Tournaments vs. Job

[DKKC]

I'm not fishing for compliments - i'm stating a fact!

I've started a new job and the logistics of fitting everything in is proving a bit of a challenge. My almost new job (I started it mid June) is in another town so I have to commute. It's not too bad as i drive against the traffic and it takes me 15 minutes in the car from door to door. However, my previous job(s) were all within cycling distance. The working hours are slightly different (and I'm a workoholic so permament overtime doesn't help) and all in all I need to find a way of fitting it all in plus I need to find extratime for cardio training as my bike has hardly left the garage in the past 2 months. (I need to mention I hate running)

It is new territory for me so I'm experimenting a lot and I guess we'll see how things work in October! But i do try and do what Gary said - intensity rather than volume - I ain't got time for volume!!!

[Dent]

Osu!

But what happens if DKKC says that sleeping 14 hours a day, and eating fried Mars bars is the secret program?!

I know I'd feel a heck of a lot worse....

Osu!

[tmd]

DKKC please keep me informed at to what works and what doesn't! I start a new job tomorrow and will be working significantly longer hours which is why Gary offered to help me re look at my training as he noticed I was doing way too much volume work.

I'll post any improvements I find working o the new principles but any pointers are greatly appreciated.

[MilkManX]

Originally Posted by Dent

Osu!

But what happens if DKKC says that sleeping 14 hours a day, and eating fried Mars bars is the secret program?!

I know I'd feel a heck of a lot worse....

Osu!

mmmmm....fried Mars bars.......ahhhhh.



In all seriousness my brother overtrained and had a hernia that he had to get operated on. He hasnt been able to workout since Late June. He can finally start some light workouts in mid September. The kicker was that he was my practice sparring partner. Made getting ready for kumite a challenge as I had to do almost all bag and shadow work.

[DKKC]

Originally Posted by Dent

Osu!

But what happens if DKKC says that sleeping 14 hours a day, and eating fried Mars bars is the secret program?!

I know I'd feel a heck of a lot worse....

Osu!

Yuk!! fried Mars bars!!! Rest assured this is not the secret program for improving your fighting abillities. Not as far as know anyway!

But you are half right about sleep - not 14 hrs a day but I do try to sleep more. I try going to bed earlier and, althoufg I wake up earlier I wake up by myself rathen than being awaken by the alarm clock. I noticed that I don't necessarily sleep longer but I am more rested in the morning thus allowing me to just get out of bed and do a quick training session before going to work. Short and sweet (about 30-45 min) but hard - this seems to help.

[DKKC]

Originally Posted by tmd

DKKC please keep me informed at to what works and what doesn't! I start a new job tomorrow and will be working significantly longer hours which is why Gary offered to help me re look at my training as he noticed I was doing way too much volume work.

I'll post any improvements I find working o the new principles but any pointers are greatly appreciated.

Tmd - as I said in the post above - trying to go to bed a bit early (about 30 min earlier) even if I don't fall asleep right away - I just rest and relax.

I try a do a quick, high intensity session in the morning then go to work and sit down for the day (I have an office job). In the evening I either go to the dojo and train as usual or, if it isn't a dojo night I do a specific work out at home - I cut the cr@p and just do the stuff I know I need to work on for the tournamnet: weights - explosive stuff only; cardio - short bursts high intensity (I use a heart rate monitor and try to bring my heart rate into the peak level and hold it there for as long as I can - which isn't much but it seems to be working); technique - focus on my stuff, on what I need to achieve, on what I want to have as my strenght on the day. If it's a dojo night then I do the dojo training with everything it may include.

On the recovery side, I try to warm up, cool down and stretch properly, tend to any knocks and bruises, drink lucozade and other energy drinks - eat right (more or less what I want but never as much as I want as I need to be able to train as soon as I have the opportunity during the day ) and have a massage once a month to make sure I stay injury free.

[Chuck]

you would have to mma it i think like georges st pierre (kyokushin, bjj, wrestling, muay thai etc) to make a career out of it

osu!

[SplendidMonkey]

I'm an English teacher and work mostly evenings and weekends. Needless to say, freeing time to train is hard. My aim now is to make it to training twice a week. Not enough, I know, but having a daytime teaching job means you teach kids, which I want to avoid.

