How can I train for 6 hours daily?

[Monkey Turned Wolf]

6 hours is to much 45 min to 1 hour is good dont over train your self

6 hours isn't overtraining if you can afford it, and your bodies healthy. If someone is trying for 6 hours a week, an hour max probably isn't good to them.

 

[isshinryuronin]

I have disagreed with Buka and Monkey regarding training 6+ hours per day. As I mentioned earlier, the masters of the mid 1800,'s to the early 1900's cautioned about overtraining, and these guys were as hard core as you can get. While modern MMA professionals may hit this training goal, these fighters came into training camp with MA experience and great conditioning. They also have expert coaches training and looking out for them, as well as some medical support. It is not a training schedule to take lightly.

I think 4 hours/day is more than enough for 99% of us normal people that are dedicated practitioners. There is also the burnout factor, especially for beginners. Remember the fable of the tortoise and the hare. Buka, if your post was not exaggerated, you are an aberration.

 

[Monkey Turned Wolf]

I have disagreed with Buka and Monkey regarding training 6+ hours per day. As I mentioned earlier, the masters of the mid 1800,'s to the early 1900's cautioned about overtraining, and these guys were as hard core as you can get. While modern MMA professionals may hit this training goal, these fighters came into training camp with MA experience and great conditioning. They also have expert coaches training and looking out for them, as well as some medical support. It is not a training schedule to take lightly.

I think 4 hours/day is more than enough for 99% of us normal people that are dedicated practitioners. There is also the burnout factor, especially for beginners. Remember the fable of the tortoise and the hare. Buka, if your post was not exaggerated, you are an aberration.

Just an FYI, OP is planning on becoming a professional martial artist (I believe owning a dojo but think he's mentioned conditioning before), and is also young enough he still has that awesome recovery rate. 6 hours also isn't too much if you space it out right-for instance, an hour jog right when you wake up, training for 1.5 hours around 10 or 11, going for an hour workout around 2 or 3, an hour at the dojo and an hour sparring in the evening, brings you to 5.5 hours.

 

[Flying Crane]

Just an FYI, OP is planning on becoming a professional martial artist (I believe owning a dojo but think he's mentioned conditioning before), and is also young enough he still has that awesome recovery rate. 6 hours also isn't too much if you space it out right-for instance, an hour jog right when you wake up, training for 1.5 hours around 10 or 11, going for an hour workout around 2 or 3, an hour at the dojo and an hour sparring in the evening, brings you to 5.5 hours.

The OP is a beginner. He does not know what he wants. He needs some real experience.

 

[Monkey Turned Wolf]

The OP is a beginner. He does not know what he wants. He needs some real experience.

I didn't recall him being a beginner, so just double checked. He came to the site 1.5 years ago, had been training TKD for 6 months before that, and had been training in boxing for 8 years before that as well, and he was still taking boxing when he joined here, and practiced judo/karate as a little kid before moving.

So his timeline would so he trained judo/karate pre 8 years old, from 8 to 16 trained boxing, then from 16 to present day, 2 years later, has been doing TKD. I wouldn't consider that a beginner, and at 18 years old it's exactly the time that he should be figuring out what he wants to do for his life, particularly if it involves something physical like martial arts.

 

[Flying Crane]

I didn't recall him being a beginner, so just double checked. He came to the site 1.5 years ago, had been training TKD for 6 months before that, and had been training in boxing for 8 years before that as well, and he was still taking boxing when he joined here, and practiced judo/karate as a little kid before moving.

So his timeline would so he trained judo/karate pre 8 years old, from 8 to 16 trained boxing, then from 16 to present day, 2 years later, has been doing TKD. I wouldn't consider that a beginner, and at 18 years old it's exactly the time that he should be figuring out what he wants to do for his life, particularly if it involves something physical like martial arts.

Where do you see that training history? I don’t see it in his profile.

 

[Monkey Turned Wolf]

Where do you see that training history? I don’t see it in his profile.

I went back to his first few posts. I remembered it being discussed when he first started posting. He is still a beginner of TKD, but he's had enough training to know if this is something he wants to continue. He had some other things mentioned I didn't, since from what I recall he's stopped training most but TKD now.

I am worried my inconsistency with styles is hurting my potential

Anybody heard of the WRSA board for Tae Kwon Do?

