Connor Mcgregor's coach asked the 1st question

I find swimming extremely good for stamina. It is part cardio and part resistance, so you build muscular endurance and cardio endurance simultaneously. It also forces you to learn to control your breathing which is a massively understanted thing. Strong muscles and heart don't meant shit if you're not properly oxygenating your blood.

tears in my eyes

1:15 - how do i build cardio for all sports? 6:15 can brown belt promote someone to purple? 8:17 - what would todays ufc look like with original ufc format? 13:06 - learning leglocks effectively and safely 18:43 - what bjj books would you recommend?

Firas: What part of boxing made you tired? Me: Warm-up :(

You young fellas I’m so envious. In my 50’s now. First BJJ class the warm up did it. Threw up after class and weak for days. Yep, it certainly was a trial class. Then started stair sprints in my house to improve cardio. Meniscus busted. Went back to BJJ after a year and after improvements in diet and weight loss. Got takedown concussion. 6 months later going back again. 30 years married, teenagers, old parents and a mortgage, yes indeed I got shit cardio but I still got endurance. That was therapeutic. Thanks guys🙏

I'm glad in Dutch kickboxing and Muay Thai their isn't a belt system. You rise through the ranks by experience and championships

Been wrestling for 50 years. Coaching for 33. Love Coach Zahabi's attitude. It's positive. He sounds like he really wants people to get better. No arrogance. Not cocky. Very confident. Really a breath of fresh air. Would love to meet him some day.

Very good point you made coach about starting rounds where the last one finished. In a sense it gives a sense of respect to the disciplines.

Immediate like

Saw your interview on Rogan and really found inspiration from your training philosophy. Very intelligent and thoughtful approach. Wish all the success for you and yours.

Thank you for your thoughts! The cardio issues in relation to poor technique was an epiphany for me. I plan on focusing on where I am getting fatigued now to improve my technique.

Firas, your videos on fitness have really motivated me to change my life. Your whole philosophy around turning something into a habit and the domino effect really clicked with me. Thank you for sharing your wisdom. God bless!

I just found this channel a couple days ago. Been watching K-1 and UFC among other kick boxing and MMA organizations since 1993. Zahabi has been my favourite martial arts coach since Tri-Star gym got introduced to the UFC. Zahabi's opinions on the sport are in line with my own philosophies and opinions. I'm going to keep watching here and there. Love martial arts, keep up the good work sir.

Wow... thank you Firas. I have been pretty fit throughout my life but efficiency is king, you are correct and your argument represents its own truth very well. Thanks again!

Thank you so much for answering my question, you are a genius in the game and an inspiration

Cardio is everything, I'm a very technical striker and I didn't spar for like a year, when I got back to sparing with a former mma guy I didn't feel the same he would walk through me, but when I hit the bag I felt good, a couple of months later I went for a run and then decided to hit the bag. That's when I realized that my problem was stamina, because I was hitting the bag and my arms were heavy and I wasn't light on my feet

Love this format. Thank you very much Coach Zahabi

#1 - find more leverage. so true. running and sprinting is good, but being efficient with the cardio you have is better. excellent video.

Thank you Coach Zahabi for this video! Dropping knowledge once again.

I took some tips from training you gave on the Joe Rogan Podcast (Consistency/Intensity) , helped out my recovery and strength. Thanks a lot!

Thank you so much for all the ideas and information, you help so many people to stay mentally and physically healthy. You are truly helping the world via the net.

Tike Myson, nice name.

Thank you, coach. I think that the format of shorter but more frequent videos is great.

Great advice about the technique being number 1 and the connection you made. My dad taught us the same thing learning to swim.

Thanks so much Firas! Your videos are pure gold

Going on a run now. Thanks coach

I know this is an old video but this is still one of the best takes on practicing leg locks that I've heard

Leverage, efficiency, skill. You sound exactly like one of my teachers from LA. :D But yeah I would tend to agree that the development of skill to attain leverage is of massive importance.

Hey coach, my wife says GSP is not hot. Should I be worried she has bad taste?

I think anything that adds to your MMA training and not taking away from it is good cardio. I used to run at a fast pace all last year, HITT style (60 seconds hard/ 60 seconds light), it was great but it wore out my joints (already worn out from work and rolling). It added way too much fatigue and it wore me out. I eventually settled on a much slower pace and it’s been working much better than running more intensely.

best coach ever!

Five minutes into the video, you understand why he is a legend.

Bro, subbed as soon as I saw it, thank you for these golden videos

Sprints worked to improve my cardio. I would do up hill sprints (roughly 50 yards). On top of that I would take a 75 lb heavy bag and toss it around (standing and on the ground) for 2-3 minutes doing multiple rounds.

