AITKD Fitness Kickboxing Blog

Many of us reflect on what we've accomplished in the past year. Fitness is such an important part of life's journey because of the health and physical gains, the psychological, social and self-worth benefits. To begin and continue along a new and different path in life can be exciting and motivating, but more often it is both difficult to get started and to persevere.
Most have tried exercise programs, have read about them, know what they should be doing, and may even have experienced the many benefits. But just knowing what you should be doing will not give you improvements in your fitness level; you cannot just think about it, you can only improve by doing the activity.
Some of the obstacles you may face when starting an exercise program are self-doubt, lack of confidence, nervousness, and self-condemnation.
Self-doubt and lack of confidence are often based on negative past experiences, times when you have not been successful in performing an activity. If you are not in the habit of training or exercising, a positive attitude about exercising will not just occur spontaneously. The emotions readily available are only negative ones or none at all and you do not have experiences to fall back on.
The mind habitually takes you back to unsuccessful times and inhibits you from performing. The lazy feeling or the feeling that you do not want to workout occur because these are the thoughts and emotions that have consistently accessed and they are the one that most readily available. Try to reflect on moments when you were at your best. Start building successful experiences and train your mind to go to these positive times, concentrating on how great it felt and that you were successful.
 
Concentrate and focus on what you are doing and just experience the activity. Try not to give any rating to the performance, stay in the moment, and let go of the past and any failures. Remember by starting and doing the activity you have already succeeded. Build on this feeling of accomplishment.
The Ultimate Workout
Fitness boxing is one of the most dynamic workouts to engage in which is why we call it the "Ultimate Workout" at AITKD. When hitting the heavy bag, feel the power in the arm, the contact with the bag and the rebound off the bag. Focus on the smooth rhythm of your punches as you improve hand-eye coordination. Develop your cardiovascular endurance. Try to become only involved in the activity, making the movements spontaneous and automatic. Get in the zone - work it!
Exercising regularly gives you a sense of well being. Missing a workout day will just not feel right. On those days that you do not feel like exercising try to discover why and then park that tiny voice that keeps telling you that you really do not want to expend the energy, that you are tired or you have more important things to do. Just start and if it does not feel right, then stop. Most times once you start exercising you will want to continue, and even if you do stop, at least you have done more than if you have never started.
Sticking to a workout program will carry over into other parts of your life and give a feeling of empowerment. How we feel and perform is a function of how and what we think. The sense of well being, relaxation, joy carries over from the workout into the rest of your life. By making the process more important than the outcome, the outcome will result without stress and worry.
Fitness is a journey. The personal challenge of commitment and passion to make fitness a natural part of your every day life. Give yourself time to adapt and grow and make fitness a long-term, lifetime commitment with a goal of making it something that become just a regular part of your every day.
All the best in 2013!

A common question when it comes to weight training is “How do I select the proper weight?” Although the amount of weight will vary from person to person, the feeling you experience will be similar. A good starting point is two sets of 12 repetitions (resting 30-60 seconds in between sets). The 12th repetition should be the last one you can do with proper form. If you cannot reach 12 without a significant struggle, the weight is too heavy. If you can continue past 12 without a problem, the weight is too light. The feeling you experience should fall somewhere in the middle- it is a challenge, but not so difficult that you risk injury. It is better to start with a light weight and add more as you become stronger and the exercises become easier.

After three or four weeks, you might notice some exercises becoming easier. At this point it is a good idea to increase the weight, in small increments of 2-5 pounds. This way your muscles will continue to be challenged without being overworked.

Tabata Intervals are usually made up of 20 seconds of maximum intensity exercise, followed by 10 seconds of rest. This cycle is repeated 8 times (for a total of 4-minutes).

Squats/Pushups/Mt. Climbers/Burpees

Do this workout 4 times, each lasting 4 minutes, the total workout lasting 16 minutes.

Tabata intervals offer a quick way to get fit in just four minutes of high intensity work. But don’t be misled, Tabata intervals are hard.

This protocol was originally developed for Olympic caliber athletes. Tabata Intervals originated from a study by Dr Izumi Tabata into the effects of moderate-intensity endurance and high-intensity intermittent training on anaerobic capacity and VO2max. This groundbreaking 1996 study, published in the journal Medicine and Science in Sports & Exercise, provided documented evidence concerning the dramatic physiological benefits of high-intensity intermittent training. After just 6 weeks of testing, Dr. Tabata noted a 28% increase in anaerobic capacity in his subjects, along with a 14% increase in their ability to consume oxygen (V02Max). These results were witnessed in already physically fit athletes. The conclusion was that just four minutes of Tabata interval training could do more to boost aerobic and anaerobic capacity than an hour of endurance exercise.

