Need advice on workout plan

[taffswell]

Hi guys,

I expect to take part in my first Shotokan tournament in November and I was wondering if any of you have good workout plans or advice that will help my do well.

I do shotokan training Tues and thurs, so my extra training would have to be Mon, Wed and Fri (maybe Sat too if my G/F alllows it!) for about 1-1 1/2 hrs. I already run and lift weights on these days anyway but I was hoping to do some specific training to hopefully give me more of a chance of doing well.

Thanks in advance for any advice.

Taffs.

[bushido_man96]

Alrighty, it sounds like you have a good start already. On the Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, I would take time to make 2 seperate workout sessions. The first, you should break down your form into segments, and work on perfecting it. Practice the segments at about 75%, until you have all of the little things down pat, like foot placement, targeting, stance transitions, and all of that good jazz. You should spend around 30 to 45 minutes on this segment work, and towards the end of it, do the whole form, full blast, concentrating on the aspects you practiced.

The second segment you should do is specifically fight training. Figure out what the rules of sparring will be, and how long the matches are, and how many rounds, if applicable. Then get a partner to train with. Have your partner attack you with certain techniques, and work on countering strategies, and also work on combinations and offensive strategies. Spend about 30 minutes on this. After that, fight rounds with your partner with nothing premeditated. If you have 1x2 minute round per match, spar 3x2 minute rounds (thanks from elbows_and_knees for the insight here), with a 1 minute rest between. This will help build your fight stamina.

Hope this helps, and good luck at the tournament!

[elbows_and_knees]

weight training can actually be quite specific. What lifts do you do now?

[AnonymousOne]

Training Schedule

Conditioning drills: 2 or 3 days per week

Plyometrics: Not to be performed on consecutive days

Strength training: 2 or 3 days per week

Balance training: 5-10 minutes per day, every day or every other

Sparring: Not to be performed on consecutive days

Skill training: 4 or 5 days per week

Core training: 3 days per week

Let's suppose that you have 6 days per week available to train. You have allocated between 1 and 2 hours per day. Let's try to put these pieces together into one complete puzzle.

Sample Week

Monday: Balance training - Skill training - Conditioning drills

Tuesday: Sparring - Skill training - Core training

Wednesday: Balance training - Shadow boxing - Strength training - Plyometrics

Thursday: Sparring - Skill training - Core training

Friday: Balance training - Skill training - Conditioning drills

Saturday: Shadow boxing - Strength training - Plyometrics - Core training

Sunday: Rest

A serious fighter would also add a roadwork program to this schedule. Roadwork consists of various sprints, intervals, and distance runs (4 miles in 30 mins). Its recommended that a fighter run early in the morning so that he has all day to rest before training again in the evening.

[taffswell]

Thanks for the advice fellas.

AnonymousOne, If I could, i'd love to try your workout plan but unfortunately with my working hours and other stuff there just isn't enough hours in the day at the mo.

Bushido, your plan would probably be more do-able. I'll probably try and mix a bit of strength and core training in too.

elbows_and_knees, at the mo I weight training on a Mon, wed and Fri. I had a shoulder injury 8 months ago so I do stablisation exercises followed by compounds like rows, presses, deadlifts, pull ups etc.

Again, thanks for your help.

[bushido_man96]

Thanks for the advice fellas.

AnonymousOne, If I could, i'd love to try your workout plan but unfortunately with my working hours and other stuff there just isn't enough hours in the day at the mo.

Bushido, your plan would probably be more do-able. I'll probably try and mix a bit of strength and core training in too.

elbows_and_knees, at the mo I weight training on a Mon, wed and Fri. I had a shoulder injury 8 months ago so I do stablisation exercises followed by compounds like rows, presses, deadlifts, pull ups etc.

Again, thanks for your help.

Go get 'em, and good luck to you.

[elbows_and_knees]

with the compound lifts, you are on the right track. those are specific to fighting in that you are using multiple muscle groups to achieve your result, just as you would with a punch or kick. Doing these heavy will also increase your strength and thus power output. Try some of the following:

deads

squats

bench press

cleans

clean and jerk

standing overhead presses

dumbell swings

pullups

barbell rows

spend time sparring and on the heavy bag - the benefits of these don't have to be explained.

[RicksonFan]

You will need endurance and explosive power in tournament type fighting. Train for that.