Timtam is so helpful. I was so tense and tight and it loosened me right up.

Great opinions, bro. Keep up the good progress in the gym!

I love these. Absolutely great!

this man has some serious wisdom

coach zahabi .....prolificating questions ...niceeee

Firas is a real philosopher in martial arts, he tests things in real circumstances and formulates in general : how it working in a real using in a modern fight situation. Working or not, why and etc. I could knew exactly the last truth about weight lifting in fighting from the ultimate front of fighting laboratory, from Firas and all lies that last years about this topic from the net forums became useless against the truth. Thank you, coach. May be I will never meet opportunity to train in your club, but I know that truth from you and I have opportunity to be more successful and not lost in wrong ways, that somebody already discovered and put on light on it

Thank Coach, I've been searching to full-fill my daily need for athletic knowledge

Some great advice like always!!!

My favorite coach and team!!!

Taking my hat to you coach Zahabi.. your knowledge is so so way ahead of your age, keep it going brooo.. hopefully once I can have opportunity to train in your gym for a while :))

always enjoy your instruction, thank you sir🔥✊️

1st podcast iv ever listened to start to end.. Will definitely be listening to more.. I listened to it while doing the dishes. I. May have to do the dishes more often lol

Thank you Firas. Could you do a video of following failed leg locks with sweeps? That would be very helpfull.

Well said , efficient work is the best work..

Jog-Sprint intervals, then stretch will make you strong in the guard

I use saulos back escape all the time .. worked like a charm

Omg yes. Resume position in next round!

thank you coach for this, im going to use this information to gain and improve cardio

One of the best MMA channels on youtube, hope to see more of you in the future!

I think Nick Diaz would be perfect for a fight with no rounds. His mixture of cardio, BJJ, boxing and iron chin is perfect for it. I'd love to see him talking shit and slapping his opponent for 20 mins lol.

Hill runs, I find the biggest longest hill in my town, I run up and down it 3 times, more or less depending on your hills gradient, don't add laps just see if you can reduce the time it takes you to complete your laps.

Awesome advice all around.

Good video and knowledge. Thanks.

Thanks for putting these q&a's out, I'm interested to learn Jujitsu but was wondering about the whole joint lock thing, like what do you do? But the answer is, Tap! Of course it's the smart thing to do, but I feel better hearing it from a professional. If they got you they got you, battle before and battle again after. Cheers from Aus

Heeeey Firas! i miss your fights breakdow. it would be very nice if you would break fights down more often. Keep up the good work with your channel. i love it!

Muchas gratitude.... Your gifted work ethic; wisdom.... Pleased found your podcast... Creating a new path, driven; determined!! Take good care my friend!! V.

Great video and very informative

Totally agree with the starting rounds in the same position. What's incredible is how successful world class grapplers are DESPITE the rules.

3:15 makes perfect sense, my theory about McGregor gassing has always been that after he quit soccer his cardio slowly started going down hill. I think don't think he compensated for this in his training regimen

🙌🏽🙌🏽 biggest fan! Love love love these vids 💪🏾👊🏽

I hope people heed your advice on how to stay injury free coach. When I roll I have always used the method for longevity 💪

the no gloves would also help the grapplers a lot, thanks for another great video mr.Zahabi

hey coach thanks for all these videos they are really helpfull . i got a question though. Im a pro kick boxer now transitioning to mma.i got like 2 amateur fights won pretty easily but i got a really good bjj practitioner in my gym and i cant really use my striking well he just takes me down and gnpounds me all day im trying still my best learning but is there any way i can get him to think twice about trying to take me down ? i dont mean like take down defenses etc. i mean like should i use movement-footwork that can make him doubt he can take me down or smth like that? sorry for the long post i hope u can answer this

Who disliked the video? It was out 2 minutes ago and 21 minutes long.

Couldn't agree more about the early UFC rules - you rule Firais!

You make a good point about the adding time for the grappling to be more dominant. What I see is that the UFC would rather keep it this way to maximize the chances of a fist fight followed by a knock out . I believe that sells more than people rolling on the mat....what do you think?

Coach Zahabi, I love you man! But one point I think is important regarding the concept of starting rounds in previous positions... how would it work with the scorecards? The guy on bottom would lose consecutive rounds because things never got a chance to reset

if I move to Montreal Tristar will be the first & only gym I would choose there, Coach Zahabi you sir are an inspiration, I love the way you think about the fight game

I 100% agree with starting the next round in the same position. The guy in the bad position didn't solve the problem, why should he be given a free pass?

Thank you coach.

Coach Zahabi,im good in the clinch,on top and bottom but i have trouble getting hold of the guy and sometimes i have to take a shot to get inside,now my teamates figured out that if they charge at me or tackle me i fall down,it sucks,i tried to do that to guys but they dont fall down they have better balance than me.