Dr. Tabata reported that the subjects were wiped out by the routine when testing the protocol and remember they were Olympic caliber athletes, the protocol was described as 6-7 sets, most of the subjects were exhausted after the sixth set of sprints and couldn’t complete the seventh. This style of training isn’t for a beginner and should only be considered if you have a solid fitness base.

Here are some of my Tabata creations!

http://www.ideafit.com/exercise-library/cardio-kickboxing-tabata-punch-drill

http://www.ideafit.com/exercise-library/tabata-kick-interval-wavemaster-drill-

Here is the circuit:

1. 60 Jumping Jacks: Done as fast as possible, but make sure you do full jumping jacks.

2. 10 Spiderman Pushups: To do a Spiderman pushup you alternate bringing a knee to an elbow each time you go down.  These can be pretty tough so feel free to substitute regular pushups or knee pushups depending on your fitness level.

3. 20 Lunges: This means 20 total steps, 10 for each leg.

4. 20 Spiderman Climbs: again, 10 per side. In pushup position, lock arms, then alternate bringing one foot to your hand.

5. Wall Squat: Do for 45 seconds.  Put your back against the wall, lower yourself into a squat position and hold it. Make sure your knees are at a 90 degree angle.

6. Plank: 60 seconds.    Do you best to hold it for 60 seconds. 

7. 10 Burpees: Start in a standing position. Drop down and do a pushup, spring your feet forward and then jump up and lift your knees as high as you can.  Pure punishment at this point.
 

8. 50 High Knees: Try to do them as fast as possible. Just keep thinking to yourself, after this is done you get to rest.!

Rest for about 30 secs and repeat 3-4x

Why is it so important to inhale through our nose? There are several reasons for this. When we inhale through our nose, the hairs that line our nostrils filter out particles of dust and dirt that can be injurious to our lungs. If too many particles accumulate on the membranes of the nose, we automatically secrete mucus to trap them or sneeze to expel them. The mucous membranes of our septum, which divides the nose into two cavities, further prepare the air for our lungs by warming and humidifying it. Over time, this filtering and humidification process helps protect our lungs from the damage that would otherwise occur.

Another very important reason for breathing through the nose--one that very few people are aware of--has to do with maintaining the correct balance of oxygen and carbon dioxide in our blood. When we breathe through our mouth we usually inhale and exhale air quickly in large volumes. This often leads to a kind of hyperventilation (breathing excessively fast for the actual conditions in which we find ourselves). It is important to recognize that it is the amount of carbon dioxide in our blood that generally regulates our breathing. Research has shown that if we release carbon dioxide too quickly, the arteries and vessels carrying blood to our cells constrict and the oxygen in our blood is unable to reach the cells in sufficient quantity. This includes the carotid arteries which carry blood (and oxygen) to the brain. The lack of sufficient oxygen going to the cells of the brain can turn on our sympathetic nervous system, our "fight or flight" response, and make us tense, anxious, irritable, and depressed. There are some researchers who believe that mouth breathing and the associated hyperventilation that it brings about can result in asthma, high blood pressure, heart disease, and many other medical problems. Some people, for instance, get exercise-induced asthma, a temporary condition in which one begins gasping for air.

When you work out aerobically the whole point is to find ways to get more health benefits from your workout. Here are some questions you might ask yourself. Would you like to burn more fat during your workout? Would you like to reduce exercise-related fatigue and injury? Would you like to increase your endurance and stamina? Would you like your workout to help improve your breathing?

If your answer is "yes" to any or all of these questions, and it no doubt is, then there is one simple thing you can do: don't let yourself become "breathless" at any point during your workout. When you become breathless, you undermine your breathing coordination, burn sugar instead of fat for fuel, become tight and tense (which can promote injury), and, in general, undermine your endurance and stamina.

The simplest way to know whether you are exercising too intensely and becoming breathless is to try to speak several sentences out loud while you're working out. If you can't do it without gasping for breath, then your workout is no longer "aerobic"--it is, or is about to become, "anaerobic," which means that it is proceeding without oxygen and you are no longer burning fat for fuel. Another way to look at what has happened is that you are hyperventilating, which means that you won't get oxygen where it needed in your brain and body and you will feel as though you are out of breath, even though you may have plenty of oxygen in your blood.

