Hello Fellow Shotokan Karate-ka

Are you an Instructor?

If you run a Dojo, you know it can be a challenge to come up with new drill and new training routines, week after week, month after month.

I’m sure you know how important it is to have a fresh batch of drills and exercises available to keep your class motivated.

How would you like a fresh injection of karate drills that will have you INSPIRED, EAGER and ready to teach!

I’ve found something that can serve as your guide for years to come. It’s your source of inspiration, instruction and entertainment.

==> http://budurl.com/karatetips

You can easily print it and pop it in a binder and have it as a reference guide at your school for you and your instructors to refer to.

Here are a few samples of what you’ll find:

• 15 different kinds of pushups - actually it’s more than that when you combine them together to make the ultimate pushup challenge!

• Discover 6 endurance strength building drills to make your students harder, tougher martial artists.

• 5 fantastic kicking drills to develop coordination, focus and speed.

• 2 group drills for developing blocking & striking coordination, timing and footwork… all essential components of self defense, kata and sparring…

• How To Build Your Own Home Dojo for under $150!

• The KarateTips Home Training Routine

==> http://budurl.com/karatetips

Click on the link, and RE-ENERGIZE your karate!

Here’s to a lifetime of training!

MyShotokan

Related posts:

1. Sensei’s Office Updates
2. Dealing with Karate Belt-Exam Phobia with a Good Shotokan Belt Exam DVD
3. The Triumph of Will over Mediocre Ability

I’ve been watching her train and encouraging her this past year and she has been absolutely fantastic!  She is retired, and last year decided she was going to run a marathon.  It has been a difficult year with lots of ups and downs, but she has consistently trained and is going to go for it this Sunday.

Her attitude is better than that of athletes a third of her age, and we can all learn something from her.

But watch and read this short news story here about a group of wounded former and serving British soldiers who are in training to trek to the north pole next year.  Their injuries include paralysed arms and amputated legs and any psychological traumas that accompany them.

Walking With The Wounded

Yet they are managing to do something that most of us would barely contemplate!

Click here for the Walking With The Wounded webpage to find out more and be inspired.

Frank Gardner

Also, do you know about the reporter in the story, Frank Gardner?  He was shot 6 times and paralysed while reporting in Saudi Arabia.  But he was back in work 10 months later.  I remember seeing him back on the tv and thinking about what had happened to him and asking myself…

“So what can I do that comes even close to that?”

Click here to read what happened to him, and ask yourself the same question.

We humans are amazing creatures, capable of virtually anything!  All it takes is the will to take a tiny step in the right direction…and another, and another, and another…

The classic assessment is the Multistage Fitness test…or the bleep test.  Chances are you did this in school (and probably hated it!).

What is the Bleep test?

Bleep Test

• This is a maximal effort test.  In other words, you have to work as hard as you can until you can not work any more.  For this reason, it is not ideally suitable for absolute beginners or those with injuries/conditions that may be aggravated by this.
• An assessment for aerobic fitness.
• Gives an estimate of VO2max (the maximum amount of oxygen the body can process).
• A simple, cheap, repeatable assessment requiring minimal equipment.
• Suitable for individuals and large groups.
• There are 2 versions of the bleep test.  One is the 20 meter version, while the other is the 15 meter version.  Make sure you know which one you are doing and have the appropriate equipment and results tables!
• From now on, I will be talking about the 20 meter test…because that is the one I have experience with.

How to do the Bleep test?

Equipment needed:

• Flat, non-slip running surface of 25 meters or more.
• Suitable footwear
• Audio copy of the bleep test (click here to download our FREE mp3 copy).
• mp3/CD player to play the audio test on.
• 2 markers (a couple of cones, or old jumpers will do).
• 20 meter tape measure.

Preparation:

• Measure out a 20 meter distance on the floor and mark each end with your markers.
• Conduct a full and appropriate warm up.
• Stand at one marker.

The test itself:

• Press play and start the bleep test recording.
• Run back and forth from one marker to the other in time with the bleeps.
• Continue shuttle running back and forth from one marker to the other, in time with the bleeps, until you miss 3 consecutive bleeps.
• Make a note of the last successful level you completed.  This is your score.
• Conduct a full cool down and relax.

