On Fitness, We Agree. Tools Needed to Get Fit? Not So Mu I enemas DRY ase Gt), 2 a Ce} Foie) aa las A eR Ole cae) aL eM) al DISAGREE ON THE TOOLS NEEDED TO GET A FIGHTER FIT. IT’S A MIXED BAG. WHERE IS YOUR FACILITY ON THIS MMA FITNESS SPECTRUM? Seeger te erection Tt eee eee ee ee See eer eee ee era aor ee Greco-Roman wrestling and submis we their Fighters a one members interested in ee ee hammers and poster bands rather chan employing an expensiv MA fir ee es 1 of eitcue machi ee We do ha ee Pitaining in “The se styles he perfocted YOR CAN YOU RELY ON TECHNIQUE AND TRADITION? Ubsimacely hat ‘weight tea fe andi selPdefense system 88 equipment line-up a felpfal selling point ective members, he s4ys the ultimate cus smer draw has pro their speci x training. And, alc the gym to double in size with the rakeover of fer and more members co sign sp, wh mat space or ness equipment,” sth and 16th century os says “They basically use have mats,“Bue you can use rely on technique anymore” he says. “There are guys coming in ‘that can go five-minute rounds all day long. Watch the guys like GSP or Randy Couture ‘or BJ Penn work out, you'll sce them using weights, elliptical machines, that P9OX-type ‘workout, everything above and beyond because they're quick knock-oue but abour being cardiovasculary strong and endurance strong. Galvanosi says he also thinks MMA training facilities without weight and cardiovas cular equipment are “absolutely, without a doubt” missing our on an opportunity to atract more snudents and members "What I found from my own experience is chat you have to become competitive as ‘gym, and nor just a Mixed Martial Arts gym, because a student is looking for an all- izing it’s not just about the ‘SHOULD YOU BENCH THE BENCH? ee eee Pore neat en See oT Se acne eae ee etree eet cee ityou have a refrigerator parked on your chest, but body builder or do you want to {ook tke a fighter? It's a waste of time. If ee tame ee aot oie pret Pere eee re ree rere Serica cece Pre wea Beasley has been a personal train for more than ae etre eee en oe ae nec ere ne Renae Ce eet isn't necessarily a good thing earrees Fromm fitness stan ea eee eT) eee want them to dois sit on their Prrere eancen al See ey in MMA fighter, name one position whe et eee nec et et Pee eee acta ert consider of bodybuilding mentality ~to oat ees ee cee ere ea) fighter to become a Soro et? cee Re ener a and dumbbells and sand bags and tires and pull-up bars and dip bars are ea ee cn ee eee eres Were ee oe econ area eee aces guy on a shoe-string budget trying to get a gym off the ground, eliminating these units is multiple, muttiple thousands of dollars in savings. We can outfit a decent size karate school with about $3,000 in equip Se ae eee see eee balls, stability balls, and sledgehammers to prodi ees pene around workout — looking for that school that has ie all” he says. "When you don't have that kind of equipment in your gym, you're setting ‘yourself up for fll ‘People don't want to pay a Bally's mem- bership, or a Crunch membership, or a Gold’s membership along with a martial arts gym membership. They want 2 one-stop shop ~ 0 be able ro walkin, do some weights, get good cardio workoue and hie the bags, learn how 10 defend themacives, do Ju Jitsu, do Muay Thai, ddo boxing. You don't go to the supermarket ‘expecting to find only bananas, you go there expecting to find al of che fruits “You should lift weights aside from only do ing martial arts, bat the gyms often are two separate entities,” aays Erik Paulson, a 35-year martial arts practitioner, fighter and cainer swho runs the CSW Training lerton, Calif: ster in Ful- ‘Most people who go co martial ares schools don't go there 10 lift weights, they go there to do martial arts,” Paulson say “They'll go to 24-Hour fitness and keep their martial arts gym as their martial arts gym.” CSW is ourfited with a selection of circuit training stations that include Kettle bells, climbing ropes, strength ropes, strengeh ma- chines for the neck, back and legs, plus body weight exercises like the TRX Suspension Training system, Nevertheless, Paulson admits most COW fighters go roa neighboring feness studio 0 do ining on a vast artay of equipment, then return ta CSW’ to complete smaller, spe- ialized circuits “I think fighters who also want 10 cross- train with all of hae modern fcness equipment probably also spend their money on dedicated fieness studios, where they can also swim, go to the sauna, a spin clas, use