 

[Buka]

I have disagreed with Buka and Monkey regarding training 6+ hours per day. As I mentioned earlier, the masters of the mid 1800,'s to the early 1900's cautioned about overtraining, and these guys were as hard core as you can get. While modern MMA professionals may hit this training goal, these fighters came into training camp with MA experience and great conditioning. They also have expert coaches training and looking out for them, as well as some medical support. It is not a training schedule to take lightly.

I think 4 hours/day is more than enough for 99% of us normal people that are dedicated practitioners. There is also the burnout factor, especially for beginners. Remember the fable of the tortoise and the hare. Buka, if your post was not exaggerated, you are an aberration.

I vehemently disagree. With a cherry on top, actually. But it's not a big deal, just a discussion.

An aberration according to whom, exactly? You are opining on a subject I've lived for forty years. And you?

Please keep in mind, the martial arts of today are so much more advanced than the martial arts of the mid eighteen hundreds to the early nineteen hundreds it's not really in the conversation.

Again, the keys are " Six to eight hours is NOT too much if you have the time, place, opportunity, know how, experience and desire to do so.

So what are you telling me? That six to eight hours a day is not feasible? As for the "masters" of the 1800.'s to the early nineteen hundreds, these guys were as hard core as you could get?

Really? I disagree. They couldn't even imagine what "hard core" is today. How could they? Really, how could they? Martial training has progressed SO much since then it's - amazing. And WE are the benefactors.

Martial Arts has progressed twelve fold and then some. Opinions are one thing, actual training is something else entirely.

I trained hard for eight plus hours a day for many years, have you? Seriously? I did, as well as a bunch of other guys who were training with me. And a shout out to those guys, they had other things on their plate, I didn't, I trained for a living. And, yes, I knew how lucky I was, and still am today. But somehow, those other guys managed it anyway. Sure, some of them maybe went five hours, others only four. Except for the times they went all out and did more hours than I did. Just because.

To your point about beginners. Yes, of course, you are completely correct. Intense training is not, in any way, shape or form, anywhere near suitable for beginners. Or intermediates for that matter.

But putting boundaries on what the human spirit can achieve, and HAS already achieved, many times over on training floors all over the place, even in my little corner of the world?

No.
.

 

[drop bear]

If you worked an 8 hrs day and slept 7hrs you still have 9 hrs to squeeze in 6 hrs of training.

Which you could break up to 3 and 3.

 

[dvcochran]

If you worked an 8 hrs day and slept 7hrs you still have 9 hrs to squeeze in 6 hrs of training.

Which you could break up to 3 and 3.

Man oh man, the simplicity of a young person's life and way of thinking. I miss that sometimes.

 

[Ivan]

There are tons of examples of people that train 6 hours a day but as many have already said, it is not easy to dedicate your life to that sole purpose. You can try reading Judd Reid's "The Young Lions: 1000 days of Training Under a Karate Legend". It will give you an idea of the kind of dedication required and the lifestyle training becomes. Regardless of the type of MA's you want to do it is worthwhile to read about someone else's experience so that you can determine if this is the path you want to walk. Good luck.

Thanks this is really helpful.

 

[Ivan]

Jake's daily routine:

Morning
Agility training (cone drills, shuttle runs, sprints, etc.. 40 minutes

Break

Strength and conditioning workout (he gets a daily workout sent to him by a trainer) - 40 minutes

Break

30 minutes stretching

Afternoon

Skill training - 1 hour (Baseball or basketball drills)

Break

Karate skill training 60-75 minutes (alternating days - forms and weapons or sparring). For sparring, he does a lot of work on the heavy bag, focus mits, some drills with elastic bands, and then sometimes little sparring with me.

Does the strength and conditioning include weight work or just body weight exercises such as pushups? And how long do the breaks last? As for the basketball/baseball drills, how do they assist him with his karate?

 

[CB Jones]

Alot of the strength and conditioning is body weight with some dumbbell and kettle bell.

He has one 15 lb kettle bell and a set of adjustable weight dumbbells.

A lot of different types of pushups, twists and crunches, mambas, squat walks, different types of lunges and burpees, etc... The big thing with these workouts are that they are high intensity. They are mostly timed rounds of 6-8 minutes in which you try to get as many sets in as possible. After 4-6 rounds you are pretty spent.

Breaks vary depending on what he has to do that day (school work, chores, etc...). He doesn't worry about time as long as he gets his workouts in....he plans his workout and drill routine every night.

