For many years, Randy Couture was one of the most dominant fighters in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). He is a six-time UFC champion with a record of 19-11. As a result of his success in the octagon, Couture has become an iconic figure in mixed martial arts. In this blog post, we will look at Couture’s workout routine and how you can use it to get into shape. Let’s get started!
Who Is Randy Couture?
Randall “Randy” Duane Couture was born in Everett, Washington, on June 22nd, 1963. He started his MMA career in 1997 and between 1997 and 2007, held titles under the UFC (three times), PRIDE FC (twice), and the International Fight League (twice).
As a fighter, Couture is known for his exciting style in the octagon. He’s also famous for being the only athlete to win a championship title in both the heavyweight and light heavyweight divisions of the UFC.
At an age when most athletes have retired, Randy Couture returned to MMA after a brief stint being a professional wrestler with World Wrestling Entertainment. Between November 2010 and July 2011, Randy had a record of three wins and one loss.
In terms of his amateur wrestling career, Couture was an Olympic alternate as a heavyweight for the United States wrestling team in the 1992 Summer Olympics. In addition to this, he is also a two-time Golden Gloves champion in boxing. So without further ado, let’s take a look at Couture’s workout regime.
The Randy Couture MMA Workout Routine
When it comes to training for an MMA fight, there are several key factors which you need to consider: total body strength and conditioning, speed, flexibility, and cardio. Let’s talk about each of these briefly.
1) Total Body Strength and Conditioning
As an MMA fighter, you need to be strong and powerful. You should focus on exercises that target the large muscle groups of the body, such as squats, deadlifts, bench presses, rows and pullups. In addition to this, you’ll benefit from training with compound movements. These are exercises that use several muscle groups at the same time. For example, the deadlift primarily works muscles of the lower body and back whereas the bench press hits muscles of the chest, shoulders, and triceps.
2) Speed And Power
MMA fighting is not just about brute strength – you also need speed and power. As an MMA fighter, explosive exercises are important to your success. You should focus on exercises that work large numbers of muscles, such as deadlifts and squats, at once. These types of exercises help you develop strength and explosiveness.
3) Flexibility and Cardio Training
Finally, you need to incorporate regular cardiovascular training into your workout routine if you want to perform your best. It is important to have the right level of conditioning if you want to avoid getting tired during a fight. Aim to work on your cardio three times per week for twenty minutes at a time.
Randall “Randy” Couture’s Workout Routine
Randall “Randy” Couture follows a high-volume workout plan. Depending on the time of year, he will either follow a 4-day split or a 3-day split. Either way, there are several key elements to Randy’s workout routine:
- He focuses on the big lifts such as deadlifts, squats and bench presses. These types of exercises increase his overall strength and power.
- Randy performs explosive exercises for 30-45 minutes at a time – this includes exercises like box jumps, jump squats and plyometric pushups.
- He focuses on shorter bouts of high intensity work, such as sprints and hill sprints.
- Randy performs bodyweight exercises for high reps at least twice per week – including chin ups, pushups and dips.
- In addition to this, he also adds in a weekly cardio session to increase his overall conditioning.
Randall “Randy” Couture likes to train with high intensity interval training. He also spends a large amount of time performing explosive movements. This helps to improve his technique, power and bring up his overall conditioning levels.
In terms of his workout splits, Randall “Randy” Couture normally follows either a 4-day split or a 3-day split. These are the two workout splits that he has used in the past:
- 3-Day Workout Split
Monday: Heavy Bag
Wednesday: Sprint Session and Plyometrics
Friday: Circuit Training and Hill Sprints
- 4-Day Workout Split
Monday: Heavy Bag and Plyometric Workout (which includes box jumps, jump squats etc.) Then at night, Randy will hit the heavy bag for several rounds before finishing off with some ab work.
Tuesday: Hill Sprints and Circuit Training (which includes explosive exercises such as jump squats and battle ropes)
Thursday: Wrestling
And finally on Friday, Randall “Randy” Couture hits the heavy bag for a couple of hours to keep his technique sharp and then performs a circuit training session. This takes place in the evening, at nighttime.
Detailed Workout Program
Randall “Randy” Couture’s Morning Workout:
- Warm Up: Using a jump rope and shadow boxing, Randy will exercise for 5 minutes to warm up.
