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MMA, or Mixed Martial Arts, is the latest rage these days. It has become very popular over the last 5 years, and everyone wants to do it. However, this is not an easy sport or hobby. You need to be in excellent shape just to get through the classes. Of course, everyone has to start somewhere, people don't start out as experts so everyone has been a beginner before.

Since MMA is so popular you might be thinking of trying it out yourself. Perhaps you want to start boxing, kickboxing, wrestling, or Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. However, there is one very important thing that you need to recognize before starting.

You need to understand that these are very demanding sports and you could get hurt. You need to realize that these classes aren't for people that are in bad shape, although they will get you in excellent shape. The most important thing you should do before joining a gym or school to study these martial arts is conditioning.

If you have been doing some conditioning work already, great! However, many of you may not. You could just sign up for the gym and start paying 80 to 200 dollars per month, but if you are not in good shape most of your time will be spent resting and recovering. If you are in good shape before you start then you will be able to learn more and get a better use out of your money.

Luckily there are several things you could be doing before you take that step into the gym and fork over a bunch of money for membership fees and equipment. If you haven't been already you should be out running to build up your cardio base. All of these martial arts are very demanding and require a great gas tank to go the distance. If you don't have lungs you won't be able to make it out of the round.

You should be doing some form of traditional cardio such as running or swimming. Mix it up with some long distance training and very high intensity sprints. This can be done both running and swimming. You could go run 3 to 5 miles or swim 1 to 2 miles one day. The next day you could hit the track to do some 100 meter sprints or get in the pool to do 25 meter sprints, making sure to fully recover in between sets.

Another great tool is Tabata Squats. You can do Tabata Squats for free and they can be done anywhere! Tabata Squats are a brutal workout that is accomplished in only 4 minutes! You do 20 seconds of work followed by 10 seconds of rest. This is done 8 times which adds up to a total of 4 minutes. Each set of work is all out pedal to the metal. This can also be done with pushups, pullups, or any other exercise you can think of.

Mix up these different training methods to lay a great foundation for your conditioning before getting in the gym. Remember, you can't build a house without a strong foundation!