MMA for Hockey Players?
“MMA training for an NFL athlete does not only NOT make sense, but would simply be counterproductive. The demands of the two sports clearly could not be any more different from each other. It makes as much sense as choosing to going to chemo therapy because you are sick of shaving your head (Michael Jackson's doctor said that line, I believe). Taking a multi-million dollar athlete and having him train in such a nonsensical way is foolish and irresponsible… and please realize I am an MMA coach.” Dewey Neilsen, Nationally Recognized MMA Strength and Conditioning Coach
A couple of NFL strength and conditioning coaches have written to ask about NFL athletes using MMA training techniques to train in the off-season so, I wrote an article. To my surprise, there was also a post here about hockey players and MMA. Although I said that MMA training for football is foolish and short-sighted I might need to take a slightly less staunch stance about ice hockey players and MMA. I watched a recently released NFL quarterback on Youtube engage in a sparring session with an MMA trainer. I didn't think it was a good idea. I haven't seen any Youtube footage of hockey players doing this but I think I'd feel the same way about my skilled hockey player doing MMA training. I still feel that if I'm paying a guy a few million dollars, regardless of sport, I would really prefer he doesn't punch anything. I know fighting is still part of hockey but the real fighting is limited to a select few players.
To take a deeper look we need to ask what is MMA training? The majority of what we see on the web as MMA training seems to be muscle endurance stuff. Although it does not seem appropriate for an NFL player I think some muscle endurance work late in the off-season can benefit an NHL player. However, I will qualify myself and say that if we view MMA training primarily as sparring with mitts or kicking, I still can't see how it has a place in training for a hockey player. We know that kicking or kneeing is not allowed in a hockey fight. In fact, hockey fights are pretty much standup boxing without gloves. Brutal yes, MMA no. There is next to no wrestling and usually just a flurry of fist that ends very quickly. As previously mentioned,, in the modern NHL this battle usually occurs between two players who do this for a living.
Let's look at the energy system basics from a hockey perspective. A hockey shift lasts approximately 45 seconds. An MMA round lasts five minutes. Right away I still see a problem? The rationalization I listened to in the Youtube football interviews revolved around the mental toughness developed in pushing through fatigue. I do not doubt this type of training is difficult, however what they are describing are again situations that rarely happen in hockey.
To add even more complexity, the best MMA strength and conditioning coaches probably train their fighters more like athletes than their athletes like fighters. Jon Chaimberg's and Dewey Neilsen's MMA programs are not typical MMA programs. Instead, they are scientific programs based on the current science of performance enhancement. If an NHL player told me he was going to train with Jon or Dewey, I would endorse it wholeheartedly. However, what they would do is train like a n athlete. The best MMA strength coaches realize their athletes get plenty of MMA work with their MMA coaches. Much like a good NHL strength and conditioning coach, the good MMA strength and conditioning coaches spend lots of time on basic strength training and power work.
The truth is, training like an MMA fighter is cool and trendy and might get a player featured on ESPN. What it might not be is intelligent or effective for conditioning for hockey. MMA training means ringside seats at fights, pretty girls, nights out in Vegas. Sorry, it still doesn't makes sense for highly paid athletes who participate in a physically violent sport six months out of the year.
If I'm an NHL strength coach, I'm not happy if my guys are skipping strength workouts for sparring sessions. I'm even less happy if they are using this type of training instead of the hockey specific routines I have taken years to develop. If you are an NHL executive you don't need your guys getting punched in the face in the off season.
Look at it this way: How would hockey coaches feel if a player said he wanted to skip practice to go to MMA? The coach's feeling is, “This is my time with you—we need this time to get better.” The strength coach feels the same way. The off season is his time to do his best work. If a player is off sparing in an MMA gym, that is time away from the important things that really need to be done.
