How to Train Like Prime Conor McGregor

3 Notorious Secrets to Become a Lethal Gentleman.

Prime Conor McGregor converted more young men into mixed martial artists than any other fighter in our generation.

His presence, aura & moxie that he entered the cage with.

The self belief.

The arrogance & confidence that would get under his opponents skin.

His unorthodox style & movement patterns, which were unlike anything else we’ve seen in the sport.

And the famous left hand which was touted the ‘kiss of death’.

Prime Conor McGregor was an enigma & at his peak was untouchable.

But what if you could emulate & learn about some of the secrets Conor used throughout his career in order to be the man he was at his peak?

If you look at Conor in his amateur years, he was a completely different human.

He did not move the way he did. He trained this quality.

If he was born to move & flow this way, his earlier fights would have looked completely different.

So what does this mean?

It means its a TRAINABLE quality.

And this article is going to breakdown, in detail the exact anatomical secrets behind Prime McGregors movement mastery.

I can promise you, you will not find this alpha anywhere else on the internet as its a combination of my obsession towards anatomy, biomechanics & martial arts - all intertwined into analysing the top performers on the planet.

There are 3 key tenants we are going to cover:

1- POSTURAL MASTERY

2- THE NOTORIOUS RIBCAGE ANATOMY

3- BODYWEIGHT MOVEMENT MASTERY

Let’s dive in….

---

MASTER YOUR POSTURE

Conor McGregor didn't just change his fighting style on his way to the top - he completely rebuilt his body from the ground up.

The scrappy amateur transformed into an ultra confident, precise & lethal striker.

And this all starts with the posture.

Posture isn’t just about aesthetics, it impacts your confidence, breathing, fatigue resistance, movement biomechanics & so much more.

The brain & body are incredibly closely linked, and you can sense just from someones posture & body language exactly how they are feeling (slumped shoulders, head down = negative postural positioning).

For this reason its something to take seriously & observe in yourself and others.

It’s also why fighters will pretend a shot didn’t hurt them and that they’re not fatigued, body language is a huge tell in martial arts.

From Amateur to Notorious:

If you track McGregors posture from his amateur fights to when he was in his prime (Jose Aldo x Alvarez fights), you will see a completely different fighter & man.

AMATEUR MCGREGOR

PRIME MCGREGOR

THE PRIME POSTURE FORMULA

The posture is far more than just the physical, the formula is as follows.

POSTURE = Physical Anatomy (Muscular & Bony Alignment) x Mental Anatomy (Nervous System & Psychology) x Spiritual Anatomy (Self Confidence & Purpose).

Look at the fucking STARK difference in presence here. This is a prime example of all of the above aligning in the formula:

I will write a seperate article on this in the future where we blend the science & art of postural development, but this should open your mind to the fact that this is a very complex & multi faceted area of movement.

---

THE NOTORIOUS RIB CAGE & SHOULDER ANATOMY

The largest physical change in Conor McGregors anatomy, by a long stretch is his rib cage & shoulder blade development.

Just look at the insane difference from the start of the UFC, to his prime:

McGregor has completely rebalanced his physique in order to move like one of the best to ever do it, which effectively comes down to his ability to manage & control postural positions by stacking his rib cage over the pelvis & controlling the diaphragm.

You’ll notice that Conor is his prime had such a unique structure, his diaphragm seemed always activated, he had incredible expansion through the back of his ribcage, and had mastery over his shoulder blades (which we will cover in more detail now)

MCGREGOR SHOULDER BLADE MASTERY

Another key element to McGregors movement, is the mastery he has over his shoulders.

His ability to REACH & PROTRACT the shoulders is unparalleled, a big reason he also has a 74 inch reach advantage at 5 foot 9 (that’s a +5.0 ape index rating, which puts him in the top 14 of all fighters in the UFC).

Developing this protraction quality is something very rarely trained in commercial gym settings, but I have attached 2 exercises below (which are 2 of my favourites):

TRX PROTRACTION ROW

ROTATIONAL CABLE ROW

These AREN’T maximal strength lifts. They’re accessories and part of my ‘jacked mobility’ philosophy (strength at length).

---

BODYWEIGHT MASTERY

“There’s 2 Things you need to control in this game, your own body & your opponents body”. - C.McGregor

There are thousands of examples of fighting champions who are NOT strong in the weight room.

Do you think this a coincidence?

McGregor is not someone who trains maximal strength frequently, but what he did master & obsess over was his ability to move his own body through time & space.

You don’t have dumbbells or barbells in cage. It’s you and your body, manipulating an opponent.

The better your mastery of your own body, the easier it will be for you to move, evade, defend, slip, counter & we saw Conor do this time & time again, making his opponents look stiff & like rookies in the process.

A common problem I see however in the martial arts world, is that so many guys try combining martial arts techniques with weights, and this is the WRONG approach to take (example below of NOT what to do - and yes, this is one of the best fighters in the world, Jonathan Haggerty (ONE FC Champion):

BODYWEIGHT MASTERY EXERCISES

To give you high level examples, we can observe some of the things McGregor has sprinkled into his training during his prime.

GYMNASTIC RING WORK

There are several clips of McGregor working with rings, and for good reason (in this case a muscle up).

This is an incredibly challenging exercise, and the rings make it even harder with the stability demands (premium for working the rotator cuff).

The muscle up position also integrates both the pull up & dip into 1 movement, making it a very time efficient exercise to master. Conor has shown several examples of leveraging gymnastics in order to master his bodyweight successfully.

FOOTWORK & MOVEMENT DRILLS

An underutilised tool in modern martial arts is movement & coordination drills.

McGregor was movement obsessed in his prime. To the point where traditional martial arts styles such as:

• Western Boxing

• Capoeira

• Taekwondo

• Karate

• Jiu Jitsu

• Judo

• Wrestling

Were all staples in his arsenal.

For that reason, he could truly claim that “No one moves like I move”.

Shadowboxing is often seen as a ‘fundamentals’ or beginners tool. Majority of martial arts schools do not place a large emphasis on shadowboxing beyond a couple of rounds to warm you up (unless you’re at the very best facilities).

In the sport of mixed martial arts, the higher your freedom of movement, the more options you have.

It makes you unpredictable (a comment many of McGregor’s opponents make), but it also significantly decreases your risk of injuries, which can discuss in a future piece.

Do not neglect your shadowboxing, and use both the weight room and the martial arts dojo to play, practise and develop an incredibly broad array of movement strategies.

STEAL McGREGORS SYSTEMS

Unlocking the movement secrets of Conor McGregor offers a pathway to transforming your physical abilities and fight game.

By mastering posture, enhancing your ribcage and shoulder dynamics, and perfecting & mastering control over your bodyweight, you can harness the same edge that made McGregor untouchable in his prime.

If this is something you’re wanting my direct 1-1 assistance with, send me a DM.

Till next time.

J.Krucial