Just like mixed martial arts has quickly become one of the top mainstream sports in America, the training regimen of other pro athletes is becoming geared more toward MMA.
Joe Brescia of The New York Times did an article about baseball players Adam Dunn, Brad Penny, and Russell Martin preparing for the 2011 MLB season by going through MMA training.
Adam Dunn of the Chicago White Sox, Brad Penny of the Detroit Tigers and Russell Martin of the Yankees have used the sport’s punches and kicks to improve their throwing and swinging. In addition to improving overall fitness, Martin said, mixed martial arts can make an athlete mentally tougher.
“You tolerate the pain and get through it,” he said. “Mentally, I know I’m in a good place because I worked hard.”
Unlike Martin, Dunn and Penny guard the secrets of their workouts as if they were team signs.
Penny acknowledged training with Dan Henderson, a star MMA. competitor, but he declined through a Tigers spokesman to discuss his training. Dunn declined through the White Sox media-relations office.
Henderson said that he had had Penny practice the kicks and punches used in MMA., but there was no sparring.
MMA training has actually become a big part of offseason training for NFL players. Noted Fox NFL analyst, Jay Glazer, helps train Green Bay linebacker Clay Matthews during the football offseason and now other players like Jacksonville’s Mercedes Lewis have gotten in on the act.
It’s no surprise that athletes are going this route and it backs up the idea that mixed martial artists are some of the best athletes in the world.
