Conditioning before competition

[FearlessFreep]

What's the best way to approach a competition, as far as the conditioning and weight work and exercises you do before. Say I were to have a tournament next week. Would it be better to push hard for the week prior to build up extra stength? Or to lay off a bit to be 'fresh' and not fatigued? Or some combination?

 

[Spookey]

Fearless,


Speaking of a week out I would probably target my training in a more specialized (technical) direction.

-Sparring-
Paddle Drills
Timing Drills
Reflex Drills

-Patterns-
Individual Techniques
Transition from Stance to Stance
Power and Fluidity

Inside two days I usually will negate the sparring drills and opt for some light contact fast paced sparring. As well as drilling my pattern as a whole.

The night before try and stay martially minded by observing a class with some very light participation (stretching, walking through your pattern, some light technique work)...eat a good meal and get a good night sleep!

On the morning of the tourney get going early so that your muscles will be oxygenated and your senses alert. Stretch good and keep moving (walk around the event center...dont sit still for very long)...do some light shadow boxing and such to keep warm and sharp!

TAEKWON!
SpooKeY

 

[TigerWoman]

It's not about conditioning so close to a tournament. Just practice light. If I rest a couple of days, my muscles get real relaxed and form goes real smoothly then. Don't overthink it, it is just "tournament practice". Go have fun instead. TW

 

[Spook]

It's not about conditioning so close to a tournament. Just practice light. If I rest a couple of days, my muscles get real relaxed and form goes real smoothly then. Don't overthink it, it is just "tournament practice". Go have fun instead. TW

Well said, i condition hard up to a week before the event. Then i taper off, mainly stretch and do light target work. All the strength you bring into a competition is built way before the week of. Good Luck!!

 

[TX_BB]

Generally I like to plan my events a year in advance. That way I can plan strength, endurance and aerobic schedules together so that I can be ready for the day.

If you have eight weeks to train try this:

Do an inventory of the techniques you use, take the top 3 techniques and make sure that they occupy 60 % of TKD training in the first four weeks. This is the time to be doing strength training, if your not new to weight training try a five day split, if not go with a four day split. Not only do you work with your weight routines till momentary muscle failure, your TKD should feature explosive movement. Paddles, Bungee Cords, mirrors and camcorders are your friends at this stage. Remember to stretch after weight training and TKD practice.

After this the next two weeks I'd work primarily on aerobic capacity doing mostly running with biking for about 30-45 minutes. Cut weight training to a 3 day split. Your top 3 techniques should take about 80% TKD training time. You should be working on check reckognization drills, offensive combinations, foot work drills and heavy bags/shields.

Week 7: Weight workouts 3 day split-total body light work out using a higher rep routine(Cut weight by 50% and increase reps by 50% ie: 200 lb bench, 15 reps will become a 100 lb bench with 22 reps.). Go ahead and practice all your techniques again but be sure to include check reckognization drills and offensive combinations. Paddles should be the primary training aid.

Week 8: Active rest, swim early in the week(helps any swelling), stationary bike light resistance and poomsae. Watch stretching don't worry about making gains during this period.

 

[searcher]

It's not about conditioning so close to a tournament. Just practice light. If I rest a couple of days, my muscles get real relaxed and form goes real smoothly then. Don't overthink it, it is just "tournament practice". Go have fun instead. TW

Well said indeed! If you are not conditioned by the week before you are not going to get it. One week out should be all technical. Speed, power and conditioning take alot of time. Moderate exercise and technical refinement are the way to go.

 

[FearlessFreep]

Wel, perhaps "Conditioning" was the wrong term I meant more just general exercises, how hard you push, etc...

But I see tha point that a week out should focus on refinment of technique, etc...

I ask this because I just found out yesterday that the New Mexico Games are coming up next week and I'm thinking of entering (me and my kids) and I wanted to know what would be good to think about doing this week,. Bearing in mind that I don't really like to focus on tournaments or belt tests, etc... I try to be my best and some days or weeks I'm better than others. So who I am is who I am.

To me, in my approach to TKD, to me it's a thing that becomes part of your life and it's something you have ready at a moments notice, just in case. I mean, the ultimate is to be prepared to defend yourself if needed, but even just being balanaced and coordinated and focused and alert helps in so many ways in day to day living. Sparring is a fun competition, but it's also just a way of raising adrenline and trying to act and react quickly against an independent agent. So I don't really look at sparring as a way of competiting technique against technique, but of measuring my ability to relax and focus and execute quickly and respond quickly under stress. So in some ways, to put a lot of 'preperation' into an upcoming tournament sorta goes against my idea of being 'ready in season and out of season'.

Now granted there are cycles to everything. When my last son was born, my training and my exercises dropped off for a few weeks, and then I came back with a stronger desire to push harder. Building up sometimes requires tearing down and when I get into a harder level of effort, it does leave me sore until my body gets used to that new level of effort. So in my own life I know I'm not always at my best and my prayer is just that, if needed, I can be good enough, no matter where I am.

But I'm still learning how my body responds, so the bulk of my question was really more on how can I be best prepared to be at a strong point at that time. I know it's not a lot of time, but I'm not sure how long it takes for strength and stamina to increase. I didn't know if I pushed real hard the next few days, whether or not I could get extra strength going into this weekend, or whether it would just fatigue me (because I also don't know how long it takes to really recover).

I had planned on increasing my levels of some of my exercises, but it sounds like I should just stay at my current level for this week and focus more on precision, etc...

 

[Spookey]

Sir,

I think you have gotten the general knowledge of the bunch!

In one weeks time you will not build anything...a hard schedule the week of a competition will merely leave you tired at the wrong time. Work out the minor kinks in what you already know!

I am not a competitive martial artist as that is not my goal. Much like you I train for self defense and the love of the arts. However, weakness in competition can be weakness in real life (but not always). I incourage you to take note of any weaknesses that are uncovered during the competition and seek to rectify them in the immediate future!

TAEKWON!
SPooKeY

 

[Miles]

I too think you've received some excellent feedback.

Most of the tournaments in this area occur in the Fall/Winter.

We start the conditioning phase of our training at the first part of the year and then move into technical phase and finally to the competition phase.

During each phase, there are periods of higher and lower training intensities.

You don't really get much better in just a week, so consider these training phases for next year's games.

Good Luck!

Miles

 

[jkdhit]

i basically avoid as much as possible for a week before a tourn. but if im itching to do something, its normally just light sparring

 

[TX_BB]

Active Rest is the key the last week. Use this week to relax, unclutter your mind, fix the other things in life and let your prepartion sink in. Keep loose and have fun. Good Luck!!!

 

[TX_BB]

Freep,

How did it go?

 

[FearlessFreep]

Anti-Climactic but thanks for asking

There was no other adult competitors in the colored belts for Olympic style sparring. In forms there was one other guy but he was a dark blue belt in Tang Soo Do so he was much more advanced than me. We 'competed' for the fun of it, but he was really no contest. The worst part, though, is I continue to tense up and not relax and think clearly when in competition or under pressure.

But my kids did well in forms and sparring so it was a fun day all around. We're all qualified to go to the state games next month.

Anyone else going to be there?

 

[TX_BB]

Hey Freep,

Sorry your experience was not the best, but I'm glade you could make the best of it.

I'd like to reccommend the Fort Worth International in October see website - http://www.wonparktkd.com/ . This tournament should have decent competition with normally 1000+ competitors and competitors in the adult color belt level.

You'll also be able to put a full competition plan together so, that you'll be peaking at the correct time.

Good Luck