How often should I train?

[kirby05]

Hey everyone! I'm new to kickboxing and I was just wondering how often do I need to train. How many times a days a week? How many hours a day? Also should I do the same thing each day or work on different things? Thanks for all of your suggestions!

[LeaF]

My moto is train untill it hurts, and then train a little more . Train as often as you can and yea mix it up don't just do the same thing over and over because then your other skills will fall behind.

[ZeRo]

i agree do asmuch training as you can and mix up what you train in. do some punches then do some kicks then do some more punches but different ones, and you get the idea. dont forget to stretch and warm up there an important part of training.

[kirby05]

Thanks a lot for the advice, I was thinking of training everyday but I thought it was overdoing it, guess not. Would jump rope be a good way to warm up, I usually stretch and walk on the treadmill for about 15 minutes before I train, but it's getting boring, the treadmill I mean.

[LeaF]

your warm up should consist of 3 stages in my mind (I am sure KickChick will have something good to add)

 

1st stage SHould involve some sort of jumping or some cardio work that gets the blood circulating throughout your body providing oxygen to your limbs. (jump rope could work here.

 

2nd Stage stretching. Do many stretches to different parts of your body, it is good to do the stretches after your cardio because your musles have lots of oxygen and are more relaxed.

 

3rd stage. You should do some very light cardio to get blood flowing to the parts of your body you just stretched followed but some deep breathing and mediatation to focus and control your mind.

 

In my opinion this is the perfect warm up although I am sure some will disagree The entire warmup takes 15-20 mins. Then you are ready to train

[KickChick]

... you guys know me so well... sure I have something to add (although LeaF you're right on target there with that post)....but let me add this quote from me... from a very early post made in H&F forum in regards to the importance of warming up before your stretching which should help you out kirby.

 

"whatever activity you are going to be doing, is that same activity in a slower and more controlled manner. Keep in mind that the warm up should be some sort of cardiovascular movement that will gradually elevate your heart rate, while increasing your body's core temperature. For instance, a kickboxer would shadow kickbox starting with low kicks and short, slow punches...in tae kwon do one would do a series of rising kicks gradually increasing height and speed.

 

Another misconception is that one should stretch before he/she warms up. I don't know if any of you know about the "spaghetti theory" but here is is:

 

Let’s say you pull a box of spaghetti out of the cabinet and pull out a few strands. What would happen if you immediately tried to bend the pasta? It would break. So what would happen if you put that same pasta in a pot of warm water for five minutes and tried to bend it? It would give a bit, but if you tried to bend it all the way ... it would still break. So what if we left that same pasta in the pot to boil for ten minutes and then tried to bend it? It would be all over the place right? Totally flexible. Well, that is exactly the way your body works. If you attempt to stretch out before an appropriate warm up, you are very likely to pull or tear something. Once you do warm-up however, keep in mind that the preliminary stretching is for injury prevention only. It is not a time to try and gain flexibility. Just like the spaghetti, if you go too far ... you may break! Once you have completed your workout (boiled), then you will want to stretch for the purposes of gaining added flexibility.

 

In my kickboxing class that we teach at the school we do exactly as stated above...gradually working up the heart rate...with kicks & punches, lunges, working up to rapid jabs/hooks, switch & jump kicks."

 

As far as amount of training you should do .... your're a novice yet ... get a feel for what works for you keep a day of rest in between for starters....

 

Check out these posts on these pages for other training tips which appear in Health/Fitness/Training Forum

 

http://www.karateforums.com/forums/search.php?search_id=400371265&start=30

 

http://www.karateforums.com/forums/search.php?search_id=400371265&start=60

 

http://www.karateforums.com/forums/search.php?search_id=400371265&start=0

[Karateka_latino]

I'm agree that since you are new, Be a good boy and start with a 3 days a week, no more than 2 hours workout mixing a little of everything. Then when your body is used to Kickboxing you can move to a more demanding routine.

 

just my 2 cents. lol

[kirby05]

Thanks for the tips everybody. These are really gonna help me out

[WhiteShark]

Eventually you can move up to at most 6 days a week. That's how I train before fights. My normal pace is more like 4 days a week, remember rest can be important too.

[shabz]

as long as you eat and rest properly you can train all you want but as some have said take it easy just now as youve just started take time and build it up.