A simple way to ensure that you are working out at a level that will not make you breathless is to inhale and exhale only through your nose. If you try this you will quickly discover, especially at the beginning, that you will have to work at a slower or less-intense rate during your workout. Gradually, however, your breathing coordination and blood chemistry will improve and you will be able to do more and progress more rapidly, eventually going well beyond your previous limits.

On Mother's Day Sunday May 8, 2011 Team AITKD Tough Mudder's took on the North East Tough Mudder, a 10-mile course running through Mount Snow Vermont with over 25 military-style obstacles (mud, snow, 38 deg. water, ice, fire, maple syrup and 10,000 volts of electricity), 13,747 feet of elevation change and 7,000 feet of climbing!! 

We all entered this race with different objectives but all of us trained together for this event, putting ourselves through many weeks of physical training including long distance running. Some of us, including myself, entered this event with pre-existing conditions - mine being "adhesive capsulitis" better known as frozen shoulder. But this was something I felt I needed to do at this point in my life and I was extremely happy that my daughter was there right alongside me throughout this amazing experience. (after all it was Mother's Day!)

While I would like to say I was able to complete ALL the obstacles, I have decided that I am not going to beat myself up over not being able to clear the Evil Knievel nor the Berlin Walls due to my shoulder impingement.  Upon much reflection, I have decided that I didn't run this race solely to be a "Tough Mudder". Rather, I ran this race to test myself and my willingness/ability to do things that I would normally never think to do. The race ending up being more self-discovery and I easily accomplished that goal throughout the race!

You can view our video on YouTube http://youtu.be/uGeNlQ69Bkg

This is a great circuit offering lower/upper/cardio and core workout. Perform each circuit in a row with only a 10 sec rest in between exercises.

Lower Body – 45 secs/10 sec rest

1. Low Side to Side Lunges (lateral)
2. 180 deg. Jump switch tap floor
3. Squat to Jump Squat
4. Side to Side Hop Overs
5. Pendulum Lunges

Upper Body – 45 secs/10 sec rest

1. Spiderman Pushups
2. Plyo Pushups
3. Punches with Light Dumbbells
4. Side to Side Pushups (offset)
5. Forearm Plank to Hand Plank

Cardio – 45 secs/10 sec rest

1. Jump Rope
2. High Knees
3. Sprawls
4. 1-2-3’s
5. Mountain Climbers

Core – 45 secs/10 sec rest

1. Windshield Wipers with Dumbbells
2. Jack Knifes
3. Russian Twists with Dumbbell
4. Bicycles
5. Reverse Crunches

Some further explanations:

Lower Body –

1. Shift weight side to side bending one leg and straightening the other without locking. Keep chest lifted and look forward and do not round the back
2. Face right wall, jump up and face left wall touching floor with one hand in between legs and switch and touch floor with other hand.
3. Squat first then squat again and jump up and keep alternating.
4. Use a target shield or anything that you feel comfortable jumping over, either with both feet or with one and then the other landing
5. Lunge forward and then lunge back with same leg and repeat with the other alternating. Keep forward knee in line with ankle.

Upper Body –

1. Push up and leg out to side bringing knee to elbow – Pushup and repeat other leg
2. Plyo – pushup on toes or knees and add a push off the floor with both hands. You can clap if you like!
3.  Forward punches with light dumbbells – no more than 5 lbs. and do not lock elbows and keep punches @ shoulder height
4. One hand on medicine ball, pushup and roll over to other hand and push up. Use a target shield or something you can slide across to other hand (phone book)
5. Start in the plank position on your forearms, then raise up onto your right hand and then left hand. You will be in a position as if you were starting a push up.  Reverse the movement lowering down onto the right forearm, and then the left forearm. 

