If you only knew the blood, sweat, and toil behind this prize money, you would say, ‘He deserves £50,000!” I’ve been coaching Conor, a lightweight MMA fighter, and full-time electrical engineer, since 2024. Conor is based in Manchester, and I’m in Canada, so we check in every week, digitally, to see how he’s getting on. I send him videos each week, coaching him on how to improve, build upon his weaknesses, and get more out of his physicality and his fighting career. He's hungry to have a promising career in the fight game, and I've enjoyed developing him into a human weapon for the last couple of years. At the tail end of July 2025, it all paid off, and it’s a keeper of a story if you ask me... 9 months ago, I asked Conor this simple sentence; “Would you like to get on a call early next week and discuss preparation for your potential 8 man tournament?” “Yeh mate, I’ll book.” He obliged, and we made a plan; - Get strong as fucking possible for a lightweight.  - Set numbers, criteria, standards.  - Build an iron set of lungs so we can cook our opponents if we need did to, knocking them out in the last round if we have to.  - Check in every week so we stay on track. 3 fights in 9 months. Winner takes £5000. Conor felt he could win it and we had 2 months until his first fight. We got to work but it was far from a smooth sea to sail. We battled; - The smoke of a building fire, that caused Conor’s lungs to shut down and admitting him to hospital. - Bouts of acute fatigue, as a result of working full-time hours as an electrical engineer, getting up and training at the crack of dawn before work, going to work a full day, then training after work.  - The gruel of smashing through 3 stages of a tournament, with 3 fights  3 weight cuts, 3 camps, in 9 months.  Conor couldn’t deserve it more, winning this prize fight tournament, especially when you know what he went through to get it. Congratulations to Conor and his coaches for their victories.

Often combat sports coaching is filled with awful advice, but every now and then a gem shines through that you never forget. So I'm genuinely interested, what is one of the best pieces of advice your coach has ever given to you? Sound off in the comments and let's see what we're left with 👇🏻

Welcome to Combathletes Worldwide! I created this group for 1 simple purpose; to help you weaponize yourself with real, skin in the game, strength and conditioning information that you can implement, TODAY. I am a professional, qualified (CSCS) S&C coach, that has been working with amateur and professional athletes since 2017. I also compete in no-gi grappling competitions, as a Masters brown belt. The 5-3 Fight Method has helped combat athletes all over the world; 😤 Weaponize their gas tanks 💪🏼 Build strength whilst lifting pain-free 🏆 Without spending endless hours in the weight room And now I'm going to share with you valuable insights to help take your combat sports performance to the next level. Combathlete serves those who; ✅ Work hard ✅ Want to actualize their physical potential ✅ Currently practice some kind of combat sport/s Here's 3 steps on how to get the most out of this amazing group; Step 1️⃣ - Introduce yourself 📢 - What's your name and where are you from? - What's your main combat sport? - Who's your favourite combat sports athlete? - What do you need help with, regarding your performance? Step 2️⃣ - Make sure you check out our incredible FREE courses under the 'Classroom' tab 📝 Step 3️⃣ - Book a FREE performance call with Coach Harry👇🏼 https://tidycal.com/combathletehq/performance-call

1. If you have a resting heart rate *over* 60BPM, you should spend 8 weeks building a better foundation - you will get better results in the long run if you have a basic level of aerobic fitness. If you check out the ‘How to weaponise your gas tank’ section on Skool, you can run my free 8 week Base programme - 2 days per week, escalating durations across the 8 weeks. 2. If you have a resting heart rate *under* 60BPM, you can get stuck in to some more intense conditioning that will yield benefits in as little as 2-4 weeks. Start with 2 conditioning sessions per week; 1 session should be short durations with longer rest periods (Alactic emphasis) 1 session should be medium durations with medium rest periods (Lactic / Aerobic Power emphasis) 3. Do your conditioning after lifting sessions (if you still have the energy), or after skills (if the skills session was not too brutal), or on a different day entirely. Your conditioning sessions for Alactic, Lactic, and Aerobic Power emphasis should not last more than 30 minutes, total. If you have to work on your endurance, then 30-60 minute sessions are fine. 4. To make sure you are emphasising the right area of your gas tank, get familiar with work:rest ratios, otherwise you will be wasting your time thinking you’re training the right area when in fact you’re missing the mark; Alactic - 1:12 - 1:20 Lactic - 1:3 - 1:5 Aerobic - 1:1 - 1:3 5. Prioritise your *worst* areas with your conditioning Struggling with repeated bursts of power, recovering sufficiently between them? Focus on your Alactic Power and Capacity Struggling with longer exchanges, scrambles, and sequences? Focus on your Lactic Power and Capacity Struggling with pushing the pace or recovering between rounds and training sessions? Focus on your Aerobic Capacity and Power And then make sure you are TESTING your gas tank every 8 weeks. If you don’t test, you don’t know if you’re working at the optimal intensity for you and where you’re at.

So you’re consistent in the gym, you’re lifting 2-3 times per week and logistics are no longer the issue. But, you’re not sure when to increase the weight on the bar, take out the heavier pair of dumbbells, or challenge yourself a little more on that bodyweight exercise. Here’s a tip that will help you. After you finish your LAST SET, ask yourself, “How many more reps could I have done with a gun to my head, for that exercise?” If your answer is, “More than 3 reps,” then it is time to increase the weight next time you do that lift. A good goal for the upper body lifts = add 5lbs. For the lower body lifts = add 10lbs. To get stronger, we need to spend time working at RPE 8 for 3-6 repetitions. That means leaving 2 reps left in the tank. The moment you feel like you have more reps left in the tank, it’s time to increase the weight. Let me know if this helped you, and make sure you check out my world class S&C programs for Grappling, and MMA performance, here; The 5-3 Fight Method for Grappling; https://coach.everfit.io/package/CF529318 The Resilient Combathlete Strength System; https://coach.everfit.io/package/AU005068