What is your training schedule?

[TyroneTurner]

As a busy professional and family man, I've been experimenting with several routines and schedules to get the maximum benefits from my training. I'm curious as to what you other busy professional family women/men do.

Here is my schedule:

Sun: Cardio (Mor), Strength (Aft)

Mon: Boxing (Eve)

Tue: Cardio (Mor), Strength (Eve)

Wed: Boxing (Eve)

Thu: Cardio (Mor), Jujutsu and Judo (Eve)

Fri: Strength (Mor)

Sat: REST, REST, and more REST

***For cardio, I do HIIT (High Impact Interval Training) running and/or rope skipping, and for strength I do bodyweight exercises and use resistance bands.

[riverrun]

I have been trying to balance a weight training and Ninpo training and it isn't easy.

For the past 10-12 years I have been an avid weight lifter... not huge like Ahnold, but stronger than I look and with good endurance and overall fitness level. When I started martial arts training almost two years ago I felt that the weight training helped me immensely.

Now I am trying to find a balance between over-training and undertraining. I have looked at a few books on Weight Training for the Martial Arts and was not impressed either with the level of discussion or the insights.

So I am working with a fitness instructor who understands the basic needs of a martial artist... power in the hips, flexibility, full-body strength and conditioning, and cardio health.

I am just getting settled into my new routine, but it is more or less like this:

Sunday: Back/Abs and/or random MA practice
Monday: Chest/Biceps
Tuesday: MA
Wednesday: MA
Thursday: Back/Triceps
Friday: MA
Saturday: Legs

Weight training includes modestly heavy to heavy weights, no more than 45 minutes. About 3 sets of exercises, full-range of motion.

MA training is whatever my sensei wants

Cardio includes MA training and frequent bike rides to classes and the gym; walking; etc.

No it's not perfect. I need to have more REST and more organized cardio. Some of the days shift, so that I have weights AND MA on the same day (weights in the morning and MA after work).

Does anyone know of fine-tuning weight exercises for MA? For example, do those abductor and adductor machines do any good? What about the funky rotator cuff machine?

Rich

Here's what I try and aim for, I often fall short of due to pressures of work/social life:

SUN: 45 min swim or 30 min run, 30-45 min Yoga (morning)
MON: Morning: 30 min run (incl. wind sprints) Evening: Jujutsu class, 1 1/2 - 2 hrs
TUE: Evening 15-30 mins Yoga, 15-30 mins body weight strength exercises
WED: Morning: 30 min run (incl. wind sprints) Evening: Jujutsu class, 1 1/2 - 2 hrs
THU: Evening 15-30 mins Yoga, 15-30 mins body weight strength exercises
FRI: Morning: 30 min run (incl. wind sprints)
SAT: Morning: if I can find the training partners 2hrs of Jujutsu, focussing on randori. If not, I might get a run or some swimming or some yoga in.

That's a lot less than I feel I should be doing, but it's a real pain balancing everything, especially as I try to get 1-2hrs of guitar and mandolin practise in per day. My new year's resolution is to find another MA class so I can consistently train 3x per week (my Saturday sessions are just too sporadic). I'll probably end up doing 1 eve per week Judo, BJJ or MMA, then cut down on the weekend stuff.

When I win the lottery, I'll be able to build a proper schedule and still have plenty of time to lounge around the house making music.

Cheers,

Mike

[elara]

Great thread,
I've been mostly guilty of overtraining (well according to my orthopoedist), and am currently trying to re-work my schedule. Overall this is roughly how it goes for me:

Sunday: Rest (usually)
Monday: Evening - 2 hrs - MA teaching
Tuesday: Evening - 1.5 hrs - hindu squats, short run (~1 mile), abs, lower back, neck,shoulders
Wednesday: Evening - 2 hrs - MA
Thursday: Evening - 2.5 hrs - MA, 0.5 hrs - hindu squats, jump-rope, neck,shoulders
Friday: Afternoon - 1 hr - MA teaching
Saturday: Morning - 3 hrs - MA


MA - like Rich said :-)
MA teaching - I usually try and avoid participating, but I do fill in about 50% of the time when someone needs a partner and there are odd numbers. So if that can even count as exercise it's usually about strength, impact, or agility.

I've cut out alot of the weights for legs/arms/chest b/c of the strength training on the MA days (dynamic tension, calisthenics, medicine ball, elastic bands,etc). So when I do get to the weights, I usually try and focus on some of the smaller groups that may not get worked as much or need reinforcement (underneath/near the scapula, neck, back). The chest gets worked so much in the MA (punches, push-ups), I try and work in things like rows to offset that (http://www.barnett-fitness.com/bodyb...4exercises.htm). With all the falls/throws I try to reinforce my neck and back (in college we had a great neck machine, but now-a-days I just slap a (light) weight on my head and go).

When I was doing some more weights, I would focus on one body part (calves, abs, triceps) for a couple of months and then rotate. I'm pretty sure it's important to keep things varied, I don't know if this was the best way.


What I do on my own varies depending on what we've been up to in the MA classes. Sometimes I'll bump the thursday squats to friday or cut them out completely if wednesday was leg intensive.

I found a site which seems to be heavily runner/cycler oriented, but does try to avoid bei
ng sport-centric: http://www.pponline.co.uk/ - Peak Performance Online

I've been reading some of their articles in the hopes of building a better schedule - the one I'm following now mostly just seems to cause pain. Or maybe that's me sitting for 9+
hours a day in a cr*ppy chair...

comments, criticisms, and suggestion welcome!

Enrique

[elara]

Originally posted by elara

When I was doing some more weights, I would focus on one body part (calves, abs, triceps) for a couple of months and then rotate.

To quote myself...

I meant, I would still do a variety of weight-lifting exercises, but stress one area.

[Ginko]

I teach classes on Tuesday & Thursday & supplement with the Bas Rutten Workout on Monday & Saturday. I can't say enough about how versatile this is. There are four tapes. Boxing, Thai Boxing, All-around Fighting & All-around Workout. You can buy it at:

http://sherdog.bigstep.com/item.jhtm...4&PRID=1077841

It has been the best training investment that I have ever made.

[Bruce Mitchell]

Wow,
I am honestly impressed at the amount of training many of you are able to fit in. Thanks for offering up some great schedules. Myself, I currently train on Mondays (and sometimes Thursdays), and power lift on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. I usually have to get up an extra hour or so before work to do this so as not to compromise time with my family. Good luck everyone!