I'm getting pretty excited for the start of the new season of The Ultimate Fighter! Shane Carwin and Roy Nelson are the coaches this season and I have been a huge fan of Shane's for a long time. I had the opportunity to do a phone interview with Shane back in April of 2010 that I submitted to a magazine I was writing for at the time. The interview went unpublished and instead I submitted to Elite Fitness Systems for publishing on their website. Since TUF kicks off next week I decided to post the interview I did with Shane on my blog. While I'm sure a lot of his training and physical preparation has evolved since this interview, I still feel the information he provided was awesome. Enjoy!
Shane
Carwin is arguably one of the strongest, most powerful heavyweight fighters in
the UFC and over the course of his 12-2 professional MMA career he has
definitely shown he can throw a devastating punch.
Prior to his interim
heavyweight title victory over Frank Mir at UFC 111, Shane had knocked-out or
submitted each of his opponents in under two minutes and had never seen the
second round of a fight until his first career losses to Brock Lesnar, a fight
Shane nearly ended in the first round, and Junior Dos Santos.
Shortly
after his 3:48 first-round knock-out of Frank Mir, I had the opportunity to
speak with Shane about his strength training and conditioning program and why
it is important for fighters to spend some of their time in the weight
room. Here’s what he had to say.
(Author’s
note – Keep in mind this interview was conducted on April 7, 2010 and was
originally submitted to a magazine for publishing prior to his July 3, 2010
heavyweight title fight against Brock Lesnar, but went unpublished. Since then,
Shane underwent back surgery, to relieve pressure on compressed and pinched
nerves near the end of 2010, and his training and nutrition strategies have changed
somewhat to accommodate his return to professional MMA competition. However, I
feel that the information he shared with me is too good to remain unpublished.)
 |
| Getting to meet Shane at UFC Fan Expo at Mandalay Bay in Vegas - May 2010! Yes, his fist is as big as my head. |
Scott:
Shane,
first of all I’d like to say congratulations on your awesome performance at UFC
111. You were certainly prepared both
physically and mentally for that fight and it definitely showed in the
octagon. It seems that more fighters are
placing a greater emphasis on strength training and conditioning as a means to
supplement their fight training. This is
definitely a shift from the idea that technique mastery is all a fighter needs
to be at the top his game. What is your
opinion on strength and conditioning as a supplement to specific fight training
for the mixed martial arts athlete?
Shane:
I think
it’s absolutely necessary. Everyone
talks about technique now, but everyone is working on technique. People spend a lot of time studying all these
different martial arts and what can really separate you is a good strength and
conditioning program. It’s just like any
other sport; I think MMA is going to evolve a lot faster because all these
other sports had to go through all these growing pains already. Strength and
conditioning coaches already know how to get these athletes to perform at a
higher level, that science is already out there for these fighters to take
advantage of.
Scott:
In an
interview from March 2009 you said that you trained with weights three times
per week and ran two times per week in addition to four weekly sessions of jiu
jitsu, boxing, Muay Thai, and MMA training.
That’s an insane schedule, particularly when you consider that fact that
you work a full-time job and have responsibilities as a father and a husband. Has
your strength training and conditioning changed any since then, and how
important is your strength and conditioning training to your career in the
mixed martial arts?
Shane:
It has
changed. I still do three times per week
as far as the strength goes and conditioning is still part of that with the
strength, but I get some of the conditioning during sparring and my one-on-one
sessions, which we try to vary up a little bit.
Now I have eight practices a week on top of the strength, three are
sparring, some are wrestling, and some are one-on-one with jiu jitsu or
boxing.
Scott:
So by
the nature of the sport practice itself you are finding that there is a benefit
in terms of conditioning?
Shane:
When you
are going live you are definitely getting some of the conditioning in that is
more appropriate for the sport, such as the pushing and pulling of the body and
other things you’re not going to feel just by running. Running is still good and definitely helps
build endurance in the legs so I get some of that in there too. A lot of it comes from practice and some of
it comes from me, I feel what my body needs.
Scott:
I have found that my athletes always make the greatest gains in size
and strength by following a steady diet of the basic, heavy barbell lifts such
as the squat, deadlift, row, pull-ups, bench and military press. Do these, or any other lifts, make up the
foundation of your strength training program?
Shane:
Yeah, absolutely. You are not going to get bigger or stronger
without doing those core lifts. There
are some other lifts that you can add for explosiveness. I think the explosive training, along with
the core lifts that you said, is the way to go for fighting – it’s basically a
take-off of other sports.
