Martial arts training requires a decenet level of fitness particularly if you are involved in competitioin fighting, whether that is in the ring or on the mat. Even if you don’t compete as you gain experience the greater the need for fitness improvements. Tabata training will send your fitness levels soaring with time-saving workouts specific to your martial art.
Tabata training involves a versatile, high intensity four minute protocol that will test you. In time, however, you will enjoy them and will be energized by these workouts!
The four minutes are broken into eight rounds with a work to rest ratio of 20s:10s. Doesn’t sound too taxing on paper but the reality is much different with only four minutes of workout you really do have to go full pelt. Only flat out is good enough. Tabata workouts can seem like longer than four minutes and leave you knackered.
If you feel okay afterwards either you are not working hard enough or you need to up the intensity. In the original study the participants were working at 170% VO2 max, which means really hard in everyday language. You need to mimic this to glean the benefits.
The fitness benefits of Tabata training will boost both aerobic and anaerobic capacity while stripping fat from your body. This is because your metabolic rate will be raised for hours afterwards.
With intensity being the key ingredient you need to give yourself every chance to pump out as many reps of whatever exercise you choose. It is essential to have someone to do the timing for you; clock watching only serves to distract from the task at hand, namely working out as hard as possible over the four minutes.
If training alone you will need to get hold of the Gymboss timer, which is the best Tabata clock out there. There are others but for price and functionality it is the winner by some distance. Of course, it can be used for all manner of timing purposes both interval style and general.
In conjunction with the Tabata protocol you can combine drills and martial art specific exercises with regular stuff like burpees and squats to design your own workout to fulfil your martial arts needs. For instance, you can make your Tabata training specific to a technique. These could involve exercises based on the various aspects of your training such as groundwork or punching or a single skill such as a particular kick. Your imagination is your only limitation but the fitness benefits are superb and the ‘time cost’ is minimal. Tabata training really is the perfect workout for martial arts fitness training!