Tag Archives: Conditioning

BOOK: “The Essentials of Obstacle Race Training” by David Magida & Melissa Rodriguez

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The Essentials of Obstacle Race TrainingThe Essentials of Obstacle Race Training by David Magida
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Publisher site – Human Kinetics

This book is written as a soup-to-nuts guide to running a successful obstacle course race from nutrition to gear to what to expect by way of obstacles, as well as how to build workouts that will adequately prepare one. It’s a task which the book performs admirably. While the core of the book is the exercises and regimens into which one fits said exercises, there are some other elements that are useful, such as description of the class of obstacles one is likely to see along with discussion of variations thereof, the different categories of race, explanation of what to keep in mind at various stages leading up to the race, and a chapter on how to prepare the mind as well as the body, and more.

The book has photos and tables to supplement the descriptions.

I found this book to be useful and sufficiently specialized to the objective at hand. For example, it gave considerable attention to the question of grip strength, a topic that wouldn’t merit mention in many sport preparation guides. If you’re interested in running an obstacle course race and want to know what to be prepared for, and how to prepare for it, I’d recommend this book.

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BOOK REVIEW: Training and Conditioning for MMA ed. by Dias / Oliveira / Brauer & Pashkin

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Training and Conditioning for MMA: Programming of ChampionsTraining and Conditioning for MMA: Programming of Champions by Stéfane Beloni Correa Dielle Dias
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Amazon.in Page

Release Date: September 15, 2022 [It may already be out in some formats and markets]

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This book provides an overview of fitness building for Mixed Martial Arts athletes. It covers program design, athletic assessment, nutrition, exercises and conditioning practices, and injury prevention methods. On the positive side, it’s not only comprehensive, but – also – presents some of the best and latest methods in combative sports training based on sound scientific research. On the other hand, the book does assume a certain level of understanding of sports science, and it gets pretty deep in the weeds with respect to technical detail and to scientific and specialty jargon. If one doesn’t have such background, one may find some of the content (particularly the early chapters) a bit daunting. That said, it offers an excellent reference for those who are interested in methods and sports science not just for MMA, but for combative sports, in general.

The book uses color photographs throughout. I found the photos to be clear, well-sized, and well-lit. While there is definitely an attempt to keep the number of photos to a reasonable level, they do offer multiple angles where necessary and – generally – give enough pictures to make the action clear. There are also tables after each of the methods sections to give a handy summary of sets, reps, and scheduling suggestions for various exercises. In the early chapters, the ones that convey more technical content, there’re charts, graphs, and diagrams as needed. There’s an extensive bibliography, though it should be noted many if not most of the references are not in English. (The team of editors and contributors is large and international.)

This book offers an excellent reference for coaches, trainers, and athletes. While it does get quite technical, it’s great that it offers insight into cutting edge science and training methods.


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