Testimonials for Building the Ultimate MMA Athlete

I've known Jim Smith for almost 6 years. In this time, I have never seen him do anything half-ass or follow any trend. His training methods are revolutionary and this manual is no exception. This goes above and beyond any book on strength training for MMA fighting. If you want to learn how to effectively train specific movement patterns for combat athletics - this manual is for you!

Jim Wendler
EliteFTS.com Senior Editor

The Diesel Crew has not only raised the game for MMA training in this manual - they have completely rewritten the rules.

This training manual is a must have and is fast destined to become a classic. Get it in your library before your competition does!

Read it, absorb it - or tap out!

Alwyn Cosgrove
Renowned Fat Loss and Fitness Expert

My name is Bryce and I am a professional fighter and trainer from IL. I have had some success in the ring and have been very successful training fighters out of my gym, Rockford Kickboxing and Ju Jitsu, www.rockfordkick.com.

A little while back, I started having a lot of problems with my hands. It had become painful to punch and at times I even had difficulty closing my hands. Obliviously a problem for someone in my line of work. I spoke to Jim Wendler at Elite Fitness Systems and he put me in touch with Smitty.

Smitty gave me several restoration drills to perform before and after my training. Within two weeks of implementing the drills, I no longer had pain in my hands during normal day to day activities and could punch with little to no pain at all. As impressive as that is, the most impressive thing was the fact that Smitty continued to check in on my progress and made adjustments as needed. It it obvious to me that he has taken an intrest in my performance just as my boxing, kickboxing, and ju-jitsu trainers have. I am also very happy to say that the restoration work we have done has not only helped from a pain management standpoint but also has me hitting harder than ever (Smitty, my sparring partners want to have a talk with you).

In addition to restoration, Smitty has given many different Movement Under Tension (MUT) conditioning drills and the results have been fantastic. I am not peaking for an event currently and am leaner and better conditioned than I have been in for any fight in my career. I am even dropping down to middleweight after fighting my whole career at heavyweight and light-heavyweight.

I strongly recommend the Diesel Crew's products for all trainers and athletes. There are a lot of good trainers out there and many of them have books, DVD's, etc for sale. However, there are very few who will stand behind there products and who truly care for the athlete the way the Diesel Crew does. If want want to excel in your sport- learn your craft inside and out, get serious, and GET DIESEL.

Bryce Franck
MMA Fighter and Trainer

This manual is like nothing you’ve ever seen before. It will expose you to new training techniques and will spark your imagination for training. The breadth and depth of this manual is simply astounding. No matter your goal, you can surely benefit from learning and applying the principles of Chaos Training. The unification of science, experience, and creativity help to make this a very practical manual. It will undoubtedly be one of the most interesting and useful books that you purchase.

David White

I came across the Diesel Crew one night when surfing through the endless amounts of strongman video on YouTube. The Crew were pulling off some pretty impressive lifts, just do a search on YouTube for Diesel Crew and you'll see what I mean. Anyway I eventually went to there website to find out a little more about the Diesel Crew, www.dieselcrew.com and found that they actually had an MMA training manual titled "Building the Ultimate MMA Athlete".

I know the Diesel Crew do seminars with Zach Even-Esh, and I though that it could be a rehash of some of Zach's stuff but to my pleasant surprise its not at all, its completely new ground with no stone unturned in there approach.

Building the Ultimate MMA Athlete is penned by James "Smitty" Smith from the Crew,and the exercises are performed by the Diesel Crew. The manual is a juicy 306 pages of very unique fun and pain.

What really impressed me is that "Building the Ultimate MMA Athlete" covers everything you'll need minus actually learning how to fight, and I mean everything. From Diet, Recovery, to Energy Systems, training programmes, and the actual exercises themselves. They cover the whole nine yards in training and then some.

As you read the manual you quickly come to the conclusion that these guys have really studied the sport of MMA, and all the movements incorporated into the different techniques and positions. While reading you start seeing names like Fedor Emelianenko and Alexander Karelin. The Diesel Crew has been studying the movements of top athletes such as these in order to design exercises that mimic the explosiveness needed in this sport.

I've been working alot more on my stand up clinch game just recently, and have been doing alot of Greco Roman Wrestling. So I decided that for the week I'd really push some of the manuals clinch work exercises. I've set up my gear in the back yard for this, actually that is one of the good things about this manual, you can do alot of it in the garage, the park, or in my case the back yard.

After some warm ups I started playing around with sandbag grappling, which basically involves holding a sand bag in a standing clinch position i.e. double under hooks, the sandbag is then tied to a fixed pole or support with a giant rubber band. You then turn, pull, and twist like your fighting the bag, and it feels like a fight. The exercise as James puts it "simulates clinching and footwork under a load". I was having a great time doing this, both my kids were sitting on the porch with odd looks on there face, "Daddy what are you trying to do?".

As odd as you'll look doing these exercises they're a heck of alot of fun and you don't need conventional gym equipment, most of the gear you'll need is easily available at your local hard wear store, or even in your back yard. The only drama you'll have is in finding a monster tyre to flip, but with a bit of phoning around you'll grab one quite easily. I got mine from a local kindergarten that was changing its play ground, it was actually its sand pit. That being said, the manual gives you plenty of options in exercises, so if you don't have a particular piece of equipment then you have plenty of options to play around with.

