material focusing on the affects of MMA training and competition on the athlete's physiology ... â¢New Jersey State Athletic Control Board, Mixed Martial Arts.
AN IN DEPTH PHYSIOLOGICAL PERFORMANCE PROFILE FOR THE SPORT OF MIXED MARTIAL ARTS Christopher Kirk For the award of MSc. (Research) Applied Sport and Exercise Sciences
Introduction
Study Outcomes
As MMA is a relatively young combat sport (NJACB, 2002), there is little peer reviewed material focusing on the affects of MMA training and competition on the athlete’s physiology (Schick et al, 2010, Antmann et al, 2008) and fewer still looking into their training methods (Antmann, 2010). This study has two separate aims: A – investigate the loads and efforts produced by MMA fighters in isolated strikes, wrestling takedowns and live grappling and B – investigate the load and effort produced by MMA fighters in live sparring bouts and compare this against lactate production and time motion analysis.
The results from this study will be used to assess the validity of the Player Load variable to MMA by comparing its correlation to the lactate and time motion data whilst also giving MMA coaches and athletes a clearer view of the athlete’s needs and capabilities in training and competing within the sport.
Supervisor: Dr. Howard Hurst Due for Completion December 2013
References
Testing To complete Aim A, 8 trained male professional and semiprofessional MMA competitors (Age=25.5±4.5, Height=176.4±9.4cm, Weight=74.9±13.1kg) were equipped with Catapult Minimax 3 accelerometer units (Catapult Innovations, Melbourne, Australia) and lead through a series of standing and ground strikes. The participants were then partnered together and completed two sets of five isolated wrestling takedowns and 2X4 minute rounds of live grappling sparring without strikes. These tests were done to record the participant’s accelerations in the X, Y and Z axes on each movement as well as their Player Load (Catapult Sports, 2012). Aim B was achieved by the participants taking part in a sparring bout under full MMA rules wearing the Minimax units. The participant’s lactate values were recorded before the start of the bout, between each round and 5 minutes after the end of the bout and video recorded for time motion analysis, which was completed using Longomatch 0.18 (Andoni Morales, Madrid, Spain).
•Antmann, J., (2010), Training Volume and Methods of Athletes Competing at a Mixed Martial Arts Events, Intermountain Journal of Sciences, 16:1-3, pp. 51-54 • Antmann, J., Antmann, K., Spath, W., (2008), Lactate and Rate of Perceived Exertion Responses of Athletes Training for and Competing in a Mixed Martial Arts Event, Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, 22:2, pp. 645-647 •Catapult Sports, Minimax, (2012), Available [online]: http://catapultsports.com/products/minimax, Date Accessed: 29/11/12 •New Jersey State Athletic Control Board, Mixed Martial Arts Unified Rules of Conduct Additional Mixed Martial Arts Rules, (2002), Available [online]: http://www.nj.gov/lps/sacb/docs/martial.html, Date Accessed: 17/1/12 •Schick, M., Brown, L., Coburn, J., Beam, W., Schick, E., Dabbs, C., (2010), Physiological Profile of Mixed Martial Artists, Medicina Sportiva 14 (4), pp. 182-187
