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Thread: Cardiovascular fitness

  1. #1
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    Default Cardiovascular fitness

    I was sparring with a friend earlier, started off nice and gentle, but he soon worked up into a full offensive, and while I handled myself fairly well, I couldn't do so for long. I had to walk away, and realised my lungs were bursting on the verge of an asthma attack.

    Yes, I tense up some when I fight like that, but I have really low level fitness, it's not just inefficient breathing (which I'll worry about another time, for now.)

    I was hoping someone could point me in the direction of some simple cardio I could do that isn't too high impact (I'm a pretty heavy guy, running hurts the knees after a while.)

    There's a crosstrainer machine in the house, would that do the trick for cardiovscular? Not really used them before.. If that'll do the job, how long dyou recommend daily? Would it be ok for say, twenty minute stints three times a day or something, to start getting fitter?
    Dan Gould

    Not yet rated (Rather comfy in the gi now, just waiting to look good in it)

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    Conventional wisdom for boxers has long been that you need to be able to run a mile (without getting winded) for every minute you'll spend sparring.
    Chuck Gordon
    Mugendo Budogu
    http://www.budogu.com/

  3. #3
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    There's really no substitute for running, although cycling and swimming are easier on your knees. Alternatively, you could just do lots of sparring...

    Sprints are good (e.g. run fast for a set time, walk for the same time, repeat). Eventually you want to build up to a workrate that's equivalent to the length of the rounds of sparring (e.g. fast run for 3 mins, 1 minute walking, repeat). Your crosstrainer should do the job, but again, aim to work in bursts rather than a constant rate. There are plenty of good websites out there with specific advice for fight training if you look.

    Just realised you mentioned asthma - I would recommend getting your dr's advice before starting your cardio programme
    Cheers,

    Mike
    No-Kan-Do

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    Fair point about getting the doc's advice. It doesn't usually bother me unless I really go full out. I wasn't aiming to push myself TOO hard, just to improve some. Sparring isn't a regular thing for me, I don't see the friend exactly every day and we don't spar often, but when we do it makes me realise how unfit I am, yknow?

    I want to lose weight to so I CAN run without wrecking my knees, so what if I go for the crosstrainer for a while constantly moving, but go fast for thirty seconds every two minutes or something?

    Thanks for the advice so far, after posting it I remembered the Men's Health site, so gonna see what I can find on there too. Appreciate the replies
    Dan Gould

    Not yet rated (Rather comfy in the gi now, just waiting to look good in it)

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    That's a good idea, losing weight before taking up running. Running can be very hard on the joints even for a slender person, and every pound of adipose tissue adds to the stress and doesn't contribute to the running.

    As for the cross-training machine, start with short stints and work your way up. If you haven't used it before, you need to give yourself some time to adapt to prevent stress or strain injuries.

    There are two books I can recommend on the subject of cardiovascular fitness. Both are, I believe, out of print, but you may be able to find them in used bookstores, on the net, etc. They are The New Aerobics by Kenneth Coooper, and Total Fitness In 30 Minutes A Week by Laurence Moorehouse and Leonard Gross. Both contain information on assessing/testing your current fitness level, developing a program tailored to your current level, tracking progress and increasing intensity in a safe and sane manner, etc.

    Good luck in your endeavor.
    Yours in Budo,
    ---Brian---

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    http://www.medicinenet.com/swimming/page4.htm

    I swam a lot when I was in the Corps. When I got out and went to college, I thought I'd take a swimming class over the summer and that it would be a breeze for me. It wound up being extremely difficult to keep up with the more experienced students. At the time, I was still keeping up my regular running regime and playing soccer for the university. The swimming class was still more difficult than any of the two-a-day practices we held. I'd venture to say that swimming would be a far better practice given that you're trying to lose weight and up your cardio.
    ERIC DANIEL WARD

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    I've just got back into fitness training after a 3mth long haitus and I've started working with CrossFit here in Sydney (www.crossfit.com) and found them to be great at with both increasing cardio fitness and 'fuctional' strength.

    From my research they are big in the States but they appear to be going worldwide. Hopefully you'll find one near you.

    Wiki gives a good summary of their outlook and approach too.

    All the best with your search.

    With respect
    Dean Whittle
    Sydney, Australia
    www.ninjutsuaustralia.com

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    As another Crossfit'er, I can say that Cross Fit works.

    My god does it work.

    Easily the best training I have found for strength, endurance and performance.

    I simply can not emphasize enough how well Cross Fit has worked for me.

    Cross Fit may work for you.

    - Chris McGaw

    "Certainly there is no hunting like the hunting of man and those who have hunted armed men long enough and liked it, never really care for anything else thereafter."
    ~ Ernest Hemingway
    Last edited by No1'sShowMonkey; 13th November 2007 at 14:20.

