When Georges St. Pierre was in his heyday, maintaining a high level of intensity during training sessions sometimes required some creativity.
St. Pierre established himself as one of the UFC’s biggest stars during a lengthy reign as welterweight champion, and as a result, training partners in the gym would often be reticent to go hard against him during sparring. Tristar Gym trainer Firas Zahabi explained the situation during an appearance on Joe Rogan’s JRE MMA Show podcast.
“We reach those high intensity levels periodically through the year, and we have to do it a certain way so that it’s fun.