If you’ve been lifting for a while, you probably look decent in a t-shirt… but your shoulders ache, your hips feel tight, and one wrong move in pickup basketball and something pops.

That’s where combat sports training changes the game.

In my recent Stronger Weekly episode with MMA performance coach Steven Sahyoun, we broke down how fighters train to be strong, explosive, mobile, and durable enough to survive full-contact chaos. The good news: you don’t need to step in a cage to use the same principles.

This blog pulls the big ideas from that conversation and turns them into a roadmap you can actually use.

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Why Combat Sports Training Is Different

Most lifting programs are built around two questions:

• How much weight can you move?
  
• How good do you look in the mirror?
  

Combat athletes don’t have that luxury. Their training has to answer tougher questions:

• Can your joints survive awkward landings and weird angles?
  
• Can you produce power on demand when you’re tired?
  
• Can your body take hits and keep moving?
  

That means their programs emphasize:

• Multi-planar movement – not just up/down, but rotation, lateral movement, and anti-rotation.
  
• Force absorption and deceleration – landing, braking, and changing direction safely.
  
• Durability and longevity – training to fight, not just to test a 1RM.
  

You might never throw a kick in your life, but if you care about staying athletic and injury-resistant into your 40s, 50s, and beyond, these principles are directly applicable.

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The 5 Physical Qualities Everyone Should Train

On the show, Steve and I kept coming back to five core qualities that every “everyday athlete” should build:

1. Foundational Strength

This is your base: the ability to produce force through full ranges of motion.

• Think heavy(ish), controlled work on the big patterns: squat, hinge, push, pull, carry.
  
• Strong muscles support joints, improve bone density, and protect you from falls and injuries as you age.
  

Practical target: 2–3 full-body or upper/lower strength sessions per week, built around compound lifts.

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2. Power and Explosiveness

Fighters need to explode—single-leg takedowns, punches, kicks, scrambles. As we age, power declines faster than raw strength, which is one reason older adults become more fragile.

Plyometric and explosive training—jumps, med ball throws, short sprints—help:

• Improve the speed of force production
  
• Sharpen reaction time and coordination
  
• Strengthen connective tissue when progressed wisely
  

Practical target: 1–2 short explosive blocks per week (5–10 minutes) after your warm-up and before heavy lifting.

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3. Mobility You Can Actually Use

In combat sports, mobility isn’t about sitting in long static stretches—it’s about:

• Accessing usable range of motion under load
  
• Controlling end ranges so joints are stable, not loose
  
• Moving smoothly in and out of awkward positions
  

For the everyday lifter, that means:

• Prioritizing hips, ankles, and thoracic spine
  
• Using controlled, loaded mobility (split squats, Jefferson curls, Cossack squats, etc.) instead of only passive stretching
  
• Adding 5–10 minutes of targeted mobility every session instead of a random “stretch day”
  

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4. Conditioning That Matches Real Life

Most people either:

• Go too hard too often and burn out, or
  
• Do random cardio with no structure
  

Fighters blend:

• Aerobic base – steady work that builds engine and recovery
  
• Anaerobic power – intense bursts that mimic rounds and scrambles
  

For non-fighters, a simple approach:

• 1–2 sessions of Zone 2 cardio (easy conversational pace, 30–40 minutes)
  
• 1 shorter, higher-intensity session (assault bike intervals, hill sprints, circuit work) if your joints and recovery can handle it
  

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5. Resilience & “Rehab Built In”

Good combat-sport programming bakes prehab and rehab principles into the plan:

• Rotator cuff and scapular work for shoulders
  
• Neck and trunk training for contact and whiplash
  
• Unilateral and balance work for knees/ankles
  
• Isometrics for tendon health
  

You don’t wait for something to break—you train to avoid the breakdown.

Add 5–10 minutes at the end of each session for “joint health” work:

• Cuff work, face pulls, reverse flyes
  
• Tibialis, calf, and hip abduction/adduction
  
• Isometric holds (split squat holds, hamstring bridges, etc.)
  

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The Biggest Training Mistakes Everyday Lifters Make

Steve sees the same problems over and over in non-fighters:

1. All sagittal, no rotation
   
   Everything is benches, squats, and deadlifts—nothing trains rotation, anti-rotation, or lateral movement. That’s how you end up strong but fragile when you pivot or twist.
   