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    I know it's a cliched answer but I've always found the heavy bag to be my best friend in this department.
    I should add I've let myself go some lately anyway...but whenever I get around to ramping things back up that's where i'll be starting.
    Zachariah Zinn

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    Im not so sure about crossfit. I looked at the typical schedule of work outs here in my town. Over the course of a year they don't spend enough time in any one exercise to actually get good at them. I think for the average couch tater American cross fit will take them leaps and bounds. Athletes need specific training. Cross fit is a good GPP thing.

    I keep hearing stories of non crossfitters joining crossfit compititions and winning, of cross fitters doing endurance racing and doing badly ..

    Not bashing, I think that it would be a good introduction to fitness for a typical Couch tater. It will point them in the right direction but sooner or later he will need to do specific training.

    I recommend a stationary bike. Less impact on the knees then running.
    Joshua W. Worman. My motto for losing weight. "Defeat is a lie, there is only adversity, from adversity I gain strength. From strength I gain power. From power I get Victory. Through victory my chains are broken."

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    Quote Originally Posted by Kframe View Post
    ...Over the course of a year they don't spend enough time in any one exercise to actually get good at them.
    I think that's actually the general idea: you don't adapt, so your body burns more calories in the same amount of time due to in-built inefficiencies.

    You're right that the best training for a specific activity is usually that very activity (or a close analog), but for weight loss and general fitness the various cross-training systems seem to do pretty well. For one thing, the variety helps people stay motivated.
    Yours in Budo,
    ---Brian---

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  13. #12
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    Long distance running will improve your aerobic capacity, but it will not help a whole lot for sparring.

    Sparring will help your sparring the most. Your body needs to be trained to do high intensity bursts of activity to replicate what you do in sparring. A couple things you can do is to do rounds on the heavy bag for example. Another is to do your katas as fast as you can (just remember to still train for precision etc.)

    There is some carry over between different exercises, but the body is very efficient at what it does and will get better at the activity it is doing. So, the best way to get more effiecient at cardio for sparring is to come as close as you can to that activity.

    Crossfit will get you better at crossfit. There will be a general overall fitness adaptation, but you will find yourself still getting winded like you do now, but would have a faster recovery rate due to better fitness.

    One other thing that just popped into my head. Bas Rutten makes a workout CD in which he calls out MMA combos and Striking combos that you keep moving and throwing etc. to mimic sparring.
    "Hard won, buy easy lost. True karate does not stay where it is not being used."

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    Quote Originally Posted by Kevin73 View Post
    Long distance running will improve your aerobic capacity, but it will not help a whole lot for sparring.

    Sparring will help your sparring the most. Your body needs to be trained to do high intensity bursts of activity to replicate what you do in sparring. A couple things you can do is to do rounds on the heavy bag for example. Another is to do your katas as fast as you can (just remember to still train for precision etc.)

    There is some carry over between different exercises, but the body is very efficient at what it does and will get better at the activity it is doing. So, the best way to get more effiecient at cardio for sparring is to come as close as you can to that activity.

    Crossfit will get you better at crossfit. There will be a general overall fitness adaptation, but you will find yourself still getting winded like you do now, but would have a faster recovery rate due to better fitness.

    One other thing that just popped into my head. Bas Rutten makes a workout CD in which he calls out MMA combos and Striking combos that you keep moving and throwing etc. to mimic sparring.
    Good post. If I may add something that I found out quite by accident. First off I agree with everything you said and have done it. I found kata training with the right emphasis gave me the cardio to accomplish other high intensity activities including maintaining the fitness required for the SWAT team.
    Now, one year I did the rounds on the bag thing. I was given a portable round timer. So I managed to work my way up to 9 - 3 minute rounds before I left for a sniper comp. I did that for about 3 months prior to the comp. During the comp in one event I had to run a total of 3 miles. I couldn't believe how well my stamina kept up. While I agree that best exercise is the exercise itself and many times one cardio exercise doesn't always translate well into another activity sometimes there are exceptions.
    Tony Urena

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    Exercise is best to maintain fitness and in my opinion cardio exercises are best. It is good to do running for at least 30 minutes in a day. This cardio has great health benefits. Anyway its a wonderful thread.

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    Jasson,
    I appreciate that your profile says that you are a personal trainer and that you probably have information and opinions that would be valued on this forum.
    However, when your posts either show almost no continuity with the thread topic or are merely quotes of your own posts and links to the same site, that comes across as spamming.

    If you are indeed hoping to be an active member of E-Budo, please bear this in mind.
    Input is valued, but our moderators have no tolerance for spam.

    Thank you.

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