Conditioning Series Part 3: Do Fighters Need Lactic Threshold Conditioning?
Article by Jason Lau
2-3 minute read
This is a continuation of the Conditioning Series for Combat Sports. If you have not read Part 1 and 2, I have linked it below.
“Conditioning Series Part 1: Building the Aerobic System for Combat Sports”
“Conditioning Series Part 2: Anaerobic Capacity and Power for Combat Sports”
Is resistance training within the lactic threshold beneficial to fighters, especially when the drawback and recovery time are significantly longer? Many skill sessions for athletes in combat sports already produce high lactic acid levels. These sessions often include drills, pad work, wrestling, grappling, clinch work, and full sparring rounds multiple times a week. If one of the main principles of Strength & Conditioning is to fill in the gaps of a fighter’s development where the sport or discipline does not, is it worth the return on investment? Before you, as a fighter or coach, decide on this, we must first understand how the Lactic system works and whether the training methods surrounding it are worth the investment.
The Lactic System
The lactic system, also known as the anaerobic glycolysis system, is a primary energy pathway used during high-intensity, short-duration activities. I have covered the body’s anaerobic systems in Part 2 of the series previously. To summarize, here are a few key points of the Lactic system:
The Lactic system steps in as a primary energy source, breaking down stored glycogen into glucose when the ATP-PCr’s stores are depleted.
The Lactic system sustains high-intensity activities lasting up to 2 minutes.
Glycolysis generates lactic acid as a byproduct.
The Krebs cycle helps convert lactate to pyruvate, to produce ATP.
The Lactic Threshold (LT) is where lactate begins to accumulate in the body faster than it can be cleared away.
The aerobic system supports the lactic system by providing a steady supply of ATP during longer periods of activity and during recovery. The aerobic system utilizes oxygen to metabolize carbohydrates, fats, and sometimes proteins to produce ATP. During high-intensity efforts, the aerobic system helps clear lactic acid from the muscles, allowing athletes to sustain effort and recover faster.
“No Man’s Land” by Charlie Francis
Charlie Francis (late Canadian Track Coach) describes anything trained within the medium intensity range (76-94%) of an athletes maximum speed/best time is too slow to be specific to the training objective and too intensive to recover from quickly. Therefore, his training avoids the middle altogether. This does not apply to combat sports directly but can be applied to the conditioning methods used within a fighter’s Strength and Conditioning. Conditioning protocols that focus solely on developing the Lactic system generates lactic acid as a byproduct will lead to muscular fatigue and may result in longer recovery times. Instead, to improve the overall function of the body’s energy systems as a whole, fighters can base their general conditioning protocols by the percentage of Lactic Threshold, either training below or above said threshold. A striving competitive fighter has multiple skill sessions within the week with the nature of said sessions already working within the fighter’s lactic threshold the majority of the time so it may be counter productive to include conditioning sessions solely focused on the Lactic system in conditioning sessions. Moreover, the Aerobic system, your foundation, contributes to the recovery and clearing of lactic acid from the muscles. By developing a robust aerobic system, we can then improve the production of ATP via oxygen and elimination of lactic acid, leading to the fighter to a higher tolerance within the lactic threshold.
“Raising the floor raises your ceiling too.”
- Unknown
This is not to say that a fighter should completely avoid all Lactic system conditioning protocols entirely as each individual fighter’s needs and factors may vary. For the fighters I coach, I get a general idea of their skills practice within the week, analyze their needs in terms of athletic development and recovery in-between all sessions. My goal for each fighter is to fill in the gaps of athletic development in which their sport does not, maintain tendon/joint health and plan for long-term career success.
Training for the Lactic System in Combat Sports
In combat sports, such as MMA, boxing, and wrestling, athletes frequently engage in bouts of high-intensity activity interspersed with brief periods of lower intensity or rest. Training the lactic system can be beneficial to a fighter to increase their physical tolerance within the lactic threshold when applied sparingly. The presence of training within the LT is already present in all skill sessions so I would advise against a long training block dedicated to time within the LT, especially if the goal is to create a fighter’s tolerance within the LT. Instead, I believe that conditioning sessions should be either under or over the LT as stated previously and allow the skill sessions to take care of the rest.
“Mental toughness” is a term loosely used when training fighters. Many coaches use general preparatory methods to induce mental toughness within fighter in hopes that they improve upon performance. However, this often takes place within the “No Man’s Land” causing fighters to perform inadequately in their upcoming skill sessions throughout the subsequent weeks. I believe that if training off the mats has significant negative impact on the fighter, it is best to avoid said methods altogether. Instead, I advise that mental toughness should be a result of hard skills training allowing it to become a byproduct.
Mental toughness is best created through skill sessions on the mats (hard rounds, stress-induced drilling or long duration rounds), not off.
Below I have provided several examples that can be utilized by fighters, general for fighters outside of fight camp and sport-specific for fighters in fight camp.
General Preparatory Training
Intervals that consists of high-intensity bouts from 10-120 seconds followed by either incomplete rest or active rest prior to the next bout will be sufficient for any fighters aiming to condition themselves within the Lactic Threshold. This simplest forms used can be any cyclical activity (road work, cycling, skiERG, rowERG) and is an efficient modality for multiple bouts. When progressing these sessions from week-to-week basis, management of intensity, duration of rest, volume and frequency will be of importance. Fighters can aim to progress weekly through:
Duration within Lactic Threshold (LT)
Number of bouts/intervals via increasing sets or repetitions
Intensity within each bout
Sport-Specific Training
For sport-specific drills, there are some nuances to consider and that is how the complexity of the drill will interfere with the fighter’s execution. Fatigue will mask skill overtime within a fighter. This is why I highly encourage any sport-specific drills for the goal of achieving a conditioning effect to be simple. Personally for my fighters, I rarely program any interval-based work specifically within the Lactic Threshold and generally reserve this for skills-based conditioning similar to the example I have provided below For more regarding drill design, read my article “Muay Thai Series: General to Sport-Specific Conditioning” here. When using this method, I recommend fighters to pick 1-2 combinations or tactic to work on throughout the rounds.
Ex. Heavy Bag Work
Warm-Up: 2 x 3 minute Shadow Boxing OR Skipping
5 x 4 minute rounds of 40s ON (hard, fast strikes) / 20s OFF (lighter strikes)
Rest 1-2 minutes between rounds
Cool-Down: 1 x 5 minute Shadow Boxing (nasal breathing only)
Final Thoughts and Review
Whether or not a fighter decides to supplement Lactic Threshold conditioning to enhance performance or not, it is present within their training week and a factor of combat sports. After reading this article I hope readers understand the pros and cons of training within the “middle area” and encourage fighters and coaches alike to determine themselves if Lactic Threshold conditioning is required within their training systems.
Summarizing of all three parts of this Conditioning series, we have covered the overview of the body’s energy systems, the demands of combat sports as well as the role each energy system places upon the body. To finish off, I leave you with a few key points regarding the conditioning demands of Combat Sports below:
It is a misconception that each energy system switches on and off, similar to a light switch, once the duration of activity exceeds its maximum capacity. When in reality, all three energy system contributes in various and all activities.
The degree in which each energy system contributes will depend on the velocity of the sport, intensity and duration of the bouts.
It is impossible for coaches to form a standardized protocol to simulate a fight
The strategies and tactics used within a fight will determine the demands of each fight.
The majority of a fighter’s skill session fluctuates within the Lactic Threshold.
Mental toughness is best created through skill sessions on the mats (hard rounds, stress-induced drilling or long duration rounds), not off.