The MMA Workout You Can Do at Home

Jump Rope

Jumping rope is an excellent way to raise your heart rate (which is important to do at the beginning of your workout) because it combines cardiovascular exercise with agility, speed, and coordination.

However, Camozzi admits that it can be tough for beginners. If you're new to jumping rope, he suggests starting with five, 1-minute rounds with 1 minute of rest between sets.

As he explains, "You want it to be difficult, but it shouldn't be so hard that it ends your workout. Find the balance based on what your fitness level is when starting out."

Beginner Option

• 1 minute of jumping rope
• 1-minute rest
• Repeat five times

Intermediate Option

• 3 minutes jumping rope
• 1-minute rest
• Repeat five times

Advanced Option

• 5 minutes jumping rope
• 1-minute rest
• Repeat five times

When you've completed your jump rope rounds, take a water break, wrap your hands, and put your gloves on. Keep this break as quick and efficient as possible.

Shadowbox

The shadowboxing portion of your workout is optional, depending on how much time you have. Shadowboxing is pretty straightforward: You're sparring with an imaginary partner, throwing punches and moving around an imaginary ring.

However, just because it's a straightforward workout doesn't mean you should take it lightly. Camozzi stresses that you should push yourself, working at a quick pace with fast punches and lots of footwork.

Camozzi typically completes two to three 5-minute rounds of fast-paced shadowboxing and moving. If you're short on time, you can opt for a single, 5-minute round. If you want to, you can even cut it from your routine completely and skip straight to the heavy bag workout.

All Levels

• 5 minutes shadowboxing at a fast pace
• 1-minute rest
• Repeat up to three times

Heavy Bag Work

You can do heavy bag work alone or with a partner. Ideally, you should be using hand wraps and good boxing gloves for this. Camozzi's heavy bag routine consists of three 5-minute rounds, each followed by 1 minute of rest. Each round focuses on a different aspect of training.

The second, 5-minute round is similar in function to the first, but focused solely on kneeing and kicking movements instead of boxing.

The point is to keep the pace fast and high-volume for the entire 5-minute round, but you're welcome to get creative as you go.

The third 5-minute round puts everything together, combining punching and kicking. This will exhaust you, but do your best to keep your intensity up—it's only 5 total minutes of work.

In between each of the 5-minute rounds, give yourself a minute to rest. You can take this as total rest or active rest, depending on how you're feeling. Camozzi uses his minute-long "breaks" to do core work: "I do crunches, or I sit down, wrap my legs around the bag and do situps with two light punches at the top of each situp."

After you've completed all three rounds, give yourself a 2- to 3-minute water break before moving on.

All Levels

• 5-minute punching round, fast pace and high volume
• 1-minute rest (active or passive)
• 5-minute kicking round, fast pace and high volume
• 1-minute rest (active or passive)
• 5-minute kicking and punching round, fast pace and high volume
• 2–3 minutes rest and water break

The Burn Out Round

The burn out round is like a final, high-intensity battle between yourself and the bag. You can do this alone or with a partner, although most workouts are more fun (and challenging) when you have a partner there to push you. "If you do it alone, you really have to challenge yourself," Camozzi explains.

All Levels

Set an interval timing app to time five intervals of 30 seconds work and 30 seconds rest. If you're doing the workout without a partner, you'll be pushing yourself as hard as possible during the 30-second work period, then resting during the 30-second rest period.

If you're working with a partner, you'll simply switch off, one of you doing your work during the work interval, and the other doing your work during the rest interval:

• 30 seconds punches as fast and hard as you can
• 30 seconds rest (or your partner performs their work interval)
• 30 seconds kicks as fast and hard as you can
• 30 seconds rest (or your partner performs their work interval)
• 30 seconds punches as fast and hard as you can
• 30 seconds rest (or your partner performs their work interval)
• 30 seconds kicks as fast and hard as you can
• 30 seconds rest (or your partner performs their work interval)
• 30 seconds punches as fast and hard as you can
• 30 seconds rest (or your partner performs their work interval)

Core Work and Pushups

If you have time, complete two to three sets of push-ups, doing as many as you can for each set while maintaining good form, then finish your workout with a series of ab exercises, including planks, sit-ups, medicine ball oblique twists, and leg lifts. Use this as an opportunity to target the chest and abs. Adding just 5 to 10 minutes is a great way to finish.

Bonus Round: The Equipment-Free Conditioning Circuit

If you don't have access to a heavy bag, or you need a workout you can do in a hotel room or small space, there's a solution.

In fact, according to Matt Marsden—a fitness instructor at Beacon College in Leesburg, Florida, who has a training and coaching background in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Judo, boxing, Muay Thai, and Tae Kwon Do—this workout is common for MMA fighters because they travel frequently and sometimes have to train outside of the typical gym setting.

Marsden also makes it clear that bodyweight conditioning workouts are every bit as important for MMA training as throwing punches in the ring.

Fighting your way through a series of timed conditioning rounds is an excellent way to mimic the training MMA fighters implement. Marsden offers the following workout as a good example:

• 1-minute push-ups
• 1-minute mountain climbers
• 1-minute plank
• 1-minute burpees
• 1-minute crunches

Rest for 1 minute after completing the 5-minute round (just as you do in an MMA fight), then repeat, completing three total rounds of the circuit.

After completing the three bodyweight rounds, Marsden suggests you finish off with a final, high-intensity interval round. Perform 5–10 intervals of 30-seconds work and 30-seconds rest, where you sprint or jump rope as fast as you can for the 30 seconds of work.

Rather, switch back and forth between higher- and lower-intensity exercises when planning your bodyweight circuit.