Fatigue

[Shoto4Life]

When I train I train hard like I’m actually fighting someone. I think this leads me to be tense. Also it’s like I expended myself right away and find that I’m the first to tire and the most worn out and sweaty. This sucks. What can I do to increase my cardio so that I’m not so beat down all the time? The worst part is that when I get so exhausted my form goes right out the window. I also really don’t want to be all loosely loose like I’m flicking my arm out as if it’s a string either. I have tried jogging which helps but I’m thinking I need to do something more like sprints or up stairs or something.

[joesteph]

When I train I train hard like I’m actually fighting someone. I think this leads me to be tense. Also it’s like I expended myself right away and find that I’m the first to tire and the most worn out and sweaty.

You should train hard, Shoto, we all should, and you're more prepared than the next guy if you envision that you're actually fighting an opponent. These are the marks of someone who has combined what is artistic with self-defense.

Tense? That's something I was told by my instructor's teacher that she's observed in men more so than women. The men tense up, especially all around the shoulder girdle, and we try too hard for power. That takes a long time to control, to drop the shoulders, relax the traps, and not let tension go up into the back of your neck--all things that sap endurance in the long run. We're supposed to have relaxation, then tension, in our blocks and strikes, starting from a relaxed state and moving into the tense one on impact. It's not supposed to be tension at all times. (While I'm up here on my soapbox, I have to remember that I'm supposed to follow my own advice. I find myself falling into this trap, but I catch it and concentrate on relaxation. Not easy.)

Shoto, you may be taxing your cardio by the very way you breathe. Tension adds to the problem. Do you find yourself breathing rapidly while you train, or the opposite, holding your breath while you perform, then letting it all out in one overdue shot? That'll take its toll. Do you take in enough air; i.e., do you take in as much as you breathe out, or do you find your intake is less than you're expending? If so, you'll "owe" that air to your lungs, wind up breathing heavily to catch your breath, and there goes your cardio ability. (Yes, I'm a guilty party to doing all of these things. I work on them. After all, what's the use of making mistakes if you don't learn from them?)

Barring that you take a medication that affects your cardio (as with me), I'd say it's control of muscle tension and proper breathing technique that you need to focus on for increased cardio ability.

[Tiger1962]

When I train I train hard like I’m actually fighting someone. I think this leads me to be tense. Also it’s like I expended myself right away and find that I’m the first to tire and the most worn out and sweaty. This sucks. What can I do to increase my cardio so that I’m not so beat down all the time? The worst part is that when I get so exhausted my form goes right out the window. I also really don’t want to be all loosely loose like I’m flicking my arm out as if it’s a string either. I have tried jogging which helps but I’m thinking I need to do something more like sprints or up stairs or something.

This is what I'm currently doing to improve my cardio - - I do 30 minutes on the treadmill and another 30 on the ellyptical machine. If you can't do 30 and 30 on each then work your way up to it. My cardio needs improving for the same reason as you, plus I have a medical condition where I need to improve my cardio - meaning its mandatory - doctor's orders. You might want to try that. I can't go out jogging due to joint problems but with the machines, you can alter it better to your own needs.

[bushido_man96]

Cardio is good for your endurance, so you should keep doing some of it. But, sprinting will help your short burst ability, which is what you will have when fighting and training; short bursts of combinations and maneuvering. So, I think if you add some sprint work in with the cardio, you will see improvements.

As for being tense, that could be causing you to tire sooner. Let the technique have its power, as opposed to forcing it. Put speed and proper technique together, and the power will come. Don't be too loose, but visualize yourself as a coiled spring, ready at any moment. When its time to pounce, you pounce; the spring is sprung, and then it returns to its ready position, before being reloaded. I guess what I am trying to say is to be ready, but not overly taught so that you slow yourself down.

I hope that helps some. I'm not sure if I am being very clear. Try to read my mind...

[tallgeese]

The others are offering good advice. Relax and breath, that's real important.

Moving past that, you can work all kinds of stuff cardio wise to help with the problem. Any kind of conditioning will help. Distance running, sprint training, cal, any regular thing that will elevate the heart rate and get you sweating is good. Even weight lifting is beneficial to improving your overall ma performance.

As always, I will drop the suggestion of crossfit.com

This website is dedicated to conditioning for functional performance. You do a lot of cardio via olympic lifts and body weight exercises. It's excellent for what we do and I can say it's improved my performance.