Scott:
What about things like kettlebell training, weighted sled work, Battling Ropes, sledgehammer
drills, and medicine ball exercises? Have you used any of these forms of training
in your strength and conditioning program?
Shane:
Absolutely, I would say that is a
good portion of my conditioning. I got
away from running a little bit because of the pounding and the shin
splints. For conditioning we have had to
do more circuit training that involves pushing the sled, burpees, medicine ball
slams, plyometric pushups and things of that nature.
Scott:
Can you
give us an idea of what a typical training week looks like for you?
Shane:
Monday,
Wednesday and Friday are lifting days consisting of plyometrics, Olympic lifts,
strength lifts, as well as some agility work.
My strength and conditioning coach also puts some general physical
preparation (GPP) work in there and some core exercises. This is typically done around lunchtime. At night I’ll do some one-on-one in boxing
and maybe jiu jitsu or whatever practice I feel I might need, it might be some
wrestling as well. Tuesday and Thursday
mornings are sparring and at night it is usually wrestling or jiu jitsu. Saturday is another sparring day and Sundays
are my off days. I think one of the main
problems with the sport and so many of the injuries is that there is probably
not enough off time because everyone is trying to get all these disciplines
in. It’s not like going out and training
football where you train the same position five to six days per week. When
you’re training in boxing, kick boxing, Muay Thai, wrestling, jiu jitsu, then
do your strength and conditioning work it’s tough to get all that in and be
where you need to be. I definitely think
that people can over-train in this sport very easily.
Scott:
Are
there any specific recovery methods you find beneficial, particularly during
periods of extreme training?
Shane:
Yeah, I
get some Muscle Activation Technique (MAT) work done by a guy named Matt
Bernier that seems to help me the most.
I think everybody has different things that work for them. I also do contrast baths. At my house I have an ice bath and a hot tub
right next to each other and I’ll go five in one and five in the other and go
back and forth like that a number of times.
I learned that down in Louisiana when I was training for the NFL in 1998
with strength and conditioning coach Kurt Hester who was helping Chuck Wiley,
Alan Fanaca and myself out.
Scott:
Some
people might not realize you went as far as you did in football being invited to the NFL
Scouting Combine and a projected fifth round pick but did not make it due to
previous injuries. Do you ever miss
playing football?
Shane:
Absolutely,
I love the sport and unfortunately what happened to me was I bulged three discs
and ruptured a disc so at that point I was damaged goods. You know it is what it is, I loved the game,
I still love the game, and just driving in the fall I can smell that grass and
get those feelings you know.
Scott:
There is
no question that you have built an insanely strong and powerful physique. I am guessing that was not done by weight
training alone. Is nutrition and
supplementation important to your preparation and ability to recover between
training sessions?
Shane:
Yeah absolutely, as far as
nutrition and supplementation goes, if you are not fueling your body when you
are weight training and conditioning to me it’s no good without good wholesome
whole foods and high quality sports supplements. Without the fuel your body is not going to
grow.
Scott:
Is there
anything you would like to add pertaining to your strength and conditioning or
fight training program that people reading this may be interested in?
Shane:
It
amazes me that some of these fighters are just now saying they’re hiring
strength and conditioning coaches - that’s crazy to me. I can’t understand how they haven’t been
doing strength work the whole time.
Scott:
It
amazes me too. I’ve always maintained
that if you had two athletes, regardless of the sport, with identical skill
levels, and one spent time building strength, power and speed while the other
only worked on technique, the stronger more powerful guy would win every time.
Shane:
Not only
is he going to win, he’s going to destroy the other guy.
Scott:
Unfortunately
I think when some fighters think of strength they picture a huge,
super-heavyweight powerlifter who lacks mobility and some of the other skills
necessary for fighters and that’s not the case.
Shane:
No not
at all.
Scott:
I feel
it’s highly beneficial to get as strong and powerful as possible to the point
it does not interfere with your fighting skills.
Shane:
Another
thing those people are not going to like to hear is that it takes a long time to
develop that strength and power. It’s
not done over a period of months; it’s done over a period of years. You have to stay committed and dedicated to
getting stronger and not expect it to happen overnight.
Scott:
Shane,
thank you sincerely for your time, I appreciate it and wish you the absolute
best with your MMA career.
Shane:
Thank
you.
###
Stay Strong and Healthy,
Scott
