Skills vs S&C Volume: How many days should I train?

This is a very common question.

I’ll oftentimes give a simple answer for the sake of brevity, but truthfully it depends.

I believe there’s 2 principal factors which will determine the answer to this question.

1 – Your current training age (resistance training)

2 – Your motivation & preference (professional vs amateur)

If you’re here and you’re reading this – we’re more than likely in agreement that lifting weights and overall developing athletic qualities is beneficial for your time in combat sports.

That’s definitely true but anyway..

So if S&C is important, how much should we do?

Truthfully you do need a minimum of 2 sessions a week. Yes you could do 1, but it’s just going to offer the opportunity to maintain what you have and it will be hard to progress on one session a week.

You can do it, it’s just slow.

2 sessions allow enough time for adaptation and rest and all that good stuff.

But is 3 better?

If your training age is younger (under 5 years) then yes, I believe 3 training sessions a week is very beneficial and even if you need to pull back slightly on skills (something I’d never recommend) its still a good idea. Especially if you’re lighter/smaller.

Hear me out.

If you intend on training and competing in your martial skill for a long time (5 – 15 years) then you’ll need a good meat engine to get you through that.

Strength & Conditioning will facilitate you making your body much stronger, and your acquisition of martial skill much easier.

You’ll be able to produce more force, recover better, and generally tolerate more loading and force coming your way. And there’ll be plenty of that.

Training 3 days a week will allow you to compound adaptation much faster and by the time you’re doing this for 3 – 5 years, you’re pretty well equipped physically speaking.

If you’ve been training for a long time, maybe 2 sessions a week is all you need to drive adaptation. Besides if you have that concurrent of a training age and you’re still actively training in your sport, you’re probably relatively feared for your physical prowess on the mats anyway.

As for point no. 2 – your motivation & preference?

Preference is easy – if you like lifting weights, do more of it haha.

If you’re an amateur – don’t stress, get your sessions in and worry about getting better at your sport.

If you’re professional – you should definitely take this shit seriously. Your body is how you execute your work and pay your bills for decades to come. Forget investing in bitcoin, invest in your body.

Consider your training volume based on these questions, but make no mistake – skills pay the bills. You won’t get to the top of the sport by being physically dominant, but fuck it wouldn’t hurt would it?