train MMA at home

Train MMA at Home – Technical Skills and S&C

Interested in training MMA at home with minimum equipment?

Cant make it to the gym regularly for group training and MMA classes?

Read on to learn how to put together your own MMA training regime at home to keep you on track and in shape so you keep progressing in your MMA training.

Save time and start training at home today with ‘The MMA Striker’ program by pro fighter Jeff Chan.

No equipment required.

If you want to supplement your group training and classes with home MMA workouts or if you cant get to a gym or school regularly, make use of the key elements described in this post to keep progressing and improving in your MMA.

Improve MMA Technique from Home

Many of the resources available online for “MMA training at home” just focus on conditioning.

They make use of HIIT and Tabatas etc but just using MMA and martial arts moves instead of normal exercises like burpees and others.

In my opinion its like doing cardio kickboxing instead of muay thai. One is an exercise workout and the other is a martial art and combat sport.

Don’t get me wrong these workouts have their place but in this post I want you to be able to put together a home MMA training workout and program that is also focused on MMA technical skill as well rather than just an exercise program.

But first lets look realistically at what you can work on training from home and what you really need to be training at a group class or gym with a partner.

What are the Elements of MMA You can train at home effectively?

i) Strength & Conditioning

The first aspect of MMA that you can keep improving on and even make great gains from home is your strength and conditioning.

This is the aspect I see in a lot of posts that are aimed at providing resources for “MMA home training”. And strength and conditioning for MMA is a significant aspect that you need to keep improving and training.

A lot of people think that attending MMA classes and sparring will get you in top MMA shape.

But the truth is you need a specific strength and conditioning program for MMA that will build your endurance and fight specific strength, power and speed.

The strength and conditioning for MMA aspect requires a dedicated post and we will just touch on some of the main points here and point you in the right direction for some great online resources for great MMA and martial arts specific S&C programs.

But first its important to note that periodization is key.

There are just too many aspects of the MMA fight game that you need to keep training and you really cant do everything at once.

A lot of fitness gurus out there will put together a workout and say “this will build your speed, strength and cardio all at the same time”.

For general fitness this maybe true but for fighting and MMA you really need to use periodzation and building different aspects of your strength and conditioning and different times.

A full strength and conditioning program for MMA is much too complex to put in this post but it should include Periodization with phases such as below (each lasting about 4 weeks):

  • Phase 1 – Mobility/Correcting Muscular Imbalances
  • Phase 2 – Strength Development through resistance training
  • Phase 3 – Endurance
  • Phase 4 – Speed development
  • Phase 5 – Power development and peaking your strength and conditioning

Two excellent resources that I use for specific MMA and martial arts strength and conditioning are:

Eric Wong’s – MMA specific program that will get you in top MMA shape just training two days a week (so you can spend most of your time actually improving your MMA skill and technical aspects) http://www.ultimatemmastrength.com/

Don Heatrick’s – Muay Thai specific strength and conditioning program (this is muay thai focused though). While MMA is not the focus you will learn all the aspects needed for a martial arts specific S&C program especially periodization. https://heatrick.com/

ii) Striking

As muay thai is a large focus of my training and something I train at home regularly, I feel that this is one aspect that you can improve a lot with the use of a heavy bag and some focus and intention.

‘The MMA Striker’ program is one program I highly recommend to use for at home solo MMA striking training with no equipment.

I have a few resources on this site that will help with home based striking training you can use as part of your home based MMA program.

Keep working and improving the basics:

Single Punches:

  • Jab, Cross, Hooks, Uppercuts
  • Jabs to the body
  • Cross and Hooks to the body

High Percentage Punch Combos:

  • Jab, Cross
  • Jab, Jab, Cross
  • Hook, Cross
  • Jab, Cross, Hook

Punch-Kick and Kick Punch Combos:

High percentage combos:

  • Lead Hook/Jab, Rear Low Kick
  • Jab, Cross, Hook, Rear Body Kick
  • Lead Hook, Cross, Lead Body Kick
  • Jab, Rear Uppercut, Lead Hook, Rear Head Kick

Counter Striking

Check out the FULL MMA Striking Course below by active Pro MMA fighter Jeff Chan that focuses on all aspects of striking for MMA including the importance of counter striking.

