Sarah Long (MMA S&C Coach)
MMA strength and conditioning coach; posts on nervous system fatigue, recovery, assessment, and injury risk management.
Unlock Mobility: Thoracic Spine & Big Toe Essential
Fun facts on how you should move: Your t-spine (the vertebrae that attatch to ribs) should rotate 60-70 degrees. Your low back should rotate 10 to 15 degrees. Lacking t-spine mobility contributes to low back pain and shoulder injuries. Your big toe should have 60-70 degrees of dorsiflexion. The big toe is crucial for balance, stability and propulsion. It bears 40-60% of your body weight when walking. When jumping, it’s the same percentage while shifting medially into the arch. Your arches…
Assessments Reveal Exact Path Back to Fighting
We have a fighter in town for assessments. Assessments are our nerdy love. From movement to performance. If you’re not asssessing, you’re guessing. This is especially important after an injury. Think of your body like a phone. The software is...
Beam Drills Boost Balance, Striking, and Grappling Power
Not enough people fk with balance beams. Turn on the sound. “If you can doge a wrench, you can dodge a ball.” If you can stabilize on a beam…… You’re definitely going to have better balance striking and a better base...
Master Core Rotation to Prevent Injuries and Fatigue
Rotate better. Clean rotation is pretty much the hardest pattern to nail. Knees, shoulders, and necks account for the most non-fight injuries. Not rotating with our core and hips places more stress on these joints. Poor rotation in a sport...
Hip Thrusts: Safer, Self‑Limiting Posterior Chain Power
Hip thrusts are an amazing posterior chain exercise. They’re easy to load up if you lack hip mobility or feel your low back with deadlifting. They’re more self limiting than deadlifts which means they limit the ability struggle though bad...
Lock Your Leg Like a Back Kick for Better RDLs
Single leg RDLs are one of the most 🔥 exercises for combat sports. It’s loaded single leg balance. Here’s how you can do them better- Lock out the leg that’s going behind you like a back kick. Engaging your entire up...
UFC PI Shows Strength Must Be Just Enough
One great take away from the UFC PI s&c specialist certification (among many) is STRONG ENOUGH. I’ve been preaching it, catching back sass, and yet here we are. With a goal of max strength comes sacrifices of speed and mobility....
Flavorful Low‑Calorie Meals Start with Simple Seasonings
Regular friendly reminder that herbs, seasonings, and hot sauce have close to no calories. Different ways of cooking food, yield different flavors. Better ingredients = better nutrition and tastier food. It doesn’t have to be bland af. ‘Suffering’ through gross food...
Strength Training Should Enhance, Not Hinder Martial Arts Performance
Fighters are starting to realize that they don’t need the ish kicked out of them in s&c. People are starting to value quality over quantity. Good. People who don’t do martial arts don’t understand the price of injuries and overtraining....
Treat Every Lift Like a Form: Precision Over Perfection
Here’s the deal with form…. It’s like a kata, poomsae, etc. Forms. 😅 Do we fight like that? No. They are there to ingraine the patterns into your brain with slow control to build into max power and precision. Exercises in the gym...
Dead Bugs Boost Bracing, Breathing, and Rotary Stability
This is one of the best posts ever posted. 😂 Dead bug and dead bug variations are money for learning to brace and breathe correctly. 👌 Keep your rotary stability on point by adding dead bugs to your warm up!
McGill’s Research Powers Lifter’s 1300‑lb Comeback
Great watch on spinal biomechanics. Stuart McGill responds to all the criticism and controversy. This is the “pig spine” guy. Idk how people listen to him talk and go with “I’m smarter than this guy” 😩. Anyway, it’s with elite...
Coaches Must Embrace PT‑Rooted Corrective Exercise
You can’t hate on corrective exercise without hating on all of physical therapy. Coaches who say this, don’t realize that’s where alllllllll of these exercises come from. Physical therapists. Whose job is literally to correct your issues WITH EXERCISE among...
Adapt Training to Any Gym’s Equipment for Maximum Impact
I’ve trained people from four of the top MMA gyms. I’ve trained people inside the PI and the coaches knew about it (and are lovely people, shout out to the PI s&c staff). I’ve trained people in many small...
Lift Lighter, Prioritize Clean Movement; Harmful Overtraining Culture
When I tell people to lift lighter and focus on clean movement during fight camps, I get push back from people who aren’t deep in this sport. The culture has to change. Y’all are constantly beat up It’s not just unnecessary,...