The details to remember:

• Start running from the markers at each bleep.
• Don’t get ahead of the bleeps and “bank” some for later.
• This is a continuous test.  You can’t miss a bleep or 2 and then carry on.
• You finish the test when you miss 3 bleeps in a row.  So if you only miss 1 or 2 then catch up…well done!  Carry on going until you miss 3 consecutive bleeps.
• Don’t cut the runs short by turning early.  Make sure your foot goes past the marker before you turn for the run back.
• Your score is the last level you successfully completed.  So if you pass level 10.1, but miss level 10.2, 10.3 and 10.4…your score is 10.1, not 10.4.
• This test is suitable for most people, except those with injuries/conditions that may be aggravated by maximum effort running.
• Runners, or people with experience with running will do better at this assessment than equally fit people without running experience.

Results.

You can use the table below to estimate your VO2max (maximum amount of oxygen your body can process).  Use the table below that to see if you are above or below average.

Estimate of VO2max from bleep test results.

Table indicating if your bleep test results are good or bad.

We were looking at Karens current training timetable and she cycles through “hard” and “easy” days each week.  What this meant was, she would crank it up to 11 and go all out on her “hard” days, but simply ease back and go through the motions on her “easy” days.

This kind of thing is ok for getting your body in the right condition, but doesn’t really do anything to improve your technique.  You can’t improve your technique if you are concentrating solely on going fast…and you can’t improve your technique if you are “going through the motions” and disengaging your brain.

So we simply changed the names of her workouts…nothing else has changed…just the names.  They are now “intensity” days and “technique” days.

• Intensity Days - the priority is working at a high enough intensity to improve her conditioning.  Don’t worry too much if the technique is a bit raggedy…just work the body hard enough to get a training response.
• Technique Days - the priority is getting her form perfect.  Don’t worry that she is not so fast today (she is supposed to be taking it easy today anyway), just make sure the form is spot on.

This way every training session has a goal to aim for and has a purpose.  There is never any “going through the motions”, and you don’t run the risk of burning yourself out by over training.

Even though only the names have changed, psychologically speaking, this makes a hell of a difference!

The same idea can be applied to any event.  We get better by working hard and getting fitter…and by moving better and more efficiently.

So instead of having “rest” or “easy” days…have “technique” days.  It keeps us moving and avoids us just filling time with “stuff”.

• Running a marathon
• Sprinting 100m
• Throwing a javelin
• Stepping into a ring for a fight

Now you might think “what the hell does this have to do with me…i’m not doing any of them, I just want to get a bit fitter for health/life/performance“.  Well here’s a real world situation…

I was talking to a new client in the gym the other night.  She is self employed in the restaurant business.  She regularly does 11 hour shifts where she is constantly on her feet, dashing from the front to the back of the house dealing with customers.

Now she was saying that she thought this would keep her fit.  But when she goes for a 10 minute burn on the treadmill with her friends, she ends up sweating, panting and more uncomfortable than her friends.

Does that mean she is not fit, she asks?

Hell no!  It just means she is fit in a different way.

Take a look at her training programme and get our heads round a few of training terms.  These are:

• Duration – quite simply how long something takes.  Something that lasts a few seconds is short duration, while something that lasts a few hours is long duration.
• Intensity – what fraction of “maximum effort” does an activity require.  eg a flat out sprint or a high jump will require 100% effort (your running very fast) but only for a short duration (therefore is high intensity).  A marathon might only need 50% effort (your running a lot slower) but for a long duration (therefore is low intensity).
• Training – this is all physical activity done by the body.  It is NOT just the time spent inside a shiny building with the word “Gym” on the front.  Your body adapts to physical stresses.  It does not know or care if it’s stresses in the gym, work or in your leisure time etc.

Low/High intensity Workouts

The vast majority of her current training is of fairly low intensity but very long duration (walking quickly for up to 11 hours in a shift).  She has been doing this training for years, so her body has adapted well to it and it comes easier to her now (how many of you can manage 11 hour shifts!).  But when she plays with her friends in the gym, she runs fast for 10 minutes on the treadmill.  This is a much higher intensity and much shorter duration than normal!  No wonder she finds it hard!  But it doesn’t mean she is unfit…far from it.  She is just fit in a different way.

At the moment, she will probably be very good at endurance events, and will almost certainly leave her friends for dust!  But she will find shorter, more intense events more of a challenge.

The moral of this story is that fitness is very specific…

“You get good at what you actually do”

So if your lifestyle/sport/hobby involves fairly fast and furious activities (like Karate etc) then make sure the bulk of your training reflects this.

If your lifestyle/sport/hobby involves less intense things that last longer (like hiking etc) then make sure the bulk of your training reflects this.

If you don’t, you won’t be as good at your lifestyle/sport/hobby and there is a chance you will become less good at them!

