Stamina describes your ability to keep working despite fatigue and is an important factor in martial arts training and competition. A combination of mental determination, muscular endurance and cardiovascular fitness, stamina allows you to continue to put forth your best effort toward the end of a workout or bout, despite being tired. There are a number of methods that you can use to improve your stamina for martial arts.
Road Work
Common in boxing, road work is the term used to describe long-distance running. Distance running develops aerobic fitness and leg endurance. Often done early in the morning on an empty stomach to maximize potential fat burning, road work is also used to help boxers maintain their weight. Road work helps ensure that you don’t “run out of gas” toward the end of a practice session or bout.
Static Stances
Many martial arts use static stances to develop stamina. Holding stances for extended periods of time challenges your muscular endurance and lactic acid tolerance, which in turn helps develop your mental determination. For example, holding a karate horse stance for five minutes or more is a very challenging workout for your entire lower body. To perform horse stance, stand with your feet wide apart and your toes facing straight forward. Bend your knees and pull your fists into your hips. Tense your entire body as if bracing for a punch and hold for the desired duration.
Circuit Training
In circuit training, you move through a sequence of muscular endurance exercises with little or no rest. Common exercises include push-ups, sit-ups, squats, jump rope, lunges and step-ups. Perform each exercise for either a set time or number of repetitions, and complete multiple laps of the circuit. You can adapt circuit training specifically for martial artists by including punching and kicking drills alongside the more common traditional conditioning exercises. Start with six to eight exercises performed for 30 seconds each, and increase the number of exercises and the duration of the workout as your stamina increases.
Sparring
One of the best ways to develop martial arts stamina is though sparring. Some martial arts use free sparring, and others use two-step sparring in which an attack is blocked and countered. Both forms of sparring develop stamina, if you perform them for long enough. If you are training for a bout in three-minute rounds, spar in four-minute rounds so you have sufficient stamina to outlast the fight.
Sprint Training
Sprint training improves your anaerobic fitness, your aerobic fitness and your leg endurance. Sprint training also helps you “step up a gear” when sparring or fighting. You can perform this type of workout on any cardio equipment or, if you want a more traditional sprint workout, on a football field or running track. Start off with 30-second sprints alternated with 90-second easy paced recoveries, and build up from there.
References
- "High-Performance Sports Conditioning"; Bill Faran; 2001
- "You Are Your Own Gym: The Bible of Bodyweight Exercises for Men and Women"; Mark Lauren; 2010
- "Anatomy of Exercise: A Trainer's Inside Guide to Your Workout" Pat Manocchia; 2009
- "The Fighter's Body: An Owner's Manual"; Loren W. Christensen and Wim Demeere; 2003
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