After doing a week of clinch training with exercises like the one above I'm feeling pretty good, and its very evident that if I stick to these exercises and programmes I'm going to turn into an explosive wrecking machine in no time. I would go so far as saying that you could get a fighter with some rudimentary MMA skills, train them up using the Diesel Crew method and in 3 or 4 months you'd have a monster on your hands. You're probably thinking "yeah right", but a couple of years back we had a competitive strongman come into our Brazilian Jujitsu class, because I'm 108 kilos my instructor had me roll with him during sparring. Even though I had the technical edge over him he was just about impossible submit, its was like rolling with a rampaging bull. Combining strength work like the Diesel Method with technical fight know how will create an absolute monster of a fighter.

Matt J.
FightersReview.com

If you stay fairly abreast of things in the strength training community then you know who the Diesel Crew is. These guys are no joke, they are to grip training what Westside is to powerlifting (in my opinion) they're revolutionizing the industry.

So when I saw that they had an MMA manual I figured it was no joke, but I was thinking really what do they know about MMA? Well other than being avid fans and participating in combat sports themselves, their keen eye for detail is what sets them apart. The same keen eye that helps them become innovators in the field of grip training is evident when you go through this manual.

To begin, with what normally probably wouldn't interest most (but should), the Nutrition section, Supplemental (Balance, High Altitude Training, Agility/Reaction/Quickness, Equilibrium, Breathing), and Mental Aspects is ridiculously informative. There are things that they present for you in these sections that took me years of trial and error to learn. DO NOT pass this up thinking that it's unimportant. This information will improve your recovery time (an invaluable asset) and is just as beneficial as the training routine.

Continuing on to what you want to hear about, Most of the time when you get some sort of strength training material (no offense to anyone) but they go through a whole lot of redundant information. They always want to explain things to you that are almost irrelevant. While the Diesel Crew goes into a good bit of theory none of it is redundant and actually pretains directly to the following material. Rather than repeating what you already know, they give you an understanding of WHY they reccomend the following. It's not just a bunch of fluff.

The Energy pathways used, sport specific movement pattersn, functional positioning, skill breakdowns, and other functional concepts are discussed.

A lot of trainers attempt to follow sport specific movements but they usually miss the boat in my opinion. Either by loading up the literal movement and changing the movement mechanics or by doing something that while it "looks" like the movement is really irrelevant.

Lets get into the specific exercises (I Don't want to give away too much): If you've lifted weights for a while and trained mma, you come to the conclusion yourself that they two are far different. Normally this is because we engage in bodybuilder style lifting. 3 sets of 8 reps for curls will not help slam your opponent. As you progress further, strongman training seems like the right way to go but you need previous strength from some implements and the neural fatigue is high and after a while...

So what do you do? Well the D-crew pretty much has it figured out for you. "Incorporating the progression theory, with the 'extension of movement', and 'movement under tension'- The Diesel Method will allow you to take the typical exercises and apply a multi-dimensional force production approach"

You really don't need much equipment at all... It's not your conventional materials. "Rolling Thunders", Bands, Sandbags, Kegs, A kettlebell or two... and you're pretty much ready to go.

They cover prehabilitative exercises, and often neglected muscle groups (such as your ankles, knees, neck, etc). The exercise selection focuses on the hip/core musculature and how to transfer power from your feet to the hips and out through the arms. Every movement is designed for power production. If you're not smooth and strong you'll not complete the movement. But rest assured unlike olympic lifting there is no learning curve and really on some movements you make it up yourself (Sounds like it doesn't make sense but it does haha).

Most movements are inherently spontaneous because of the extensive use of odd objects and sometimes you kind of have to make it up as you go along. As they say in the manual, "Random Movements, Huge Rewards". You can hit every angle and level of movement with 95% of the movements presented. One of my personal favorites (Keg/Kettlebell Explosions) have the potential to make you VERY ballistically strong. To quote the manual again, "The athlete becomes more efficient at generating force AND power in all movement patterns in a training environment that stresses dynamic stabilization."

I can't speak enough about the exercises. From giving you a RUGGED grip, and making you ruthlessly powerful another benefit is that I have there are a lot (meaning 98%) of these exercises that I have NEVER seen them before. EVER. And the one's that you can learn from other available sources they don't waste your time on (olifts, kettlebell lifts, etc). You'll definitely be doing something different than your competition. But not just different. EFFECTIVE. Every plane of motion you would encounter in a combat situation from that position is accounted for.

The anaerobic conditioning is addressed through using their unique movements in the form of complexes, there isn't much to say other than what they put in like 72 inch font. BE CREATIVE WHEN DESIGNING YOUR ANAEROBIC CONDITIONING!

The Conjugate Method is utilized 3 days a week allowing you to account for your energy work as well as every range up and down the force/strength curve.What really impressed me was that they balanced the strength training well with the skill training. The strength training wasn't given the forefront of the training. Instead they focused on how exercise volume should be modified to fit your level of recovery from the previous training session. Harmonizing those attributes are at the core of being able to handle the workload of mma training. As they put it, "Obey the principle without being bound to it".

It's not a cookie cutter program and they give you a great idea on how to implement the program concepts efficiently. So don't feel bad if you can't do every single exercise because of a lack of equipment or whatever. Absorb the concepts.

"Building the Ultimate MMA Athlete" probably won't make you bench press more. The manual also probably won't improve your squat, or your deadlift.

What it will do is give you the ability to enforce your will on your opponent. If you want to never say, "He was just too strong". If you want to enhance every athletic aspect necessary to become a great Mixed Martial Artist, then this is the book for you.

Dorian D.

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