# Ab Conditioning



## Thai Boxer Briefs (Apr 27, 2007)

Hi guys, I was just wondering what you guys do for ab toughening and conditioning.  I'm still getting the wind knocked out of me a little bit even though I do ab workouts all the time.  

Any advice appreciated, thank you.


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## Carol (Apr 27, 2007)

Conditioning is good but how is your breathing?  If you're getting the wind knocked out of you it sounds like you are not breathing out hard and fast when you get hit...?


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## Thai Boxer Briefs (Apr 27, 2007)

i was thinking that could be a possibility, too.  thanks for the advice =)


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## zDom (Apr 28, 2007)

Thai Boxer Briefs said:


> Hi guys, I was just wondering what you guys do for ab toughening and conditioning.  I'm still getting the wind knocked out of me a little bit even though I do ab workouts all the time.
> 
> Any advice appreciated, thank you.



Not a Muay Thai guy, but for ab conditioning and general core strength in hapkido classs, we do hundreds of situps  generally a minimum of a single set of 100 during the warmup, but as many as 300 or 400 total during a regular class.

During an advanced belt class, we've done a single set of 550, or more broken up into several sets.

We also do several hundred leg lifts and circular leg lifts.

One way to work your way up is to alternate sets of 20 to 40 or so between situps, leg lifts and circular leg lifts, like

20 situps,
20 leg lifts,
20 circular left lift clockwise
20 circular leg lifts counterclockwise

do the whole thing four or five times.

There are other variations, but generally speaking it is just a matter of (what some people would call) high reps for us on a regular basis


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## terryl965 (Apr 28, 2007)

crunches crunches and more crunches that will do it for the next twenty year and those abs will be like a rock. remember 500 a day keeps those bulges away.


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## thaistyle (Apr 29, 2007)

I do crunches, reverse crunches, leg raises and v-ups for strength and conditioning.  To avoid getting the wind knocked out of you, you have to tighten up and exhale forcefully and fast when you get hit as Carol said.


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## zDom (Apr 30, 2007)

thaistyle said:


> To avoid getting the wind knocked out of you, you have to tighten up and exhale forcefully and fast when you get hit as Carol said.



Yep  this has always worked pretty well for me, too.


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## bushidomartialarts (Apr 30, 2007)

also watch your body angle.  when i started i got the wind knocked out of me all the time.  my coach told me to shift my stance so i'm at an angle to my partner.  the breadbasket shots started glancing off and all was well from that day forward.

small change, big difference.


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## oddball (Apr 30, 2007)

As crappy as this is, have a friend with a medicine ball, and throw it into each other's abs (catch after it hits) - helps with timing for breathing and getting hit.


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## HKphooey (Apr 30, 2007)

I like slant board sit ups and roman chair leg lifts.


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## stickarts (May 1, 2007)

Crunches, twists, leg raises, roman chair, slant board, and as many variations as I can think of which also keeps it interesting.
Sparring itself and taking shots seems to add to the conditioning too.


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## King (May 1, 2007)

Wind getting knocked outta ya? Well the only thing that worked for me was to improve my defense  I mean there's practically no natural defenses (no rib cage/thick ab muscles) protecting your solar plexus area (where the diaphram sits) where you can get one-hit body KO if you're un-prepared. So crunches and various ab workouts offer small improvement.

As mentioned earlier by Carol getting caught with a body blow with full lungs is not a good thing. Also noted by stickarts that learning to take shots mentally prepares you for it so your body knows how to aborb/react under that stress. 

Hrnmm, I don't really like sharing my tricks but I'll let this one go. Sometimes I leave my stomach area open as bait and when they punch low I'd use the same side elbow to spike their fist. Not sure if it's dirty pool but it's a good tool to dissuade them from throwing body shots. Good luck with your training.


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