[sandman]

GJE Chamberlain:

Wow - that is interesting advice. Runs really counter to intuition (if a little bit of training is good, a lot of training must be great!), but actually does make a lot of sense. For most of us training junkies who feel we've somehow cheated ourselves if we go to bed one night without having had two hard core training sessions that'll take some getting used to but I think that is good advice. A lot of us do tend to overlook the importance of rest and recovery in the training process...

Thanks for the different point of view!

[GJEChamberlain]

Osu! Sandman,

It's worth a try in my book, but as I've said to others if it aint broke don't fix it! If you are happy and getting benefit from where you are now, press on!

The advice is more in relation to those trying to juggle family, work and training and find that proper rest and recovery are impossible. Professional Instructors, Fighters and Uchi-Deshi who can structure recovery meals and rest breaks optimally may handle and benefit from a greater training load.

The main thing is to have a heirarchy. Skill and speed training is done before strength training. Strength training is done before stamina training. I used to do this backwards - hard runs (stamina) am, weights (strength) pm and dojo (skill & speed) evenings. Net result: Exhaustion leading to serious medical intervention. Not wise! Now I space the sessions better so they don't cancel each other out or lead to overtraining.

Mon: Skill
Tue: Power
Wed: Rest
Thu: Skill
Fri: Strength
Sat: Stamina
Sun: Rest

Further explanations on http://www.apec-s.com/Fatigue,%20rec...mpensation.pdf and all credit from me for this heirarchy idea goes to reading

Stretching Scientifically by Tom Kurz Edition 4 pages 52 / 53

I've done this for a while now , and although well past my 'sell by' date I feel strong, but perhaps more important motivated to push hard when I train.

Gary

[tmd]

Osu Gary, did my first power session based on the info you sent over today (being Tuesday ) and I have to say firstly that it took around half the time I normally spend lifting weights and second I felt, just like I did after the second round of my last knockdown tournament, exactly the same, so my theory is; this matches what we do very very well. Thank you for th support.

OSU!

TMD

[MilkManX]

Yes recently I have also done some variation and switch-up to my routine. I do 2 -3 strength a week now with more on cardio conditioning,skills and bagwork(speed and heavy!)

[sandman]

Originally Posted by GJEChamberlain

Osu! Sandman,

It's worth a try in my book, but as I've said to others if it aint broke don't fix it! If you are happy and getting benefit from where you are now, press on!

The advice is more in relation to those trying to juggle family, work and training and find that proper rest and recovery are impossible. Professional Instructors, Fighters and Uchi-Deshi who can structure recovery meals and rest breaks optimally may handle and benefit from a greater training load.

Osu Mr. Chamberlain!

You just decribed my situation perfectly - got a full time job and 2 little ones at home. That means fitting in a couple of training sessions every day involves waking up god-awfully early and no extra recovery time other than the 6 or 7 hours of sleep I get at night.

Prepping for my last tournament (about a month ago) I had started the two a day training regimen (twice a day, 6 days a week, + 2 nights of class). My plan had been to cut it back to once per day after the tournament, which I've done more or less, but after all that hard training I've found it hard to feel good about once per day training, and I always feel like I should be doing more. Reading your post and your link I realize that more is not always better...

While I'm on the subject, let me throw this at you - I am experimenting now with cycling my training. In other words changing up the routine every several weeks to try to achieve different goals. My current phase is weight gain. Long story, but I cut a lot of weight for my last tournament, after which I decided to go back to a heavier weight. Right now the goals are (in this order) 1) gain weight, 2) work on and improve basic skills, 3) just enough cardio to maintain a reasonable level. I'm accomplishing that by MWF heavy weights, compound movements, like bench, squat, military press, pullups, and a boat load of ab work. TU/TH/SA basic skills - kata, basics, bag work focusing more on repetitions of punchs, kicks and combos, MF mornings a 2.5 mile run. So I can already see by your post the need to re-structure that a bit. At any rate I have about 2 weeks left in a 6 week cycle and I'm on track to hit my weight goal (and without getting flabby in the process). Nutrition-wise I've always eaten pretty healthy - now I'm still eating healthy food, just a lot more of it.

