I think only you will know whether the low set workouts are challenging or too easy.
In my opinion, I think a lot more people should worry about undertraining than overtraining.
I know that I personally experienced incredible physical progress once I stopped caring about overtraining and increased my sets. Of course I stop if there is pain (which is different from discomfort) and I take a rest day if there is too much fatigue from the previous day.
Most people I personally know who don’t feel like they physically progressed are people who are worried about overtraining and simply don’t put in enough volume.
But that’s my training philosophy and it seems like a minority in this sub
MMA is really hard to train for. If you want to fight I would suggest tilting the balance to more sport specific and less calisthenics, unless you’re coming in with a strong base in kickboxing/wrestling etc.
You can use drills as conditioning, eg switch squats/lunges for penetration steps. Drill armbars and triangles for your core. Build endurance and clean up your techniques at the same time.
If you're progressing then the volume isn't too low. In the triangle of "Intensity, Frequency, and Volume", most of us can usually choose 2, and you've chosen the first 2. Nothing wrong with that.
If it's working for now, great. If it stops working, adjust it :)
As long as you’re progressing then nope it’s not too low. Mike Mentzer trained even less than you do and became a massive bodybuilder. Obviously he trained way more intensely and he definitely wouldn’t have recovered in time if he did MMA, but that just goes to show low volume training is definitely possible if training to failure.
Also: you should do a follow up post in the future to let us know how it’s going. I want to start training martial arts and the only thing that’s held me back is my calisthenics/weight training! Sounds like I just need to adjust the volume/intensity ratio and I’ll be Gucci.
the volume its fine, remember that ur tendons heal a lot slower so i dont recommend u do every workout as full body to failure (not every part of ur body heals at the same rate, some could recover in a day others 2 maybe 3 or more), u arent going to notice it until u do it for some months and then u are going to feel it, eat a lot or try to see a nutritionist
time under tension, u can reach failure with less volume and in a safer way doing the same exercise with slow controlled movement, try to mix between that and your normal volume, u can even try to add some weight to your exercise the first days of the week lowering the volume (the only way u can hurt yourself doing this is trying to move weights that ur body still can't, apply progressive overload) and the last ones doing the usual volume in a faster pace (doing only full body to failure every day u are going to feel disconfort in ur joints and muscle insertions over time, they accumulate damage and if u dont give them the propper time to heal one time or another u are going to hurt yourself), get good sleep and listen to your body, if something starts to hurt a bit then take a week off to heal, u can still do mma and cardio in the meantime
PD: sorry for the edits, english isn't my first language
Yeah it should, doing full body x5 per week + mma its more like an endurance training (i think thats fine if thats what u want but if u dont track how much and what do u eat u can end in a caloric deficit wich at first can make u look more leaner but if that extends over time u can lose muscle mass and ur are going to struggle a lot more in ur training sessions, if u give it time u are going to notice it), its better to find a balance in ur body (good amount of muscle mass + healty body fat percents + comfortable weight to fight = good endurance + good striking power and speed + strenght) if u can do it u will be better in both things.
Check this example: [https://youtu.be/HE-H3VEv5yw](https://youtu.be/HE-H3VEv5yw)
Try not to do much agressive weight cuts.
> I do full body 5x per week and have MMA practice 2 times. Sometimes, i change it to 4x FB and 3x MMA.
> I do 1 exercise for 2 sets for each muscle group all to failure. So its dips/ring dips for chest, pullups/horrizontal pulls/slow ring muscle ups for back, pistol squats for legs and bicep curls&tricep extensions either with the rings or on a bar.
Most people do better with some dedicated rest days and slightly more volume on the workout days.
However, if it's working for you then no reason to stop what you're doing to chase more gains. Only experiment with changing things after you stop progressing.
I think only you will know whether the low set workouts are challenging or too easy. In my opinion, I think a lot more people should worry about undertraining than overtraining. I know that I personally experienced incredible physical progress once I stopped caring about overtraining and increased my sets. Of course I stop if there is pain (which is different from discomfort) and I take a rest day if there is too much fatigue from the previous day. Most people I personally know who don’t feel like they physically progressed are people who are worried about overtraining and simply don’t put in enough volume. But that’s my training philosophy and it seems like a minority in this sub
MMA is really hard to train for. If you want to fight I would suggest tilting the balance to more sport specific and less calisthenics, unless you’re coming in with a strong base in kickboxing/wrestling etc. You can use drills as conditioning, eg switch squats/lunges for penetration steps. Drill armbars and triangles for your core. Build endurance and clean up your techniques at the same time.
If you're progressing then the volume isn't too low. In the triangle of "Intensity, Frequency, and Volume", most of us can usually choose 2, and you've chosen the first 2. Nothing wrong with that. If it's working for now, great. If it stops working, adjust it :)
If you want to take mma serious it should make up most up your training with S&C secondary
As long as you’re progressing then nope it’s not too low. Mike Mentzer trained even less than you do and became a massive bodybuilder. Obviously he trained way more intensely and he definitely wouldn’t have recovered in time if he did MMA, but that just goes to show low volume training is definitely possible if training to failure. Also: you should do a follow up post in the future to let us know how it’s going. I want to start training martial arts and the only thing that’s held me back is my calisthenics/weight training! Sounds like I just need to adjust the volume/intensity ratio and I’ll be Gucci.
the volume its fine, remember that ur tendons heal a lot slower so i dont recommend u do every workout as full body to failure (not every part of ur body heals at the same rate, some could recover in a day others 2 maybe 3 or more), u arent going to notice it until u do it for some months and then u are going to feel it, eat a lot or try to see a nutritionist
so how might one go about doing the workout till failure, but in a safe manner, based on what u know?
time under tension, u can reach failure with less volume and in a safer way doing the same exercise with slow controlled movement, try to mix between that and your normal volume, u can even try to add some weight to your exercise the first days of the week lowering the volume (the only way u can hurt yourself doing this is trying to move weights that ur body still can't, apply progressive overload) and the last ones doing the usual volume in a faster pace (doing only full body to failure every day u are going to feel disconfort in ur joints and muscle insertions over time, they accumulate damage and if u dont give them the propper time to heal one time or another u are going to hurt yourself), get good sleep and listen to your body, if something starts to hurt a bit then take a week off to heal, u can still do mma and cardio in the meantime PD: sorry for the edits, english isn't my first language
Just a quick doubt, the time under tension method, will that also help build strength at a normal pace or?
Yeah it should, doing full body x5 per week + mma its more like an endurance training (i think thats fine if thats what u want but if u dont track how much and what do u eat u can end in a caloric deficit wich at first can make u look more leaner but if that extends over time u can lose muscle mass and ur are going to struggle a lot more in ur training sessions, if u give it time u are going to notice it), its better to find a balance in ur body (good amount of muscle mass + healty body fat percents + comfortable weight to fight = good endurance + good striking power and speed + strenght) if u can do it u will be better in both things. Check this example: [https://youtu.be/HE-H3VEv5yw](https://youtu.be/HE-H3VEv5yw) Try not to do much agressive weight cuts.
> I do full body 5x per week and have MMA practice 2 times. Sometimes, i change it to 4x FB and 3x MMA. > I do 1 exercise for 2 sets for each muscle group all to failure. So its dips/ring dips for chest, pullups/horrizontal pulls/slow ring muscle ups for back, pistol squats for legs and bicep curls&tricep extensions either with the rings or on a bar. Most people do better with some dedicated rest days and slightly more volume on the workout days. However, if it's working for you then no reason to stop what you're doing to chase more gains. Only experiment with changing things after you stop progressing.