Jeff’s program is a complete Striking for MMA course that can be trained solo with no equipment and includes 33 comprehensive follow along workouts that cover technique and conditioning.

Jeff is currently signed to ONE Championship for MMA and he has a solid muay thai foundation he uses in MMA.

Varying Your Heavy Bag Training

If you are training mostly solo then the heavy bag will be your best friend and most useful tool for MMA home training.

But in order to keep your training fresh and to improve skill as well as power and speed you need to vary your heavy bag training.

In a complete training program, lets say at a school or gym/academy, the heavy bag is mainly for power development.

Mitts and Thai pads also have some power development but also have the accuracy, timing and technical aspect as well.

Partner drills and dutch drills also help you develop your defense and body mechanics with a moving target.

So these aspects need to be part of your heavy bag training as well rather than going for power every session.

Below is a ‘technical’ heavy bag workout breakdown I wrote to keep your heavy bag training fresh and to keep improving your skill.

Focus on technique with these sessions rather than all out power. But for sure do your power sessions on the heavy bag as well but at other times or different rounds.

iii) Grappling

This is the most difficult aspect of MMA to train at home, especially without a partner.

But even so rather than giving up, just focus on the aspects of grappling that you can train at home to keep improving. There are many useful online resources for working on grappling, especially BJJ through solo training.

Some of the basics you can drill a lot solo are also the fundamental grappling movements you should be putting a lot of time into perfecting anyway, especially as a beginner or someone new to MMA.

Technical stand up

This is a basic self defense, MMA and BJJ movement. Just be sure to practice on both sides and not just your strong side.

Shrimping

This another basic but very crucial and fundamental movement that is practiced a lot in Judo and BJJ. This should be a stable of your MMA home training and solo drilling.

Takedowns and Throws Using a Heavy Bag

Takedowns and throws to get your opponent to the ground for MMA is difficult to practice solo. But here are some great options using a heavy bag.

I prefer the 6ft Thai Bag or Banana bag.

A Thai Bag is much cheaper than a grappling dummy and you can also use it for striking.

You might be interested to know what the most common takedowns are in MMA. The answer is the double leg takedown.

According to the website MMA Fight DB which looked at looked at over 2,072 trips and throws in 799 MMA fights, the top takedowns were as follows:

  1. Double leg
  2. Single leg
  3. Outside trip
  4. Bodylock
  5. Suplex
  6. Duckunder
  7. Hip throw
  8. Inside trip

You can read the stats at the link here – https://www.bjjee.com/articles/fight-stats-double-leg-is-the-most-common-mma-takedown-nurmagomedov-most-successful-takedown-artist/

Top Pressure & Movement

Again using a heavy bag below is a video with some great drills for when you are on top and need to move in order to keep top position.

Guard Passing

The video below shows 4 great guard passing drills you can train solo with a heavy bag as well as showing the application with a partner.

MMA Elements You Cant Really Train at Home Effectively (Need a Partner)

In a recent lesson taught by Rickson Gracie, a student online asked about the best way to train solo at home.

Rickson answered that training solo in BJJ is like trying to surf without a wave. He did however go on to explain about using a non-skilled partner such as your wife or parents or siblings.

Just to get a feel for the position and movement. He suggested this is more effective than pure solo training. He went on to explain how training like this with his very young son at the time, Rockson he was able to use it as valuable prep for an upcoming fight.

So the elements of MMA below cannot be effectively trained solo. But an unskilled partner can be very valuable for drilling.

1.Submissions

Submissions such as rear naked chokes, armbars, leg locks, foot locks and guillotines are really difficult to train at home alone.