Next phase I wanted to start to shift away somewhat from the free weights and begin working more on explosive power and speed - I'm imagining a lot of clapping pushups, burpees, squatting kicks, etc... along with continuation of skills work and a little more emphasis on cardio. The immediate goal is to prep for my next tournament on Dec 6 (semi-knockdown).

So the trick will be trying to change up the routine to achieve the goal of improving skills, speed and power, and ramping up the cardio, all without over-training... Any advice? Do any of the rest of you have experience with cyclical training and care to share some wisdom?

Osu!

[GJEChamberlain]

Osu! Sandman,

Let me make it clear I don't have a sports science degree, just lots of experience of getting things wrong that motivated me to study the right way (for me)

Others on the board are more qualified to go into greater detail, but for what its worth, here goes:

I have experimented with linear periodisation, but found whilst emphasising certain attributes in the different phases, others fell by the wayside so for me several high value sessions each week, each targeting different physical attributes - this is called undulating - is the way to go. A lot depends on your objectives, and as mine changed so did my training. When I trained for a big Tournament every October, I naturally planned my build up for that so a linear system was logical, but when I worked on a door and needed to be ready with about 1 seconds notice, my attitude changed! I needed to be strong enough to manhandle people and explosive enough to knock them out every time I turned up for work. I also worked in the Fire Service full-time which required burts of extreme effort, sometimes in very trying situations so being in an exhausted state at the start of a shift or in a two month 'recovery' phase wasn't a sensible option! I decided early on then that I wanted to be there or there abouts all the time and just tweak things a bit for special occasions like tests etc. This meant adjusting the load and frequency of sessions to get the balance right - again, this is a personal thing - everyone is different so you have to experiment, not just take a generic program.

It's difficult to give specific advice and I certainly don't want to risk interfering. Just in general though, 1) your weight is controlled by the amount you eat, so eating lots of good food seems bang on, 2) improving your skills requires you to be sharp and fresh. Heavy compound moves three times a week will take a lot out of you and may compromise this! 3) Cardio, in my opinion, is over-rated. If you are training hard in your kihon etc and hitting pads with speed and intensity in your karate class, there is very little need to punish yourself with more volume of cardio. (Of course, if your class involves lots of standing around while the instructor corrects every detail on every other student, more may be required) I'd still limit it though! The most I'd do would be a short and savage 'finisher' after a weights or karate session. Four minutes of tabata intervals works well. (This is anaerobic, not aerobic, but anaerobic training simultaneously improves the aerobic system ....) My current favourite Saturday morning stamina workout is bridge running, sprinting up the ramp, then jogging down for recovery etc. I do about twenty minutes tops as I simply don't need to be out there for hours every week in the rain to prepare for a few minutes of anaerobic and explosive fighting. (For those crazy people who do 100 fights, this may not be the case!)

Regarding explosive work, the exercises you describe are ok but if you have access to weights I'd recommend O lifts or following a compound lift with the explosive .... E.g. On bench press increase the weight, lower the reps and follow immediately with the clapping press-ups.

Two great buys to study are "Infinite Intensity" from RossTraining - Bridging The Gap Between Ordinary and Extraordinary and "Stretching Scientifically" from Stadion.com and Stretching.info: Your No-Nonsense Authority on Stretching and Flexibility, Mental Toughness, Strength, Speed, Power, Jumping Ability, Endurance, Coordination, Agility, Technique, and Sports Nutrition for All Sports and Martial Arts and of course googling "training" gives about 4 trillion sites to choose from! I cannot overstate that the key is to find something you like, and manipulate and experiment with the training load until you feel strong, not exhausted! For your mental state, feeling powerful promotes confidence. Overdoing it always left me drained with the nagging "am I doing enough" feeling - not good for your mental preparation!

Five times a week, as outlined previously, works for me and is no soft option as each session can be more challenging if followed by adequate rest and recovery.

Gary

[GJEChamberlain]

Osu! tmd,

Excellent! I recommend the books as stated above for a more complete picture. Sadly, I'm not on commission!

