Fighting Talk

MF’s strength expert James Griffiths waxes lyrical about the body and mind benefits of combat sport training

- By James Griffiths

My training often sits in one of three camps: strength training, bodyweight exercise, or sport. The latter is invaluable for fitness, so it’s something you should always build into your routine. That’s largely because there are so many actions and movements in sport that aren’t perfect – there is a lot of value in that chaos.

Challenging your body outside of the clinical ‘perfect’ form strength training so many people pursue in the gym can be a really valuable way of exposing weaknesses in your chain, and ultimately progressing your fitness level. And when it comes to choosing your sport, I don’t think there are many that are as complete in terms of conditioning as mixed martial arts (MMA).