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THE MODERN MARTIAL ARTIST
Today we far better understand how the body works, and how it responds to the activities that we participate in. Over the last 10 years there has been a shift toward functi
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>Functional = relevant movements + relevant timing intervals
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onal training in sports.
This type of training simply prepares athletes specifically for their sports, using exercises that train muscles in the same way they are used in their chosen activity.
For a martial artist, functional training consists of two main elements:
1. Relevant movements
2. Relevant timing intervals
Within your club or gym you will already have developed an array of ‘relevant movements’. These are simply the techniques you train at every session. The second element, ‘relevant timing intervals’ may not be being utilised to its’ full potential.
Timing Intervals
A competition will usually be structured into rounds of fighting, of either two or three minutes in length with a rest interval of one minute in between. During these rounds, dynamic kicking and punching movements are executed placing specific physiological demands on a fighter’s body. Activities of this kind of intensity, lasting up to two to three minutes will derive most of its energy from your lactic energy system. That is a process that begins to breakdown food, turning into energy for muscle contraction – which requires oxygen. If your cardio-respiratory system is unable to supply oxygen quick enough you will begin to build up a lactic acid waste product in your muscles. This will cause fatigue, pain and stiffness, and eventually prevent muscle contraction. The shortage of oxygen creates a debt that needs repaying after vigorous exercise with some heavy breathing. Energy systems will be discussed in more detail in a future article.
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>Fast twitch muscle fibres for speed and strength activities
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The energy systems employed during a bout provide the energy for your muscles to contract producing movement. Your muscles are made up of individual fibres, which can also adapt to the type of training that you do. There are two main types of muscle fibres, slow twitch (type 1) and fast twitch (type 2). Endurance activities such as long distance running depend on the slow twitch fibres, which contract slowly and with less force. Speed and strength activities depend more on fast twitch fibres, which contract rapidly and with greater force. The total amount of muscle fibres and the ratio of slow to fast twitch fibres that each individual has is entirely genetic. However, the way in which you train can affect the performance of the fast twitch fibres. More recently, fast twitch muscle fibres have been subdivided into type 2a and type 2b. Type 2b are pure fast twitch fibres with a strong contraction force, which will fatigue quickly. Type 2a fibres can develop slow twitch characteristics making them more resistant to fatigue but maintaining a higher contraction force.
Other Round Training Benefits
As well as preparing your body for the specific demands of competition, timer or interval training also allows you to work physically a lot harder in the same training session. Rather than steady state training at a pace that allows you to simply ‘plod’ along, interval training demands high pace activity of a set duration followed by a short recovery period, with more intense activity following that. This not only mimics the requirements of competition, but also places a far higher demand on your body maximising the productivity of your training through an increase in your total workload for the session. Being able to work harder will mean that your fitness can progress faster accelerating your development. Psychologically, training using a timing structure revitalises your workouts. Allowing you to focus on defined work intervals, encouraging increased effort.
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>Slow twitch muscle fibres for endurance activities
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Making Your Body Adapt
The key to developing a body that will function under specific conditions is to regularly train under the same conditions. Appropriate use of interval training will directly improve your competitive performance. Your body will be far more efficient during the lactic energy phase and your muscles much more tolerant of lactic waste product, allowing you to work harder for longer. Your class 2a fast twitch muscle fibres will also have adapted to function more aerobically, resulting in less lactic acid in the first place! By taking your existing technical movements and applying ‘relevant timing intervals’ you will begin to develop both your techniques and your physical endurance. Both technical ability and physical endurance are essential for a competitive fighter. Through the application of ‘relevant movements’ and ‘relevant timing intervals’ you can achieve this simultaneously with a functional approach.
At Martial Concept we have developed a timer training CD which provides audio ‘beeps’ indicating automated round timing of one, two and three minutes with respective rest intervals of fifteen, thirty and sixty seconds. This is combined with over an hour of motivating ‘continuous mix’ dance music. This purpose built tool allows you to easily train in a structured way maximising your training sessions.
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