Your best bet would be to put in extra time working and drilling submissions with a partners in MMA/BJJ classes.

Submissions are difficult to train at home for MMA

You could also ask a friend to work with you at home to drill submissions. Maybe someone you train another martial art with or someone who is also keen to get in extra work outside of class.

If you are someone learning MMA completely from home because there are no MMA gyms in your area then you will need to learn and train submissions in BJJ or Judo classes and practice them in your rolling or newaza randori.

You could also ask someone from your BJJ or Judo class if they want to get in extra training with you at home outside of class.

2. Submission Escapes

Escaping submissions is a really important part of MMA training. It is also really difficult to train at home without a partner.

If you are able to work with a partner at home then you can work on this aspect by working your escapes from a inferior position and with your partner in a dominant position going for the submission.

Escaping pins and submissions are crucial for MMA but difficult to train solo at home

Drill escapes from inferior positions and if you get tapped just start the drill again!

Drill your escapes and then swap and work on your submissions too.

3.Sparring and Rolling

Sparring and rolling are probably the most fun parts of martial arts. At least for me anyway. This is the chance you have to really test your techniques against a resisting opponent.

In BJJ and Judo you can pretty much go 100%, but in muay thai and boxing there is always some holding back (outside of hard fight prep sparing which should not be done too regularly) but in terms of speed and accuracy nothing beats good sparring to prepare you for a fight.

Without a partner to work with this is difficult to train alone.

Nevertheless don’t be discouraged if you are training mostly alone.

Keep using the solo training discussed above and when you get a chance to train in a group class with partners just relax and let your techniques come out and have fun when you do spar.

If you are putting in the time with your strength and conditioning and solo drilling on the bag and mats at home you will at least be able to keep with your partners in the group class.

And you may be surprised at how much progress you can make with home training for MMA.

Whether it be to supplement your group classes or in addition to another martial art you are training due to there being no MMA gyms or schools in your area the MMA home training program I am suggesting will for sure help you keep improving and progressing.

So Lets Put It All Together

Below is an example of a home MMA workout that puts together all the elements discussed in this post.

This is a solo workout so partner drills are not included in the example home MMA workout below.

The workout below will take about 1 hr 45 mins.

You could also add in some pushups and pullups, situps etc but I prefer to keep my S&C on separate days to really be able to focus on that aspect when its time.

Home MMA Workout – Example

  • Foam rolling (10 mins)
  • Skipping 3 by 3 minute rounds
  • Shadow boxing 2 by 5 minute rounds
  • Heavy Bag Striking 6 by 5 minute rounds (3 technical rounds/3 power rounds)
  • Technical stand up – 20 each side
  • Shrimping – 20 each side
  • Shrimp to technical stand up – 15 each side
  • Heavy bag throws 1 5 minute round (focus on the most high percentage throws takedowns such as the double and single legs, but also your favorite takedowns as well)
  • Heavy bag throw to guard passes 1 5 minute round (stand back up after passing guard)
  • Heavy bag throw to guard pass to top position control (top position control for 30 secs then stand up and throw again) 2 5 minute rounds
  • Cool down and stretching 15 mins

Wrap Up and A Complete Online Resource for MMA Home Training

The aim of this post has been for you to be able to put together a home based MMA training workout and program.

The online resources I have found for home MMA training have mostly been exercise programs. The technical skill aspect has not been discussed too much so I have tried to do that here.

I would highly recommend you also check out the complete MMA striker’s course.

By including the MMA elements you can realistically train and improve on at home, namely striking and aspects of grappling such as takedowns, guard passes and technical stand ups and shrimping, I have put together a FREE example workout you can use.

Or check out the paid program above by Pro Fighter Jeff Chan currently signed to ONE Championship.

By combining different elements and focusing on different aspects you can vary this example workout a lot to work on different aspects.

Thanks for reading and happy training!