After multiple tours in Afghanistan and
Iraq, he plans on going back. “That’s where I belong,” Kennedy says. “I have a fixed period of time back here, fighting, and then I’m going back to continue doing my job.” For now, however, he’s one of the hottest properties in MMA—and the man seemingly no one wants to fight. With world-class wrestling and submission skills, power in both hands and feet, and arguably the best stamina in the sport, Kennedy presents a stiff challenge for any middleweight in the game.
SINCE WE LAST SPOKE The past year has been a mixed bag for Kennedy. With two impressive first-round submission wins sandwiched between a controversial decision loss to Strikeforce middleweight champion Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza, he’s been fighting. But after working for only seven total rounds for more than 12 months, he’s hungry for more action, bigger fights, and better opportuni- ties to spread his message that doing things the right way—with class—is the only way to operate.
The loss to Souza was particularly disappointing. “I thought I won the fight,” he says. “When you look at the stats, I outstruck him, and I took him down twice.” Motivated to step up his training in terms of game-planning, he began working with renowned MMA mastermind Greg Jackson prior to his title fight, and the fruits of their labour, if not fully realised against Souza, were evident in a dominant submission (via rear naked choke) win over Melvin Manhoef in March. Through it all, Kennedy has maintained a constant state of readiness anyone can emulate, whether preparing for combat or simply getting in shape. The man is perpetually ripped to the bone, always in phenomenal condition, and always prepared to take any fight on short notice. “No matter what I do, it’s all about the workouts,” he says. “When I travel, I make sure I get my workout in first. When I’m in camp for a fight, I don’t travel at all, and I train three times a day. The secret is to just keep working.”
ARMY STRONG For trainer Coy Schneider, owner of CS Strength in Austin, Texas, working with
MUSCLE&FITNESS 79
Kennedy presents a unique set of chal- lenges. “He’s already in such great shape,” says Schneider, “that we’ve had to figure out different things to do with him to keep him getting stronger and faster. He also gets bored doing the same exercises, so he needs plenty of variety.” Kennedy’s weight training workouts focus on developing power and explosive strength—with templates pieced together in an ever-evolving four-day split designed by Schneider. His natural weight hovers between 220–225 pounds, necessitating a rather significant weight cut before fights. The idea behind his programming is to incorporate explosive exercises that won’t add excessive muscle mass and make cutting more difficult. This means fast contraction movements like box squats, plyometric push-up variations, and medicine ball throws. “We also use bands and chains with
various exercises,” says Schneider. “We’ll do a lot of box squats with bands for sets of low reps, and we’ll follow that up as a superset with some kind of box jump.” Kettlebells are factored into just about every aspect of Kennedy’s training. From circuits to pure explosive work, he’s a major fan—so much so that he insisted a kettlebell exercise (the snatch) be included in his photo shoot. “Kettlebells are the best for everything,” says Kennedy. “We do snatches and swings with them
Known as a world- class grappler, Kennedy’s first exposure to martial arts was kickboxing.
for explosiveness and hamstring and lower back strength, and we’ll also throw them into conditioning circuits where I’ll do a burpee holding the kettlebells and transition into a two- handed snatch.”
CORE AND POSTERIOR CHAIN To keep Kennedy’s core fight-ready, Schneider uses various med ball throws along with weighted sit-ups, hanging leg raises, and planks. “We want everything working in alignment from his lats to his core to his hips,” he says. Kennedy’s posterior chain—the muscles in the back of the body, from the ham- strings to the rear delts—also puts in some serious work. “I love to deadlift,” he says, “and it’s a huge part of my training because it works every muscle in the body. I hate it when anyone in the gym can deadlift more than me.” For Kennedy’s posterior chain assistance exercises, Schneider prescribes a healthy dose of Romanian deadlifts and glute bridges. For the posterior muscles in his upper body, Kennedy performs a variety of band exercises, including pull-aparts and Y’s and T’s—a series of static holds that work his shoulder girdle stability.
KILLER CARDIO To hang with Kennedy in the cage, you’d better be prepared to maintain a blistering
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