While replying to Sandman above I just reviewed my supplementary training. It pretty much falls into three categories.

1971 - 1976 When I started no-one did anything else. The sessions were a very intense three hours three times a week so the rest of the time you just asked old ladies to help you across the road as you felt absolutely buggered.

1976 - 1986 As sessions got shorter, it became fashionable to do 'weights' and supplementary training but like a lot of others I thought because I did karate I was a superman so common sense didn't apply. If I read a magazine about fell runners, I added their routines in. Javelin throwers? Super strong so I'll do that as well. Bodybuilding? Great! I'll have some of that! As previously stated, I fell into the abyss and severely overdid it. Hospital, a near death illness and a long recovery being the result. It's no fun having tubes sticking out of every orifice and being visited by a priest, so lesson learnt and back to square one.

1986 - date. I now need to be careful. A long-term medical condition means overdoing it can be very problematic, so getting that fine balance between fitness and illness has taken a fair bit of experimentation. Everything starts from good general health so overdoing it for the sake of ego makes no sense anymore. Do less, work harder! is my mantra, along with complete recovery. I've been training long enough to tune into my mental and physical state, so if I don't fancy a workout, I bin it without any guilt at all, knowing I'll feel better and get more from the next one!

One of my Enshin sempai's recently asked me why I bother giving this information to others - especially those from other styles! Simple answer really. Many fighters push into overtraining without realising the dangers can seriously outweigh the benefits. Every hard session has a cost on the body, so the ultimate trick is to identify the most beneficial and eliminate those that cost more in energy than they give in return.

If my experiences help anyone get stronger I'll be pleased, but if they stop anyone else getting seriously ill, that's worth diamonds.

Gary

[sandman]

Osu! Thank you for this advice Mr. Chamberlain. No need to worry about over-stepping your bounds or interfering - I asked you for your two cents and you gave it (and it is probably worth a lot more than just two cents ) As you said, there is no perfect answer that fits everyone, and to really tune into what works for me, I've got to be willing to experiment a little bit - picking up advice from those who've tried it, adopting what works for me and tossing out what doesn't.

I am definitely going to work your advice into my training plans - if I can achieve my goals by working smarter and not just harder it should be easier to stay committed and keep an easier balance in my life. That is definitely worth a lot more than 2 cents!

Osu!

[GJEChamberlain]

Osu!

I've had a few emails asking why I stress power training over cardio.

Here goes:

If you haven't got enough power to either control the opponent or kick or punch them hard enough to cause damage, you have reduced your chances of winning in any dynamic way. You may get lucky nibbling away at an injury until they get bored, but the chances of smashing them (in the sporting sense of course) are remote. In the Fire Brigade we used to stand laughing at people booting doors over and over without budging them, until someone built like a bull would just smash through it. Power made the difference and that's my point.

Everyone has a limit (like the door) where the contact received is too great for them to absorb. If you want to win convincingly, you need to hit harder than that limit. Sabaki fighters have an advantage as being allowed to pull the opponent onto their strikes improves the impact, while 'no-grabbing' rules mean those fighters have to generate all the neccessary power themselves. Many people worry they don't hit really hard but few work to fill that gap, believing instead that this is genetically determined and they were out of luck. This is wrong. Everyone can improve to some degree, but you've got to train smart.

The good news is working hard in the dojo on sparring and general drills simultaneously builds good stamina, so you can save the energy you left on the road. Power training, when fresh, can and should add it that extra bite. The mind is also a huge part. IMO, too many people think of timed rounds rather than smashing the pads. Overdoing this takes you back to endurance, rather than impact training. Rather than hitting pads for ten rounds I'd rather see my fighters hitting them so hard people are literally afraid to hold them, and working in short bursts at maximum intensity. This gives them confidence that once they make a good contact their opponent will buckle or at the very least fight defensively to avoid further damage. Visitors are sometimes suprised at how much 'rest' I build into a session, as they are usually used to grinding away at a moderate to challenging intensity for two hours, but this is vital if you want impact; short explosive bursts with adequate recovery, not sustained sub-maximal effort.

Gary