As a martial artist, you spend countless hours grinding through grueling training sessions to prepare for a fight only to find your legs feel as though they are made of lead when you need them most. No matter how strong or technically proficient you are, poor leg stamina can bring down an otherwise well-prepared fighter. Through the use of science and sound strength and conditioning techniques, this problem can be directly and effectively addressed.
Cause
What many fighters term "heavy" legs occurs when the body is unable to flush lactate buildup from the muscles quickly enough to continually repeat a similar movement. This leads to a burning feeling that can build to the point where it becomes difficult to move quickly and powerfully. Poorly planned training leading up to the fight can be to blame for this trouble--specifically, a lack of focus on training geared toward maximum oxygen consumption and lactate-tolerance training.
Approach
To successfully combat leg stamina problems, your training should revolve around energy systems specific to martial arts. This means spending carefully planned time within a large range of contrasting conditioning time frames and intensities to include the aerobic, anaerobic lactic, and anaerobic alactic systems. With the legs being the most commonly undertrained area of the body in martial arts, carefully prioritize direct training on the lower half of the body to overcome heavy legs during a match.
Prevention/Solution
To improve maximal oxygen consumption, work on high-intensity total body circuit training. A single set should take between three and five minutes at 85 percent maximum intensity, with two- to three-minutes rest between circuits. Focus on lactate tolerance through total body conditioning drills that last 20 to 90 seconds at 90 to 95 percent maximum intensity. with one- to five-minutes rest between sets. Total duration of each drill, including rest time, should be matched to the maximum length of your upcoming fight.
Time Frame
Give yourself nine to 12 weeks to prepare for an upcoming fight. This allows you adequate time to address any unforeseen challenges and avoid overtraining. Ideally, plan to spend two sessions per week working on improving maximal oxygen consumption and two sessions per week working on lactate tolerance. These sessions should not be planned for the same day. Additionally, spend at least one day per week working in a low-intensity aerobic conditioning zone for base building and recovery.
Considerations
With any type of high-intensity physical training, the body can and will begin to accumulate fatigue. Listen to your body's signals and plan a full rest day or recovery session at least once a week. Seek out a qualified and experienced strength and conditioning coach to help you develop a well-balanced and effective training plan leading up to a fight. This helps ensure that you maximize your training time, reduce overuse injuries and ultimately, avoid leg stamina problems.
References
- "Periodization Training for Sports"; Tudor O. Bompa, PhD.; 2005
- "Supertraining"; Mel C. Siff, PhD.; 2003
- "Training for Warriors: The Team Renzo Gracie Workout"; Martin Rooney; 2004
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