The Fighters Infinity Gauntlet
For those that follow the Marvel superhero series, you would know of the greatest super-villain of all time. His name is Thanos. In his quest to wipe out half of the world’s population, he possesses an “infinity gauntlet” which fits six “infinity stones” that are tied to different aspects of the universe.
A revisit of some of the Avengers movies led me to a realization that these infinity stones fit perfectly with some of the most important components of a fighter’s preparation. A fighter needs to be aware of the interplay between physical, physiological, nutritional, psychological, tactical, and technical components of their preparation. They all play a part.
In Avengers Infinity War, there are two super powerful infinity stones (time and mind stones) that Thanos must acquire at the end to fill out his Infinity Gauntlet. Therefore, comparatively we should understand that the “tactical” and “technical” infinity stones are the most powerful stones that a fighter can possess. The fighter that can unlock the power of these stones will most likely be the most successful, especially given that combat sports is so skill dominant. However, to become a force to be reckoned with like Thanos, simply having just two stones is not enough to utilise the full potential of the gauntlet.
Nutrition and psychology are two other components that a fighter needs to address. To the fighters that we work with at Ethos Performance, we always recommend that they work with a dietitian to help them develop an effective nutritional plan to fuel their training and performance. From my experience, after analysis of food diaries, fighters have extremely “bipolar” diets. That is, diets that have little to no nutritional value or just not eating enough based on how hard they are training. Accredited dietitians also provide support with helping you achieve a safe and well-timed weight cut. We’ve all seen poorly done and unsafe weight cuts and using these practices is no way to optimize your performance on fight day. Below is a great post by the The Fight Dietitian on how Champions approach their diet with a professional dietitian. If you need guidance with nutrition, then The Fight Dietitian is your guy!
The best fighters in the world also have their psychology in check. I recently watched a presentation by Gavin Pratt who is a Strength and Conditioning Coach at the UFC Performance Institute (UFC PI) in Shanghai. In one of his slides, he referenced UFC PI technical director, Dean Amasinger who suggested that good fighters must possess positive psychological qualities like confidence, toughness, composure, determination, aggression, and courage. You could be the most physically blessed and skilled fighter, but if you’re not able to control your thoughts and emotions inside the octagon/ring then your strengths may go to waste. The UFC PI Cross Sectional Analysis Volume 2 has some great sections on how to best optimize psychological practices. Below is an example of how psychology plays its part in a biopsychosocial model adapted for fighters from the UFC PI Journal Vol 2.
Now, finally we have two stones left. The physical and physiological stones. At Ethos Performance, we are the gatekeepers of these stones, and this is where you get the most influence from us. Working with qualified strength and conditioning coaches will take your professionalism as a fighter to the next level. Many of the fighters that we work with aspire in competing at the highest levels. As Meer Awny, the Head of Strength and Conditioning at Ethos Performance, always says to our amateur fighters: “Start being a professional now. Not when you become a professional!”
Quality strength and conditioning will make you more robust – that is a fighter that can handle the rigors of training and competition on a consistent basis. Having a good energy system base makes you more efficient. It enables you not to worry about whether you will “gas out” in the late rounds of a fight so you can purely focus on the technical and tactical aspects. Undertaking strength and power training gives you the confidence knowing that your most effective attacks could inflict significant damage on the opponent. Of course, there are examples of successful fighters who claim that they don’t partake in strength and conditioning, most notably George St Pierre. However, George was a world-class fighter and there are not many truly world-class fighters around. His success was most likely down to the fact that he was able to execute skills of the highest order. With that being said, you could argue that even though someone has great success doing something one way, there’s always a better way! Just have a look at George Kambosos’ world title preparation below!
Good strength and conditioning coaches also have a foundation of knowledge in sports science. We know that fighters like to train hard all the time. There’s nothing wrong with training hard but consider how much stress this can place both externally and internally. Therefore, to train hard, you need to plan hard. At Ethos, we use simple load monitoring tools to help fighters plan their training week. Ideally, we are looking to see whether fighters are getting adequate recovery in between training. Within each day, we try to ensure that hard sessions are not performed back-to-back. For example, we recommend that a hard conditioning session not be performed before a sparring session (believe it or not, some fighters do this). If you’re interested in tracking your training, click below to download our training planner for free! (Note must be opened on a computer and you will need Microsoft Excel installed).
Furthermore, fighters should seek out training programs that specifically meet their requirements. Programs should target both their strengths and weaknesses. One of the methods that can help to identify this is through pre-testing. Testing provides information for a strength and conditioning coach to make decisions about what interventions might be necessary to help you achieve the positive outcomes for your physical performance. If you’re a fighter and your “trainer” has not performed any assessments (both subjective and objective), then that should be a red flag that perhaps the program might not be what you think it is.
Furthermore, fighters should seek out training programs that specifically meet their requirements. Programs should target both their strengths and weaknesses. One of the methods that can help to identify this is through pre-testing. Testing provides information for a strength and conditioning coach to make decisions about what interventions might be necessary to help you achieve the positive outcomes for your physical performance. If you’re a fighter and your “trainer” has not performed any assessments (both subjective and objective), then that should be a red flag that perhaps the program might not be what you think it is.
Now that we’ve gone through each “infinity stone,” I hope you can appreciate that there’s many different aspects of a fighter’s preparation. There’s an interplay between all of them and they don’t act in isolation. As I mentioned at the start of the blog, the tactical and technical stones are the two most powerful stones a fighter can possess. However, a fighter can only harness the true power of the “infinity gauntlet” if the other stones are acquired in the right manner. The best way to acquire these stones is by seeking professional guidance from its “gatekeepers.”