Firas Zahabi is a very good mma coach. He is very wise 👍👍👍

The 1st question from Ticen Mice’n

Thank you for this video. I am pretty out of shape and I have a background in boxing where I can go on a few rounds even with stamina being an issue. I just started jiu jitsu and I am completely exhausted just practicing the technique of the day in class. I decided to work on my fitness level and did so for 3 weeks, where I was running more, lifting more and yet still at the jiu jitsu mat I didn't feel any improvement in my physical conditioning. It's all about the technique and to do the techniques in jiu jitsu as a beginner gives my brain a lot of work and body is very tense also.

Re strength training: you absolutely should supplement your grappling with it. 3x 1.5 hours of compound lifts a week will help with your strength, posture, etc. If you in parallel train Jitsu intelligently then you won't feel overwhelmed.

Great points made 👌🏻

I like the few question format better

great video!

thank you 😎

Keep it up, Firas!

Pretty neat, what I notice is that combat sports types don't seem to know much about their Vo2 or lactate threshold and hot to train those specific systems. It's bread and butter for x-country skiing, rowing and cycling. So you have an idea of your oxygen consumption per kg of weight per minute. You know at what concentration of lactate you begin to fatigue and how to optimize them. How to balance that with the other aspects of the sport? I don't know.

I think for fights that aren't main events, the regular system is fine. But for main events, especially title fights, no rounds. Just start the clock at zero and go to 25 min. That way fighters can build their bodies to survive a gruelling 1 round fight. Like boxers train their entire career to fight for 36 min

I’m a painfully slow starter. It takes me like 1 hour more or less to feel super energized to do more intense training. I do 20mins light jogging and walking when I get tired (I tire easily) on the cardio machine, then I have to do some weights (super sets) and then some kickboxing. I gotta do this to activate full beast mode. I can’t just run and jump straight to intense boot camp conditioning type stuff like most people. Whhhyyyy!!???

Great video

Hi Coach, Thanks for the video, would like to know your thoughts on heart rate level to burn fat? Does it work ?

Awesome video

Striking is more entertaining to casuals, so therefor they won’t remove the time limit. To be perfectly honest, I enjoy technical striking more than grappling though the best is to have a bit of both. I did not enjoy the early UFCs as much cuz it was 90 pct grappling. I think the current formula is a good mix of realism and entertainment, it’s a lot more relistic than World Combat League (Chuck Norris’ format) back in the day, or even Muay Thai

Thank you good sir

For me Cardio is a make or break factor since my asthma gets in the way of me going further into training.

Wow. Restarting the round in the same position that the previous round ended is one of the most brilliant ideas I've ever heard. Firas, you gotta talk to the commissions and make that happen!

Hi Firas, you mention running and sprinting as excellent for your cardio. What is your opinion of swimming, as it seems to me that running will build endurance in the legs while swimming would build endurance in the upper body and both would train your cardio vascular system.

You have to look at endurance as one. Meaning all of the accumulated endurance stimuli from all of your various forms of training throughout the day, throughout the week, month, equal one. IF you train muay thai (interval training) and go for a long distance run (low intensity steady state) after wards, they combine to become your overall endurance. They are not separate. Therefore, it is important to balance your style of "extra cardio training" with your main training; being mma/BJJ/MT/etc. IT would be incredibly unwise, if you were a MT fighter who trained tabata rounds after or before Muay Thai because you've already done intense endurance rounds and would likely overtrain and digress in fitness over time. This is why you balance with the opposite to equal ying and yang or "one". Another example: if you're a jiu jitsu guy (predominantly moderate intensity cardio with random bursts of high intensity during attacks and scrambles) then mixing that with short and intense sprints would be most beneficial in improving endurance vs the low intensity higher volume endurance in the case with MT. You balance your extra curricular endurance training with the actual training you are doing for your sport, by contrasting it with the opposite, which will actually contribute to better endurance because you are more well-balanced. Remember, there are 4 pillars of endurance: aerobic capacity (ability to manage and manipulate heart rate), Vo2max (the ability to utilize oxygen), lactate threshold (ability to mitigate and buffer lactic acid accumulation), and strength endurance (ability to perform strength/explosive movements under short bursts of aerobic fatigue ie. 100m sprints with parachute). You must train all of them to become well-rounded and prevent over-training. Specializing in one of these areas and neglecting the others will lead to digression in endurance over time.

I think my cigarettes is what’s getting me tired.

When you say increase your cardio vascular system does that mean train to increase your aerobic breathing excercise length ? Im not sure if i worded that correctly but can you elaborate on how you can train the cardiovascular system. Thank you 👍

This guys a genius