Best MMA Conditioning Books

We will add more books that we loved but the best so far is still the “Ultimate MMA Conditioning” book written by Joel Jamieson and published in 2009 (over 10 years ago). This 164 pages book focuses on the conditioning and strength of mixed martial art fighters.

If you don't know about General Adaptation Syndrome (GAS), you must read this book.

Testimonials

The book was published almost 10 years ago and included some previously well known MMA fighters which include.:-

• Rich Franklin (now Vice President of Asian Mixed Martial Arts company ONE Championship)
• Chris Leben (currently bare-knuckle boxer),
• Hayato Sakurai (the last match was in 2016),
• Tim Boetsch (the last match was in 2019),
• Jens Pulver, Ben Rothwell, Nick Ring, Brock Larson, Spencer Fisher, KJ Noons, Matt Brown, Maurice Smith, Robbie Lawler, Tatsuya Mizuno, Niko Vitale, Jorge Gurgel, Ivan Salaverry, Mario Miranda, Tyrone Glover, Ed Herman, Akira Shoji

If you are already familiar with the adaptation mechanism and energy system of the body, then you can quickly read this book. You will have to read and re-read this book so that you can assemble tools into a program. 

This book will provide you with all the information that is needed to shape your body for this combative sport. Moreover, it is written by the expert coach Joel Jamieson, and it will provide you a complete blueprint from A to Z to improve strength and conditioning.

The top martial artists have relied on Joel Jamieson to get their bodies in shape. Whether you are a fighter, coach, or just want to get your body in shape, the ultimate MMA conditioning book will help you to reach your destination faster than ever before.  

Strength and Conditioning Section

The strength and conditioning section of the book deals with the basics of strength and conditioning. The common mistake that MMA competitors make is General Adaptation Syndrome (GAS).

Fighters don’t understand the role of strength and conditioning in competitions. They underestimate the power of both these factors. They don’t take it seriously.  Both of these are necessary and well-written in this MMA conditioning book.

This section will predict where the writer is coming from and where he will go in the next chapters. After getting rid of the general issues, the book focuses on the specifics.

Joel Jamieson breaks the conditioning system into three sub-systems, such as:

• The Aerobic Energy System
• The Anaerobic-Lactic Energy System
• The Anaerobic-Alactic Energy System

In simple words and in short, you can say that

• The first one is about your body producing energy with the help of oxygen.
• The second one about your body producing energy without oxygen but using lactic acid.
• The third one is about your body is producing energy without the help of oxygen and lactic acid. 

There is a misconception about these sub-systems, and the author clears this by writing that these systems work in sequence.

It is said that your body transitions from one system to the other when the duration and intensity of exercise are changed. The author gave a reference of his previous book and said that all the systems work simultaneously to provide needed energy for exertion.

However, the intensity of exercise determines how much energy comes from what fuel source. 

The concept is simple if you think the first system (aerobic) works for low-intensity movements, and then you wouldn’t bother training this for high-intensity sport like MMA. However, if you still feel that it aids recovery between rounds and boosts energy, then you can put some effort into it. 

All three sub-systems are discussed in-depth, and these are further broken down into a series of methods. For example, the second system (anaerobic-lactic) has five methods that focus on how to increase enzymes involved in anaerobic glycolysis, glucose storage, glycolysis buffering, improved ATP production, improvement in lactic power, and improvement to lactic fatigue. If you don’t get the point and don’t understand how these systems work, then read the book because it explains all the systems thoroughly. 

Method #5 Static Dynamics

This section starts with the name statics dynamics and explains hows and whys. The description section is then followed by a box that tells about summation and execution guidelines. It includes reps, sets, exercises, intervals, and so on. An interesting thing about this MMA conditioning book is that each energy system chapter contains an overview table at the end. It makes easy for you to pick which system you want to work and how to do that system. These tables are easy to read and contain lots of whitespaces. Finally, each chapter has its own summary and all the important points of system and training are mentioned in it. 

Final Section of the Ultimate MMA Conditioning Book

The final section of the MMA conditioning book deals with programming. Now, you are familiar with all the systems and sub-systems. How will you fit all this together? The author doesn’t leave a generic program for you to follow. He focuses that you should find your strengths and weaknesses to build a program that can address the former issues and improve the latter. Moreover, he laid a generic block system that gives you a complete program of 8 week’s workout. He also gives a plan to structure all of these methods. It depends on your needs and stamina that which one you need.

You should adopt systems based on your own results, and not by a simple blueprint. 

Conclusion

If we rate this book I will give 5 out 5 for its content because the content is complete and detailed. I will give full marks for its presentation. It is written well, well laid out, and easy to refer back to. So, overall I will give full points to this book.

After future checking, I realised the book is available in Amazon too. Click below to check the price and reviews.

Ultimate MMA Conditioning Book

Check Price on Amazon

If you want to read this book to train MMA athletes, then this one is best for you. You can purchase this book for yourself also. This book aimed at strength and conditioning and each aspect of conditioning is given in detail. You can address conditioning sub-systems and how to arrange them in a program for a seamless experience. Even though this book is well-written, still it is not easy to read. It’s just that dense. It is packed with the information that you need as a beginner or as a trainer. So, after reading this book, I would highly recommend this book to everyone. So, you can read this book as a mentor, as a trainee or for improvement of your body shape. 

The MMA conditioning book was written specifically for conditioning purposes, and it doesn’t have any other goal beyond that. You don’t have to go deep to know about this book. The title is enough to tell you about this book.