Also, remember that doing the activity you are involved with is the best way to get better at it. So keep training, as much as you can. Try to set up training cycles on rounds. This keeps the intensity high and gives your system a break every few minutes to reboot. You can do just about anything this way...sparring, mitts, rolling, sd drills, you name it. Just keep moving.

[Shoto4Life]

Yes I tend to carry my shoulders high and I am stiff. Lots of focus in my training has been to drop shoulders and loosen up.

The breathing though I think I have always had trouble with. Like jogging its always hard for me to find a nice steady slow rythym. I seem to find it hard to avoid breathing hard. My sensei told me to breathe from the gut which I think might help.

Seems wrong for me to loosen up and go willy nilly. I think fighting in the real world is like arm wrestling - the closer your arm is to your shoulder and the stronger the bond the more power you have. I think by not tensing and flexing the shoulders you will have no power. Well not the kinna power that hurls people through the air anyway which I have done before.

I think that running up the stairs will really work my respitory system and even out my breathing. That and sprints. Jogging helps but its not enough. I just have the feeling that I cannot get out of this contiunal feeling of being out of shape. Maybe if a lose some weight?

[tallgeese]

It's a question of when to tense. When you need to start contracting muscles, which you will have to, then by all means do so. Until then, relax, conserve the energy reserves in your body.

Relaxing dosen't mean just going limp. There is always a modicum of tension in the system to maintain your position.

As to the breathing, pre conflict, try to inhale for 2-4 sec., hold for 2-4, then exhale 2-4. This will lower your heart rate and leave you with more resources to actually deal wih the fight at hand. During the conflict, keep exhaling during exertion. This will keep your pattern natural and keep you from looseing all air if struck mid-punch by a good counter.

To the fitness, it can be a real mental thing for some people. Higher levels of cardio and strentght is of course, a tactical advantage. All you can do for this is train, train, train. And accept that it will take time. Check out he site I listed above, hit the running and weights smartly, and you'll slowly see a change here too.

Good luck.

[joesteph]

Seems wrong for me to loosen up and go willy nilly.

The idea is to be loose and with the muscles in a relaxed state, then, with the control you've conditioned your body to have, you fire off a strong (therefore not relaxed at all--it's muscle fibers firing away) strike.

I think fighting in the real world is like arm wrestling - the closer your arm is to your shoulder and the stronger the bond the more power you have.

You aren't in that position when you approach the arm-wrestling table; you are in that position when you are actually arm-wrestling.

I think by not tensing and flexing the shoulders you will have no power. Well not the kinna power that hurls people through the air anyway which I have done before.

You're right, Shoto, but it's when you tense/flex that counts. Being tense and flexing when there's no strike being performed only wears the body down; it has to be done at the right time, the time you are lashing out with your strike. It's called Shin Chook in my art, Soo Bahk Do, usually translated as Tension and Relaxation, although a literal translation from the Korean is actually Relaxation and Tension.

Maybe if a lose some weight?

Only if you feel you're overweight. Never give up any hard-earned muscle.

[bushido_man96]

We have a green belt student in our school that is a runner. He has pretty good conditioning, but he tires himself out by tensing all the time. He keeps his shoulders tense, and it slows his punches and restricts his techniques. There is a difference between being relaxed and loose, and being limp. Don't be limp.

Think of it this way. When you hold the TV remote up to turn the channel, you aren't tensing your shoulder completely to hold it up. You relax the shoulder. Punching should be the same way. Use your power and focus the technique at the right time, at the end. Bruce Lee was big on this concept. If the agonist muscles fight the antagonistic muscles, then the body won't move efficiently. You will slow yourself down, and tire yourself more.

[joesteph]

We have a green belt student in our school that is a runner. He has pretty good conditioning, but he tires himself out by tensing all the time. He keeps his shoulders tense, and it slows his punches and restricts his techniques. There is a difference between being relaxed and loose, and being limp. Don't be limp. . . .

If the agonist muscles fight the antagonistic muscles, then the body won't move efficiently. You will slow yourself down, and tire yourself more.

I usually think of the biceps and triceps as agonistic and antagonistic, but this reference to the shoulders and punching is an interesting way of looking at the concept, Bushido Man, especially for martial arts.

Something to remember . . .