongFirst Instructor, about training athletes, from teenagers to elite MMA fighters.
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.
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 powerlifters, they’re fighters. The sweet spot is 2x or 2.5x bodyweight for the deadlift. He likes his fighters to do weighted pull-ups.
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 fighters move well, but preventing injuries is important.
15:47 – Mike 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.
Tweetable Quotes
You have to look at the athlete and make sure you’re picking appropriate drills to train them with. - Mike Perry Click To Tweet
We try to expose young athletes to as much movement as possible. - Mike Perry. Click To Tweet
Resources Mentioned
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As a researcher, he understands the cutting edge of strength, sports performance, body composition, and nutrition. As a psychologist, he has focused on research and treatment of anxiety disorders, which positions him to understand the motivation and the fear of making life changes.
Craig’s upcoming book, the The Antifragile Self, takes on the topic of building a stronger person in the mental and physical domains.
As a StrongFirst Certified Elite Instructor, Craig views kettlebells as one tool in the trade of forging a better person.
Visit his intentional community in Atlanta: Strength.University.
In the podcast Craig mentions some research he was shown by Pavel About the recovery markers for fighters, is there a link to this study?
That’s a great question. Craig is traveling at the moment. We’ll get back to you on that.