Cardio-

1. Jump Rope , with or without a real rope
2. High Knees , jog bringing knees up to hip level
3. Sprawls – similar to burpees BUT bring hands to floor, kick feet back into pushup position with a tight core, bring hips down almost touching floor then kick feet forward to hands, stand and repeat
4. 1-2-3’s -  A jog 3-step movement to the right and then to the left.  R/L/R bring left knee up and hold (crunch it!) then L/R/L bring right knee up and hold (crunch it!)
5. Hands on floor and sprint bringing knees in close to chest

Core –

1. Windshield Wipers – Lay flat holding 2 dumbbells up to ceiling shoulder width apart. Begin by bringing both legs up and over to left to outside of dumbbell and then dip both legs over to other side. Bring legs as low as you can to increase the core work but if you have back issues keep legs higher. Don’t touch legs together … leave a space!
2. Jack Knifes - Lie flat on the floor (or exercise mat) on your back with your arms extended straight back behind your head and your legs extended also. This will be your starting position. As you exhale, bend at the waist while simultaneously raising your legs and arms to meet in a jackknife position. .. legs should be extended and lifted at approximately a 35-45 degree angle from the floor and the arms should be extended and parallel to your legs. The upper torso should be off the floor… inhaling, lower your arms and legs back to the starting position
3. Russian Twists - Grasp one dumbbell and sit on floor with legs flexed about right angled placing heels on floor. Lean torso backward while lower back remains off floor. With both hands hold dumbbell centrical in front of chest and keep arms slightly flexed. Rotate torso from side to side. Keep hips in stable position and let head follow motion.Feet off floor offers more of a challenge!
4. Bicycles – you know how to do these!
5. Reverse crunches – these are actually back extensions (the crunch in reverse) lay on stomach with hands behind head and lift upper torso and legs off floor simultaneously , hold and then lower

by Deb Russell

 - published in the July 2011 TaeKwonDo Times Magazine

You often hear of the importance of developing core strength for martial arts and how having a strong core results in better agility, speed, reflexes, the ability to jump higher and even helping you to get back on your feet quickly should you go to the ground.

The "core" is the torso, extending from the shoulders to the pelvis. It is the body's center of power. When we refer to core strength, it is the intrinsic muscles that lie deep within the torso.  These muscles attach to the spine and pelvis and include the transversus abdominis, and the muscles of the pelvic floor in the lower portion of the torso and the latissimus dorsi and obliques in the middle and upper torso.  Many experts also include the muscles that surround the scapula as key core muscles.  This area is sometimes called "the powerhouse" because movement power and stability originate here. In addition to being the source of powerful, centered movement, the core muscles also provide a strong base of stability.  The muscles of the core hold the body stable and balanced, whether it is stationary or in dynamic motion.

Regardless of the style of martial art, core training should be the center of your martial art skill training. If you want to strike harder, move faster and even break boards or concrete, then you must focus on building core strength.

When you punch, you don’t just move your arm but transfer the energy from the ground, up into your torso and use your core muscles to rotate your shoulder, arm and then your fist to your target. You then contract the muscles at the last moment to generate power and then use those core muscles once again to bring your arm back while maintaining a strong center-line. Your core also kicks in when you’re kicking! It supports the leg, back and hips to chamber, execute the kick and then to bring the leg back. More power can be carried through the body when you focus on proper core and stabilizer muscle training.

So obviously a strong core is advantageous for movement, but it is also important for resisting movement. Maintaining a strong base is very important in order to avoid take downs and sweeps and to maintain your balance while sparring.

But did you know that training the muscles of the core will help prevent injuries as well? If all movement, even of the extremities, begins in the core, then consequently, muscle imbalances in the core will lead to problems in the extremities.  To ensure a strong and centered movement pattern, the core muscles must stabilize before the extremities mobilize.  Truly, the core is where it all happens!

Core stability training emphasizes muscle activation or stabilization of the entire body, working together as a unit. By developing strength in all planes of movement, the risk of injury will decrease.

I've incorporated the use of the TRX into my martial art training. It's helping me to achieve the muscle balance, joint stability, mobility & strength which I need for doing Tae Kwon Do in order to improve my technique while preventing injury.

TheTRX suspension trainer is a special set of straps and handles with a single-point attachment. Incorporating the TRX into your training provides and ideal mix of support and mobility to train strength endurance, balance, coordination, flexibility, power and core stability all at once. The idea behind suspension training is to allow every exercise to become a full body exercise. Your body is effectively suspended at some stage or another thus challenging your nervous system and recruiting more of your stabilizer muscles.

When used in flexibility and mobility training, the TRX allows your body to move in and out of a stretch allowing gravity to be used as your spotter; to increase the end range of motion.

The TRX Suspension bodyweight exercise is a unique and valuable training method for martial artists regardless of fitness level or performance training goals.