2. Ego loading instead of building capacity
   
   Chasing PRs every week with sloppy form, no tempo, and no control. Short term: you feel strong. Long term: your joints revolt.
   
3. Ignoring warm-ups and plyo progressions
   
   Jumping straight into explosive work (box jumps, sprints) without earning the right—no base strength, no landing mechanics.
   
4. No plan for pain
   
   When something starts hurting, most lifters either ignore it or stop training altogether. Fighters can’t afford that—they modify, regress, and train around an injury while rehabbing it.
   

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Movements Everyone Should Master

You don’t need a fancy MMA facility to train like this. Steve and I agreed on a simple movement “checklist” for a durable, athletic body:

1. Hinge

• Deadlifts, RDLs, hip thrusts
  

2. Squat

• Back/front squats, goblet squats, split squats
  

3. Push (horizontal & vertical)

• Push-ups, bench press, overhead press
  

4. Pull (horizontal & vertical)

• Rows, pull-ups, lat pulldowns
  

5. Carry & Brace

• Farmer’s carries, suitcase carries, front rack carries, heavy holds
  

6. Rotate & Anti-Rotate

• Med ball rotational throws
  
• Pallof presses, cable chops, anti-rotation holds
  

If you build strength and control in these patterns through full ranges of motion, you’re already 80% of the way to “combat ready” for everyday life.

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How to Use Explosive Training Without Getting Hurt

Explosive work is where most people get into trouble. Steve laid out a simple progression:

1. Earn it with strength
   
   • You should be able to squat and hinge competently with good form before adding jumps and sprints.
     
2. Start with low-impact power
   
   • Med ball slams and throws
     
   • Kettlebell swings
     
   • Short accelerations on a bike or sled
     
3. Then layer in jumps and bounds
   
   • Box jumps focusing on soft landings
     
   • Small lateral hops
     
   • Low-volume sprint work
     
4. Keep doses small
   
   • 3–5 sets of 3–5 reps, 1–2 times per week is plenty for most lifters.
     

The goal is quality, not exhaustion. You’re building a sharper nervous system, not chasing fatigue.

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Bringing Combat-Sport Principles Into Your Week

Here’s one way to structure a week around these ideas while still lifting like a “normal person”:

Day 1 – Lower Body + Power

• Warm-up + 5 minutes of med ball or jump work
  
• Main lower-body strength (squats, hinges, split squats)
  
• Short finisher: carries or sleds
  
• 5–10 minutes of hip/ankle mobility + knee/ankle prehab
  

Day 2 – Upper Body + Rotation

• Warm-up + rotational core work
  
• Horizontal and vertical push/pull
  
• Rotational/anti-rotational finisher (Pallof presses, cable chops)
  
• Shoulder/scap prehab
  

Day 3 – Conditioning + Mobility

• 30–40 minutes Zone 2 (ideally outdoors)
  
• 15–20 minutes of focused mobility (hips, T-spine, ankles)
  

Day 4 – Full-Body Strength + Power

• Warm-up + short plyo block
  
• Mix of hinge, squat pattern, push, pull
  
• Loaded carries and core
  
• Joint-health accessories
  

Day 5 – Optional HIIT / Fighter Circuit

• Short, intense mixed modal work (bike sprints, prowler pushes, bag work, kettlebell complexes)
  
• Keep it under 20 minutes of true hard effort
  

You don’t have to copy this exactly. The point is to think like a fighter:

• Am I strong in the basics?
  
• Can I move well in multiple directions?
  
• Do I have some power in the tank?
  
• Am I doing anything to protect my joints, tendons, and brain long-term?
  

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The Bottom Line

You may never step into a cage—but life is still a contact sport.

Training with combat-sport principles forces you to zoom out from pure aesthetics and ask better questions:

Can I move well? Can I absorb force? Am I building a body that will still work for me 10, 20, 30 years from now?

That’s what Steve Sahyoun teaches fighters to do.

And if you apply even a fraction of those ideas to your own training—more multi-planar strength, smart explosive work, real mobility, and built-in prehab—you’re not just lifting weights.

You’re building a resilient, athletic, fighter-proof body for whatever life throws at you

Jesse C –