Last month I went to a yoga class for the first time at my gym with a friend of mine. I decided to do yoga because a while back, there was one guy at my MMA gym who was really flexible. He was able to do some crazy stuff because of his flexibility, and he begun telling me that he did yoga. He also added that a lot of the Brazilian jiu jitsu practitioners do yoga. It makes perfect sense that yoga supplemented BJJ seamlessly.

Yoga Benefits

• Better circulation
• Increased flexibility
• Core Work
• Helps you become more balanced
• Mind and body connection
• Efficient breathing

This is just a small list of the benefits. There are easily 50 more benefits. The three benefits that I feel would benefit me personally is balance, breathing, and flexibility. My balance is pretty mediocre, I hope that the yoga will allow me to prevent myself from tripping or being taken down. The breathing aspect is a big area I need to work on along with the flexibility.

Recently Yoga was incorporated into my weekly workout, between MMA, kettlebells, strength and conditioning training. I also feel really refreshed after my Saturday morning Yoga sessions. So if your gym has group excercises, they should have yoga. Take advantage of it.

Related posts:

1. Outside Leg Trip (Osoto Gari)
2. MMA Training Mistake #1 – Balance
3. Relaxation Can Beat Fatigue

If you want that knockout power, you aren’t going to get it by doing bicep curls or skull crushers. As you already know or should know, your punching power has a lot to do with your core, some legs, and shoulders.  I found a few great articles that talk about the importance of core strength and of course some great workouts. Most of these exercises you can do in the comfort of your own home.

• The Core: Ultimate Workout
• Core Training
• Core Workout

Medicine Ball Push-Ups

My favorite core workout that I did not see in any of the articles, are medicine ball push ups. Basically you get a nice sized medicine ball and put it on the floor. Instead of doing a push up on the ground, you put your hands on the ball trying to do push ups and keep yourself balanced.

Related posts:

1. MMA Training for Balance and Coordination
2. Complete Conditioning for Martial Arts
3. MMA Link Roundup