And as for getting hot, sweaty and out of breath being a sign of lack of fitness…Bullshit!

Usain Bolt looking hot, sweaty and out of breath.

Think back to any Olympic Games and remember how the athletes looked after they had just won their races…they all looked hot, sweaty and out of breath.  This does not mean Olympic Gold Medalists are unfit…it means they had just been working hard!  Which is what we all need to do to improve our fitness for health, life and performance!

But should you spend your hard earned cash on them?

I’m going to give a very quick run down of the 2 most popular things you will see out there:

• Sports/energy drinks
• Protein shakes

Sports/energy drinks.

These are usually marketed with funky science sounding words like “isotonic”, and “rehydration”.  The bottom line is, they are sugar and water.  Simple as that.  I actually make my own by mixing up a lemon flavoured cordial drink.

But they do work.  They do replace water you have lost by sweating loads, and they do replace carbohydrates used during hard exercise, allowing you to continue training hard.

BUT…this is only an issue if you are training HARD for about and hour or more (eg cycling/running/rowing/swimming HARD).  Notice the emphasis i’m placing on the word hard?

Training hard is not a nice jog on the treadmill, or a 30 minute pedal on the bike.  Training hard is when you have sweat literally pooling on the floor under you (not a single trickle of sweat on your brow).

Under these circumstances, then energy/sports drinks have been proven time and again to help people continue training hard.  If this doesn’t sound like your training (and unless you are a budding athlete, i doubt it does), then you will do just as well filling your bottle with water from the tap.  It will do you wonders, and its free!  Remember to drink little and often.  Thats the best way.

Protein Shakes.

Protein is the building blocks of the body.  When people want to get big and strong, they need to do lots of heavy weight training and have enough spare protein sloshing around in their body to be made into that new muscle.  So, many strength athletes top up the protein in their diets with protein shakes around their training times.  Again, protein shakes are an easy way to get plenty of protein in your body so it can be made into muscle, after you have been training hard.

BUT…when it comes to getting big and strong, doing plenty of heavy weight training must come first.  You will not get big and strong by drinking loads of protein shakes and not putting in the hours and hours of bloody hard work in the gym.

And anyway, all but the most hard-core weight trainers will probably get plenty of protein in their normal diet.  Any excess protein is treated in just the same way as any other excess calorie.  It will end up as fat.

And a small thought for everyone who is using protein shakes.  Have you ever thought of using milk instead?  Evolved over millions of years to be the perfect substance to help every mammal on the planet to grow up fast.

Just a thought.  What do you think?

In Conclusion…

Sports/energy drinks and protein shakes do help people who are training hard.

But, (and this is the important bit, so listen carefully!) unless you are training hard, you won’t see any benefit.

It is like having a massive spoiler on the back of a car.  Yes, it makes a huge difference when your driving round a track very very fast, and performance will suffer without it.

Useful spoiler

But, unless you are going round a track very very fast, you won’t notice any difference, it won’t really help…and you risk looking like a bit of a knob

Pointless spoiler

One last point for everyone to remember (from normal people to top athletes)…sports drinks and protein shakes are there to supplement a healthy diet, not substitute it.  You must have a healthy diet sorted out, or there is no point spending money on any supplements.

Just like there is no point putting big spoilers on a car…if you’re not putting petrol in, but trying to run it on recycled chip-shop-fat!

“just keep moving“.

Shuttle Runs (10 lengths)

Star Jumps (holding dumbbells to make it harder)

Squat Press

Pad Work

Skipping

Squat thrusts

Spotty Dogs

Kettlebell Swing

The Plank on a medicine ball

The pace was dictated by the runner again.  They did 10 lengths and then we all changed stations.

There is a reason we usually do these circuits for time, as opposed to repetitions.  Our group is a very mixed one.  We have people who are scarily fit playing right next to mere mortals.  And by spending only a certain amount of time at each station allows everyone to go at their own pace.

If you are scary fit, you might manage 100 repetitions in the time, while a mere mortal might only manage 50 reps…but everyone gets a bloody good workout!

And at the end of the day…thats all that matters

She got 4th in the 800 metre freestyle (only missing out on the bronze by 0.6 sec! ), and knocking 3 seconds off her personal best!

She got 3rd in the 400 metre freestyle (yay!!! )

And she got 13th in the open water freestyle, knocking a fantastic 3 minutes off her personal best!