- Deadlift: 4 sets of 6 reps (beginners should start with 3 sets of 8 reps) Use around 50% of your 1RM (1 rep max) and aim to increase this weight over time. Aim for a rest period of 2-3 minutes in between each set.
- Bench Press: 4 sets of 6 reps (beginners should start with 3 sets of 8 reps) Use around 50% of your 1RM (1 rep max). Rest for around 2-3 minutes in between each set.
- Leg Curls: 3 sets of 12 reps (beginners should start with 2 sets of 15 reps) Rest for around 2-3 minutes in between each set and aim to increase the weight every time you do this exercise.
- Weighted Pull Ups: 4 sets of 6 reps (beginners should start with 3 sets of 8 reps) Use around 50% of your 1RM (1 rep max). Rest for 1 minute in between each set.
Upper Body Workout – Option 1:
Start with chin ups and aim to increase the weight every time you perform this exercise. Once you can do 10 reps with a certain weight, move on and start performing pulldowns. Once you can do 10 reps with this weight, move onto close grip pulldowns. Then once you can perform 10 reps with this weight, move on to seated cable rows.
After doing 4 sets of these exercises (with around 90 seconds rest in between each set), follow it up with an upper back exercise such as bent over rows or T-bar rows.
Upper Body Workout – Option 2:
You can also start off your workout with a different version of pull ups and chin ups. For example, you may want to begin the workout by performing explosive pullups or wide grip pullups instead of regular chin ups or pull downs.
After doing 4 sets of these exercises (with around 90 seconds rest in between each set), follow it up with an upper back exercise such as bent over rows or T-bar rows.
Chest Workout – Option 1:
Randall “Randy” Couture has always preferred to train his chest after hitting the heavy bag for a few rounds. There are several good reasons for this:
When you hit the heavy bag, you produce a lot of lactic acid in your body. This helps to bring up your overall strength levels. Thus, when you perform chest workouts after a heavy bag training session, it can help to improve your performance. It is not uncommon for people to get the “beast mode” effect from this workout strategy.
Chest Workout – Option 2:
Randall “Randy” Couture also has another strategy that he uses to hit his chest from a different angle. He normally begins with flat bench presses or dumbbell presses and then finishes off with cable crossovers or machine flyes. This ensures that your chest receives a good all-round workout.
After doing 4 sets of these exercises (with around 90 seconds rest in between each set), follow it up with an upper back exercise such as bent over rows or T-bar rows.
Biceps Workout – Option 1:
If you look at pictures of Randy Couture, then you will notice that he has some pretty impressive biceps. This is mainly due to genetics and years of training but it’s also partly down to the fact that he does not neglect his biceps work.
Randall “Randy” Couture usually prefers to train his biceps at nighttime – because this helps him to keep a low bodyweight throughout the day. He has stated that the secret to a good bicep workout is to use a lot of weight but also ensure that you can squeeze each rep out. This helps to stimulate your muscles and will have a positive effect on your arm size over time.
Randy Couture’s Tips: Your biceps should grow as you get older as long as you keep training them.
Randy Couture recommends training your biceps 1-2 times per week. He says that it doesn’t matter whether you prefer to train your biceps early on in your workout or at the end – as long as you make sure that you squeeze each rep out and focus fully on the muscle group.
Randall “Randy” Couture’s Workout Tips and Exercises
So, now that you have seen how Randy trains throughout the year, let’s look at some of his workout tips. As well as these tips, I have also included a list of exercises that he has used during his training.
Randall “Randy” Couture’s Tips
- He starts off each workout with a warmup – this helps to improve blood flow and reduce the chance of injury.
- Randy normally performs bodyweight exercises for high reps – which means that he can keep his workout intensity high while saving his energy for more important workouts later in the week.
- He makes sure that he always performs a warm down after each workout – this helps to reduce muscle soreness and improve blood flow.
Randall “Randy” Couture’s Exercises
A list of exercises that he performs during his workouts:
- Bench Press Weighted Chin Ups – which focus on the back muscles.
- Deadlift Squat Bench Press – a great all-rounder exercise that focuses on the lower body and upper body.
In addition to this, Randall “Randy” Couture has also used other exercises such as kettle bells, medicine balls, battle ropes and jump ropes.