the basketball courts, ete.” Paulson says. “I Like going thee, ‘00, [ts really a change of scenery, and beats just staring ar the wall when you're running on sdmil. MMA gyms offering ca ‘exercises “are really in a unique niche,” says Steve Paterson, VP of Used Gym Equip- ment, LLC “Right now, in MMA, you have two dif the dio and weight ferent types of gym owners,” Paterson says. First, you have the businessman who wants to own some MMA gyms and get as many ‘customers as he can and run a business. Then, you have the down-and-dirty fighter who just wants some more guys like him around to rind it out.”Dee eee era eee Py ieee en coat Cnet First, MMA training is primarily Se oe ori) Reem ras ue ee ta eee) ‘of cage configuration js Vital to the MMA image Peete a Cn ane eee Pee ei See oe alec ats Pee eet ees Cee eC eT} Seer eee res cote eet Comintern ae at them and think they're simply oddly shaped dumbbells. But these tools. Brecon etc eee eee noes ete he ere eee cant Soot: cere sae eee tr) ees abil Every gym needs more of these fitness tools; they've Cee eee eee eee ey Ce eee eee Tes Re eee eee eed eee carne eee eee ee equipment that travels. Andit does work well this way. But with some TRX*tools at use in your gym, you can continue to serve your clients as the fitness-training expert, offering them advice and training tips for at-home Gee ec a ee ete SC ae ene ee ees ee tere ease eter ere) Due ee eet Cee eee ees Cun eee tees Sere ee eee with a fighter’s specific needs in ming. Here are just a couple of fitness eee ae ee ess CO aero cece Semen eee eee SUN eae eee ere ante er Pe acs eee eet Cae a eee eer ents 5 (eae ene ate ea ney Machine, butis targeted to lower arm muscles crucial t6 fighters for strik ing and grip needs. The taol is inexpensive ahd easy to keep in your gym f Poeun ees r Cea a ener eee Ce ee eee gee Ce ec ene eal have your opponents wondering where you go it ‘i category, the Powerstaff Workout en ne ns a ee eee eos style training for fighters or those simply looking for improved fitness. mE quipment.com has supplied equip. ‘ment to clients like Big John McCarthy's MMA Training Center in Valencia, Randy Couture’ ewo Xtreme Courure gyms and ra Tiki Ghosn for his Huntington Beach, Calif “The pro fighters don’t need this equip. ment, they putting it in as a business, to ac tract the non-professional fighter and sign up for a gym membership.” Pat says. “They're doing it specifically to make ‘money, 10 atiracr those people who want to to ‘Randy Couture’ gym’ co workout. And it those people who are getting on the elliptical machines and readiil Paterson equates che MMA gym industry to the eatly stages of che health club industry ‘Back then, you intially had only he muscle hheads. Bur every gym owner soon learned that chey couldn't make living oof just the ‘muscle heads. They had 10 soften up the gym. and bring inthe housewives and families. And ‘once they started doing that iswhen the health club industry took offron Mian ~Condnuedrom wane 30 We've given you contact information for ava tieey of products that can improve the work: ‘out experience for your members and fighters, Hire are additional resources to help you lo- ‘ated unique and MMA-specific fitness tools and equipment like kettlebell, stability balls, ropes and elastic bands, and more. Everlast ~ Apparel, gear and equipment fora variety of combt sports, (wwwceverlasz.com}, Cageside MMA— MMA t-shirts, fight geas, pads and equipment. (wwo.cagesidemma, ‘com/vholesale) Fitness Factory Fieoess Factory has a ‘complete catalog of commercial-grade ness ‘quipment including Freeweights and cardio machines, wiv fimessactory-com/eom Truesport Alliance/TapouT Training — Truesport Alliance provides a variery of MMA gym equipment and can produce private label mats and more for your facility Iovwvearuesportd.com) Champion Sports Equipment Champion Sports has a comprehension selection of sports and fitness equipment available. (veww.cham- pionsports com) Century Martial Arte ~ Best known for apparel and fight gears Cencury also provides finess equipment such as weight ball, ropes and bands, and more, (www.centurymae tialartscom) LEASE FINANCING OFFERS ACCESS Goel See ete ete! sneer reece ie peer ari = The business owner avoids depleting daily working avings. See errr eee See ee and expensive credit cards The business owner pays for the equipment as tis utilized, not at Po eee eT are rre) re Lj ee ee ee ey rene eee ee ca Installation and aetiv eee evar ae ee Corie?