Karen Driver Swimming

We have trained together a lot here in the gym, and we worked hard to make the time as productive as possible.  She spends hours every day in the pool, so the last thing she needs is “work for works sake” in the gym.  We scaled back on exercises that were not helping her with swimming and fine tuned others to make them as specific as possible to her events.

The only reason we were in the gym was to improve her swimming time.  So there was no thought of showing off, posing in the mirror, or doing the things the bodybuilding boys were doing.

“If it did not directly help with improving her swim time, we didn’t bother with it.”

I loved every minute of training with her, because we got loads of strange looks from all the bodybuilding boys confused as to what we were doing.  I even got told i was training “wrong” because i wasn’t “isolating the muscles”!  The human body does not work in isolation.  It is 1 incredibly complex unit that needs to work in a coordinated fashion.  So that’s how it should be trained.

The most important moves we were doing were big, compound exercises (full depth heavy squats, pullups etc), explosive plyometrics for the legs (to help improve her turns) and very swimming specific moves on the cable machine (so we were “swimming” on dry land!).

Barbell Squat

Vertical jump

It highlighted a big difference between people in the gym.  Some come in and do things because it looks good/sexy/cool (and they read it in a magazine that sell a lot of “supplements”), and we come in and do things because they WORK!

What kind of person are you?

There is a common misconception that if you so much as look at a weight, you will turn into Arnold Schwarzenegger.  This is not true.  Using weights in different ways will have vastly different effects on your body.  Weights are commonly used for:

Virtually every elite athlete in the world uses weights, from marathon runners to sprinters, and from ballet dancers to heavyweight boxers.  They use them in different ways and end up with very different abilities and body shapes.

Although there are many reasons to use weights, most of the general public end up using them for aesthetic reasons – to get the body shape they desire.

Here you will see some of the different ways to use weights and get different results.
But first, an explanation of some of the jargon:

Reps - or repetitions.  This is the maximum number of times you can move the weight safely in one go, before it gets too heavy.  eg “10 reps” is “10 times”.

Sets - a “group” of reps.  So in the above example, you would move the weight for 1 set of 10 reps, have a breather, then move the weight for a second set of 10 reps.

Rest between sets - exactly what it sounds like.  You have a rest between sets.  Let your body recover, shake and loosen your limbs and recover before starting your next set.  Don’t neglect your rests!  They are important!

2.  Toning

Aims - To firm and tighten up a body.  This often is a mixture of endurance (for healthy, lean muscles) and hypertrophy (to avoid a “skeleton” look).

Examples - many dancers and models have a classic “toned” body.

Guidelines - How to train for “tone”.

Notes - There is no single definition for a “toned” body.  Everybody has their own opinion and it usually changes with the current fashion.  But it is the most commonly asked for body shape in the gym.  It usually means a combination of low body fat levels (see our “How to Lose Weight” infosheet) and good muscular definition.

This will bring about an increase in muscle definition, rather than muscle size.  Best suited for your average person who just wants to get “a bit more toned”.

3. Hypertrophy

Aims - To increase the physical size of muscles, or to “bulk up”.

Examples - Rugby players, bodybuilders, American footballers.

Guidelines - How to train for size:

Notes - This is the kind of weight training most people think about and is often done for aesthetic reasons.  Best suited for those who have a definite safety advantage in being big (eg rugby players) and those who want to “bulk up”.

4. Muscular Endurance

Aims - The aim of endurance training is to improve the ability of the muscles to work continuously for a long time without getting tired.

Examples - people who train for endurance include marathon runners, long distance swimmers & soldiers.

Guidelines - How to train for endurance:

Notes - This will bring about hardly any increase in the size of your muscles.  Best suited for those who find their limbs start to feel “heavy” before they have finished.

5.  Maximum Strength

Aims - to maximise the strength produced by the muscles you already have. This way you become stronger but not bigger/heavier.

Examples - boxers, high/long jumpers, runners for all distances, cyclists, soldiers.

Guidelines - How to train for Maximum Strength.

Notes - This training will have little effect on the size of your muscles.  It improves the bodys nervous system, so making the muscles you already have work much more efficiently.

This way a relatively small Amir Khan (pictured) can be much stronger than a much larger bodybuilder, who only trains for muscle size.

Best suited for advanced trainers where a good strength:weight ratio is needed.  This is not suitable for beginners.

Your body works on the “good enough” principle.  That means your muscles will only get “good enough” to cope with what you are currently doing, then they will stop improving.  For further improvement you have to constantly push them out of their comfort zones, forcing them to get toned/stronger/bigger/better.

If you have any questions about fitness and how you can improve it, contact us for a free consultation.