Randy Couture’s Diet Plan
As well as following a workout routine, Randy also follows a strict diet plan. Here is a sample of his daily diet plan:
- Meal 1 – Oats mixed with whey protein isolate powder, almonds or cashews, blueberries or strawberries or raspberries, milk or soy milk
- Meal 2 – 8 oz. steak or salmon, green beans, or asparagus
- Meal 3 – Protein shake and a banana (or something else sugary like dextrose powder)
- Meal 4 – Tuna and salad with olive oil dressing
- Meal 5 – 8 oz. steak or fish, green beans, or asparagus
- Meal 6 – Protein shake and dextrose powder (or something sugary)
Protein Intake: Randy Couture aims to consume at least 150g of protein per day. He will normally consume around 250g of protein if his weight is above 200lbs. If you weigh less, then you would need to consume less protein.
Fat Intake: Randy normally tries to stay under 100g of fat per day. He does this because too much fat can make it difficult to cut weight for competitions.Carbohydrate Intake: As far as carbohydrates are concerned, Randall “Randy” Couture eats around 300-400g per day (before the day of a competition). He will normally consume around 200-250g if he is in the off season.
Randall “Randy” Couture’s Diet Tips
- Try to eat 5-7 meals per day – this will stop you from feeling hungry all the time and it also helps to keep your metabolism high. Eating more than 7 meals per day is not really necessary.
- Try to eat a higher protein intake to build lean muscle mass. It is pointless to follow a workout routine if you don’t also increase your protein intake. You should also try and eat at least 150g of protein each day (if you weigh over 200lbs). If you weigh less than 200lbs, then you should aim to consume at least 120g of protein each day.
- Try and eat a moderate fat intake – while some fats are good for you, too much fat can prevent you from cutting weight for competition. You should try and limit your fat intake to around 20% or below of your total calorie intake.
- Try to eat a moderate carbohydrate intake – eating too many carbs is not good for you as you can gain weight. You should aim to consume around 50-60% of your total calorie intake from carbohydrates each day. If you weigh more than 200lbs, then increase this number by 10%.
How to build a body like Randy Couture
If you are looking to build a body like Randy Couture, then you should try following these steps:
#1 Bodyweight Exercises
You should perform high reps for each exercise that you do. This will help to build muscle endurance while still maintaining a low body fat level. You should also try and perform at least 2 bodyweight exercises per muscle group – this will help you to work the muscles harder and therefore build lean muscle mass faster.
#2 Progressive Overload
You should aim to lift more weight each time that you work out and increase the number of reps that you perform each week by 5% or more. This progressive overload method is their secret to gaining strength and size.
#3 Rest
You should try to get at least 8 hours of sleep each night because this will aid with your recovery time after workouts. You can also take short naps during the day if you feel tired. If you do not take enough rest, then it will be harder to build lean muscle mass.
#4 Reduce Cardio Exercise
It is important for you to reduce the amount of cardio exercise that you do. Doing too much cardio can make it more difficult for you to gain muscle, especially if your bodyfat levels are high. You should only perform cardio exercises if your weight is over 12% bodyfat (you should aim to perform cardio exercise when you weight is under 12% bodyfat).
#5 Supplements
There are a number of supplements that you can try and pre-workout supplements and post workout supplements may help your recovery time. Protein shakes, whey protein and dextrose powder can also help with muscle gain.
#6 Consistency is Key
The key to building a body like Randy Couture is consistency – it takes several years of hard work to build muscle and you should not expect to see overnight results. You need to consistently workout and eat at least 5-6 times per day, every day (this includes weekends). You should also aim to keep your body fat levels under 12%.
Train now to become stronger, leaner, and more powerful!
Randall “Randy” Couture is one of the best fighters in UFC history – he has managed to win titles in two different weight divisions. In addition to this, he is also a very strong and powerful individual.
The fact that Randy Couture can deadlift over 500lbs with ease is a testament to his raw power and strength both during training and in competition. The high intensity workout routine that Randall “Randy” Couture follows allows him to maintain a high level of fitness, whilst allowing him to cut weight for competition.
The exercises that he performs during his workout routine are great for building strength, power, and lean muscle mass. The diet plan that Randy Couture follows is also very effective as it allows him to build muscle while staying lean at the same time.
If you want to be like Randy Couture then you should follow a similar workout routine and you should also try to eat a high protein, moderate fat and moderate carbohydrate diet. This will help you build muscle mass, increase strength and power as well as helping you to burn body fat at the same time.