You hear a lot about the lactic energy system for MMA.
It’s important for being able to endure tough wrestling or grappling exchanges and get out of those types of situations and still be able to throw your hands.
Some trainers will tell you that it’s the most important system to develop if you want top fight conditioning.
But this one-sided stance is wrong and could set you up to gas faster than you should.
So we’re going to take an in-depth look at the lactic system and see how and when to train it for optimal results.
First of all let’s make sure you understand the 3 main energy systems:
- Aerobic – this is the system relied on by distance runners… it uses oxygen for energy and as long as you stay within the aerobic zone, this system supplies you with pretty much an unlimited amount of energy
- Anaerobic Lactic – this is the system responsible for the ‘burning’ sensation in the muscles… Glycogen, which is the stored form of carbohydrates in the muscles and liver, is the main source of energy… It has a limited capacity (max 2 minutes) until fatigue sets in and you have to drop your energy output for recovery
- Anaerobic Alactic – this is the high power system that gives you maximal strength and power, but it only lasts about 10 seconds until it needs to recover
A big misconception to break through is that while there are 3 energy systems, they don’t work separately – at any given point they’re usually all working at some level, especially in an MMA fight.
Within each energy system there are also 2 components that you can train – the maximum output or power of the system and the capacity or endurance of the system.
Today, we’re going to talk about the Lactic system and how to train both components for optimal development.
By looking at the graph, you can see that the Lactic system starts to really kick in at around 30 seconds and dies off at about 2 minutes.
With this info in mind, how would you go about training the maximal output or power of the Lactic system?
If you said, "30 seconds of high intensity work" then you’d be right!
I generally use 2 different methods to tap into the Lactic energy system: lactic tempo training and high velocity training.
An example of Lactic tempo training is performing a set of 8 reps of Squats with a controlled (1-2 seconds) tempo down and slow tempo on the way up, say 3-4 seconds on the way up.
Concentric muscular work engages the Lactic system heavily and with 8 reps, the set will last between 30-40 seconds, working on the power component.
The key is selecting a weight that makes it very tough to finish the 8 reps at the prescribed tempo.
The other benefit, especially for MMA fighters, is that this will minimize soreness, since the eccentric isn’t too long and that’s when most damage (and soreness) occurs.
High velocity training would be an exercise like Squat jumps, where the resistance is low and you can move quickly and explode. I’d do a timed set here of 30 seconds to get the Lactic system working hard.
Both methods are useful and I generally use the Lactic tempo method farther from a fight and the high velocity method closer to the fight.
Because we’re working on the power of the system, we want to take a good amount of rest in between sets so that each set you do is at full power and isn’t limited by fatigue.
So I’d go for a rest time of 1.5-2 minutes here.
My preferred method of progression is to increase the weight of each exercise since we’re focused on Lactic power. But you can also keep the weight the same and decrease the rest time between sets.
Now I want to challenge your brain a little bit and see if you’ve been paying attention!
Answer these 3 questions in the comments section below.
1. How would you train the capacity of the Lactic energy system?
2. What exercises would you use?
3. How would you progress?
Leave your answers below and I’ll be back with my comments and how I train this ability.
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