Yoga/Swimming instead of weights/jogging

HammerMap · 09-09-2008, 03:47 PM

Hi all. I have been training in martial arts on and off for pretty much my whole life. As a way of giving everyone insight ill briefly explain my situation. As a kid i took karate and got my blue belt under a canadian karate hall of famer who is now on the board of directors for my provinces kickboxing comitee. I later did a little boxing. Then i took most of my teens off. I returned and took and self defense system for about a year and followed that up by doing almost six months of staright grappling. The last two endevours however left me wanting for striking. I returned to straight strking by joining a very reputable kickboxing gym. I have been training hard now for well over a year in both kickboxing and boxing and am eyeing compeition again. Recently, on the suggestion of some other fighters i have spoken with, i have started doing yoga and it has helped tremedously. It has helped me shed a few pounds, made me more felxible (one thing i never really was) and improved my breathing.

I know that for most fighters training, lifting and diet are the the holy trinity of fighting and then add cardio. I myself have switched it to training, yoga and diet. I see a chiropractor regularly and now do yoga regularly as well. I find that my body feels better, my flexibility has increased, no injuries have come of it and i am confident it is making me a better fighter. When it comes down to training for the specific tournaments and fights which are comming my way i will not lift there either. Instead i plan on adding swimming. My goal is to decrease pressure put on joints and lessen the likelyhood of injuries sustained in training while learning to better control my breathing, flexibility and stamina.

anyone else completely take wieght and running out of their training? anyone know of anyone who has? any suggestions as to how or why this may help/hurt my ability as a fighter? would particularly love to hear from people with indepth knowledge (ie personal traininers, amatuer fighters, andyone with a background in kinesciology (sp), thinsg like that)

Gary Peters · 09-10-2008, 05:16 AM

Swimming and jogging are good for overall health but do not translate to martial arts.

Strength training is an added bonus and a nice advantage to have over an equally skilled opponent.

I know the answer you want to hear is that yoga and swimming are just as good but they arent.

Ian Coe · 09-10-2008, 05:24 AM

Swimming is good if done at a high pace, but no, you need to run

Team Dragonfire · 09-10-2008, 06:53 AM

honestly, yoga and swimming are great and could be part of any effective program, but weights and sprints are something you really can't ignore.

aaronh36 · 09-10-2008, 08:07 AM

i would throw in a day where i would swim every once in a while for training but like these guys have already said, lifting and running are best.

Reloaded · 09-10-2008, 08:58 AM

Having practiced yoga a bit myself I know where you are coming from with all the benefits that yoga can provide. I do swimming as part of my cardio cycles, it's one of the best cardiovascular exercises around.

However, to be complete it's hard to ignore other training principals such as lifting weights and running.

A good rule of thumb and to keep it simple is to set goals in your martial arts training and then use your exercises sessions to achieve those goals. Example, say your stiff as a board and you can't high kick with your left leg... using yoga-type postures and working on the flexibility of your low back/hamstrings coupled with heavy bag kicking increasing in the degrees you can kick upwards should over time get you to a point where you can head kick. If not, evaluate what is holding you back and then work on that point.

Combat sports is unique and challenging because you have to be well-rounded. You need speed, agility, flexibility, power, strength, iron-will, heart... to reflect those attributes you need to progress on many levels at the same time. By limiting your training choices then your tool box isn't as deep to work with on developing yourself as a complete fighter.

Don't be afraid about injuring yourself lifting and running. Unless you have previous injuries or an aptitude to getting injuries (arthritis in the knees would be a knock against running) then you can safely apply any training principal to whatever goal you have.

Like anything, use trial-and-error. If it's not feeling right or working towards your goal(s) then re-assess and move into something else. Never limit yourself just because you think or someone told you that you should or shouldn't do it... always do it and then evaluate afterwards.

Hope that helps, good luck.

arctic82 · 09-10-2008, 09:45 AM

It all depends on how much conditioning you get from your sport training. Also you should note that weight training while naturally used for strength and power gains also should help you to avoid imbalances in your body that might lead you to injury.

So I think that the priority for a fighter should naturally be sport training, injury prevention and diet.
After that comes assistance training which should be oriented on improving weaknesses. Also a good athlete valuates constantly his progress and weaknesses and changes his goals accordingly to suit the new needs.

So I think that yoga and swimming are good for injury prevention, recovery and general conditioning. As a fight nears you should switch to more demanding and more sport specific conditioning.

This as a simplistic generalisation.

HammerMap · 10-01-2008, 08:36 AM

ttt

Calvo · 10-01-2008, 09:16 AM

You need to Squat and deadlift!

nate schroeder · 10-01-2008, 09:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by arctic82

It all depends on how much conditioning you get from your sport training. Also you should note that weight training while naturally used for strength and power gains also should help you to avoid imbalances in your body that might lead you to injury.

So I think that the priority for a fighter should naturally be sport training, injury prevention and diet.
After that comes assistance training which should be oriented on improving weaknesses. Also a good athlete valuates constantly his progress and weaknesses and changes his goals accordingly to suit the new needs.

So I think that yoga and swimming are good for injury prevention, recovery and general conditioning. As a fight nears you should switch to more demanding and more sport specific conditioning.

This as a simplistic generalisation.

yea what this guy said. you could do that so you don't get injured but when you get within your 10 weeks from a fight you should start hitting strength and conditioning hard