Karate workout plan

[Wastelander]

Beef jerky will work fine, but it's loaded with sodium, so be sure to drink extra water.

[Hawkmoon]

hmm...a good thread like this a great deal.

When I train I follow a few rules.

1. Allow the body to rest between sessions.

2. Diet fits the day with a view to the week, it is NOT law for your life.

3. Mix the exercise NEVER focus totally on one set or part of the body, work most of your body (not all, but most) and change what you work each session.

The rest piece is number one IMHO for good reason. No reason to burn or damage yourself, the body has to recover so let it recover.

I train on:

Monday, Wednesday, Friday and at the weekend I move the day I train.

In the Dojo, I do whatever sensei says, Friday is an easy session in that we do what we would like, I call it a bit'sa session.

(bits of this bits of that)

Friday is also a day I swap with my plans, in that I go for a run maybe, come home do some sit ups etc etc.

BUT what I always do to break from the repetition of sits ups and so on is Kata or kihon etc between the run the sit ups etc

Run

Kata

Sit ups

Kihon

Press ups

Ren Raku

weights

kata

(any order but any mix)

For an hour or two.

Diet.

I say it fits the day, by this I mean my protein intake and carb intake goes up on training days, so giving my body what it needs to burn and use for the session.

I eat before a session up to 2 hrs before but not after!

When I finish, I don't eat at all if I'm going to bed in the next 3hrs. I replace fluids, absolutely but nothing with sugar...fizzy drinks, fruit drinks big no to them.

Sometimes I plan the week depends on upcoming events.

Salads do feature in my eating habits!

Protein (meat) is on the menu every day!

As to exercise.

Some people focus on legs, then the next session focus on arms and so on.

No no no.

Work more on legs but work arms, some core. (Stomach)

Work more on arms and your core, some legs

Work more on your core, work your neck, some legs

and so on

Variety, rather then total and complete repeat repeat repeat to me is key. BUT without doubt the one and is actually extremely important bit of you that no one works is the mind!

Work on your mind even harder at home than in the dojo.

I say this for safety sake, this is why....

Clear a space (garden, garage, front room) close your eyes, do the kata!

In your mind see your self in your space doing the kata, see the mistake you made and stop correct continue, then do it again.

(sounds like a hippy thing, seriously no try it see for yourself)

You star t a kata in a spot, facing a certain direction, when you finish where should you be?

I bet your not even close......

Work your mind as much as your body.

[Charlewisoe]

Hello Hawkmoon, thanks for your advice ! I will try the kata with closed eyes, I think it is a very good idea to train the mind also.

[Hawkmoon]

Your welcome my friend!

The kata thing is something I found to have a huge impact on my concentration.

The confidence in doing the kata without fear of hitting the wall or kicking the chair was total, in time I realized the mind picture I had of the space I was in really enhanced my spacial awareness!

I found I could 'see' the wall and pull my punch short so not to hit it.

Then in the dojo this new awareness of space meant I could move around the ring with ease, speed and confidence.

Than that my kata grew 10 fold, and so my confidence in my ability.

Enjoy!

[Charlewisoe]

Sad news, yesterday was the last karate training in our dojo for this season. But this weekend we go on the SKIF summercamp with Grandmaster Kanazawa Kancho 10e dan, Murakami sensei 7e dan, Suzuki sensei 6e dan en Wakisaka sensei 4e dan ! It will be a great opportunity to train with the 83 year old legend Hirokazu Kanazawa ! After this weekend I will need to train my karate at home. In the dojo we will start again in August. With the starting strenght I'm in week 5 now. And it doesn't slow me down, instead I feel faster in my karate. Also the progress in push ups, crunches, chin ups, pull ups and prone bridge is great, i can do more and longer each workout ! This is a great motivation.

[Hawkmoon]

Enjoy summer camp charlewisoe.

Such an illustrious line up can only make for good times and treasured memories ... enjoy!

[Evil Dave]

Everybody forgets speed work or puts it off to the side as already mentioned in this thread. Plyometrics! We as combative athletes can not get enough of them. For example, when we kick, punch, through, block, etc we need power, not strength to perform these operations. Power is the combination of strength x speed!

Even competitive weight lifters {not typical gym rats} utilize plyometrics as a training tool, as they need to lift the weight as fast as possible in order to lift as much as possible with as little time as possible on the bar.

One other benefit of plyometrics that get over looked is the total body coordination. As with kata/forms the complete body must be under control and utilized properly to get the most out of the exercise.

Other forms of speed training that can also benefit us are agility tools {ladders, hurdles, etc}, hill sprints, etc.

[bushido_man96]

In the past, when it comes to doing plyometrics, I've seen recommendations that an individual be able to squat 1.5 times their own body weight before doing plyos.

Also, I've seen that plyos should only be done about twice a week, allowing somewhere around 72 hours for the body to recover.

[Charlewisoe]

after my workout A, I do 3 sets of fist push ups and Pull ups / Chin ups as fast as I can, each time till failure.

After my workout B, I do 3 sets of reverse crunches as fast as I can each time till failure and 3 times a prone bridge till a fall down.

Is this a bit plyometric training ?

In karate class we jump a lot and need to sprint standing still also, But this we do more as a warming up a guess.

Tonight I leave to summercamp !!! Yiiieeehaaa, If I have enough to tell about I will make a new thread about it. I'm looking forward to meet Hirokazu Kanazawa in real life ! A real karate legend !

[Evil Dave]

I don't know where the squat 1.5 times your body weight comes from, as I will get lifting clients doing plyometrics almost right away. Usually it's in the training phase right after lifting technique is almost mastered. I feel it's something that comes before the lifts get heavy and I also use plyometrics on clients that don't do heavy lifting. Can't say enough about FORM, FORM, FORM!

As to taking a break after plyometrics, that depends upon a number of factors ~ as in all things with rest and fitness. If your doing a full plyo workout I don't even see much walking the next day... I like to see about one or two plyo exercises in a workout routine, as not to wear out my clients or myself, as plyo's done correctly should drain you. About once every two weeks I like to put in a 'speed' day workout and this entails exercises like:

hill sprints for a warm-up

sandbag work on the hill

light oly lifts {just the bar} for the in-gym warm-up

heavy lifts with lifting bands {usually just one of the lifts}

heavy lifts with chains {usually just one of the lifts}

This is usually a Friday workout with the weekend for a rest period.