Just Cause It's In A Magazine.......
I am a huge MMA fan, I know it seems barbaric, but I love it. My DVR and I have an understanding, record MMA and no one gets hurt. I actually purchased a copy of the August/September 2010 edition of the UFC magazine to get even more of an MMA high. It's a good publication, and I suggest you pick up a copy if you are into the sport.
As much as I love MMA, there was one thing that I found troubling...they had a core workout that was a bit off the mark. In this workout we were instructed to do something called a Renegade Row with kettlebells. The workout also called for us to do something called Kettlebell Side Swings and Kettlebell Side Presses. While these look like fun, and you tend to give them credibility because they are in a magazine, they are not the giving the most effective way to train your core.
The core is defined by muscles of the spine, abdominal cavity, obliques and hips. To maximally train the core you need to improve all of these muscles. The core is very important for every athlete, but imperative for an MMA fighter as he can only punch or kick with as much force as his core can stabilize. A fighter also needs great core strength for ground fighting. The exercises described in this workout train the core at a medium level, not an elite level.
Comments
T,
Having done all of these exercises, I would hesitate to say they are medium level. Properly done, the rows in particular are extremely difficult. Much more so than anything I have done with SSL to this point as far as the physical demand on the body. The amount of core stability required to perform this exercise properly without rotation or collapse is extremely high. Whether it is the most appropriate way to train your core for MMA (or anything else for that matter) is certainly debatable but I think you might need to elaborate on the reasons. This critique lacks the specificity to give it bullet-proof credibility in my opinion. Otherwise, it's too easy to retort, "Just because it's in a blog....".