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It’s the foundation of an effective training session.
 We’ll begin by considering the following:
The key to motivation is progression.
The key to progression is structure.
Structure
If you have a ‘structured’ training session, you will have planned the exercises or drills you need to work on, along with the duration you wish to train them for. By deciding these elements you have set both a ‘drill structure’ and a ‘timing structure’
Some ideas of specific drills or drill structures will be discussed in future articles. But for now, we’ll begin by looking at timing structures and the importance of setting appropriate working and resting duration’s
 Timing Structure
There’s a multitude of timing structures that could be effectively employed in your training. But as martial artists, there are some factors worth considering.
Although general cardiovascular fitness is important for any sport (usually developed with long duration steady state exercise such as running), an athlete should also specifically train in the manner in which they’ll perform in competition. For martial artists, this invariably means fighting for a specified number of rounds of a defined length, with a limited rest period between each round.
Therefore, matching your training to such intervals will develop your body to function under these conditions. During the ‘working rounds’ your cardio respiratory system is being challenged to respond to the demands being placed on it. If you work hard enough to surpass your anaerobic threshold you will become out of breath - not just breathing heavily, but gasping for air!
Working at this intensity can only be maintained for a short period of time. You will rapidly begin to slow and limbs will feel heavy from the build up of lactic acid in larger muscle groups.
 To recover from this level of fatigue you must reduce your work rate or rest entirely – while still breathing! Then you can drive hard again in the next round. This training will substantially increase the volume of work, improving lactate tolerance and increase overall fitness levels.
Regardless of whether you compete or not, working within pre-specified timing boundaries also helps you to push yourself to the limit, rather than holding back. For example, if you know a working round is two minutes long and then you will get a predefined rest period, you are mentally able to motivate yourself to work harder. The rounds also serve to breakdown your whole training session into a series of smaller, more achievable tasks.
 Timing Tools
There are a number of ways of achieving ‘round timing’ during your training, all with various levels of usability and success. Some solutions are as follows:
· Stopwatch
· Countdown or egg timer
· Boxing round timer
· Timer training mix CD
Stopwatch
A stopwatch is a very inexpensive method of timer training, costing between £5 - £15. The draw back with this method is that you will also need a partner to monitor the timing, and that person isn’t training! You will also need to ‘remain on alert’ watching the clock to ensure that both the round length and rest interval duration are correct. This can be distracting for instructors teaching classes, who wish to concentrate on correcting technique and generally coaching the group.
Countdown or Egg Timer
A countdown or egg timer is another inexpensive method of timer training (£5 – £30), and allows you to set an alarm when a time period is up. Some countdown timers are sophisticated enough to allow a series of times to be set – allowing smaller rest intervals to set in-between larger working rounds. However, they can be extremely difficult to hear above the noise of punch bag being pounded, and your pumping training music!
Boxing Round Timer
These are very good methods of timing, allowing selection of several different round lengths. They sound beeps indicating the start and finish of rounds. However, they are expensive at around £80, making them unsuitable for most users.
Timer Training Mix CD
 At Martial Concept, we have developed a Timer Training Mix CD, which at £9.99, is a cost effective yet very functional round timing product. Anyone with a simple CD player can use this tool to easily conduct timer training.
It allows selection of 1, 2 or 3 minute working rounds with corresponding rest intervals in-between. This is combined with over an hour of continuous-mix motivating ‘techno’ music. Track samples can be heard online at www.martialconcept.co.uk – along with other product information. As a timing solution it is ideal for both instructors teaching groups and individuals training at home.
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