As for baseball, karate and baseball share a lot of the same principles when it comes to generating power. Basketball helps with agility and footwork along with a good aerobic exercise.

He also has started substituting a timed workout course in to his routine somedays that he makes up.

He sets up cones and sprints to each cone where he has a specific exercise or drill. For example:

100 yard uphill sprint to 8 spiderman pushups....then four 10 yard shuttle runs followed by 6 one legged burpes with kicks after each burpee....then 30 yard sprint to 10 Russian twists...then 80 lb bag carry 50 yards....to kicking drill then squat walk 20 yards to punching drill then 20 yard lunges.....and then back through the course in reverse order. He will run it a couple times and time himself.

He enjoys doing it and coming up with new courses.

 

[JowGaWolf]

I have disagreed with Buka and Monkey regarding training 6+ hours per day. As I mentioned earlier, the masters of the mid 1800,'s to the early 1900's cautioned about overtraining, and these guys were as hard core as you can get. While modern MMA professionals may hit this training goal, these fighters came into training camp with MA experience and great conditioning. They also have expert coaches training and looking out for them, as well as some medical support. It is not a training schedule to take lightly.

I think 4 hours/day is more than enough for 99% of us normal people that are dedicated practitioners. There is also the burnout factor, especially for beginners. Remember the fable of the tortoise and the hare. Buka, if your post was not exaggerated, you are an aberration.

When I was training for competition I would train 3 - 4 hours a day. A normal training session for me non-competition was 2 hours. For competitive training I increased my training by 2 hours so I could get some conditioning and weight training in. I would spend 2 hours on conditioning and 2 for fighting.

When I thought classes my classes were always 2 hours long and that was on Thursdays (sparring class) and Sundays (forms training). I think there's an assumption that a person who is training 4 and 5 hours a day is going full speed high intensity and that's just not the case. There's various components with training that doesn't require a person to go all out at 500% It's not like one of those high intensity, insanity work outs where you go as hard as your can for 30 minutes.

For me training kung fu. Just the sheer number of techniques to train is going to take more than a hour just to go through let alone really train it.

 

[isshinryuronin]

An aberration according to whom, exawctly? You are opining on a subject I've lived for forty years. And you?

Whoa! I meant an aberration (out of the ordinary) in the best way, as a humorous compliment.

Since you asked, I started karate in 1966, two hours twice a week. 1968, three times a week. By 1972, four to six hours per day, five or six times a week. I literally lived in a dojo for a year. The 70's were the good old days. Early 1980's, learned the foil from a former Olympic fencing coach (private lessons.) Mid 80's-mid 90's took off and worked out only sporadically as I was running a business and raising a family. Mid 1990's - spent almost 3 years, four hours per wk learning iaido (a few months out due to injury). All of my instructors were top quality and very well known. Late 90's, 4 hours karate per week.

A decade off with occasional karate self-workouts. Last two years, I have been training 6-8 hours per week under a high ranking sensei who spent several years in Okinawa, studying directly under 9th and 10th degrees. I have been very fortunate to train with the best over these many years. These times do not count my gym hours over the decades, nor hours spent reading on the subject of martial arts. Just recently I've taken on two black belts and two beginners as students, so am still very actively training and teaching.

You should know, Buka, from past posts, the range and depth of my experience, and that I do not BS, and am accurate in what I put out. I was surprised by your challenge. Martial arts has been a lifelong study and lifestyle for me for over 50 years. I geared my post, not to young stud pros like you once were, but, as I said in my post, to the vast majority of those training or thinking about starting - not the elite. If you're not that 1% dedicated, professional stud, taking on an 8 hr per day regimen can do more harm than good. If you are that 1%, great. I never said 8 hours/day couldn't be done. Just that caution must be used and the attempt not taken lightly. After all, not everyone can be a Buka.

 

[dvcochran]

When I was training for competition I would train 3 - 4 hours a day. A normal training session for me non-competition was 2 hours. For competitive training I increased my training by 2 hours so I could get some conditioning and weight training in. I would spend 2 hours on conditioning and 2 for fighting.

When I thought classes my classes were always 2 hours long and that was on Thursdays (sparring class) and Sundays (forms training). I think there's an assumption that a person who is training 4 and 5 hours a day is going full speed high intensity and that's just not the case. There's various components with training that doesn't require a person to go all out at 500% It's not like one of those high intensity, insanity work outs where you go as hard as your can for 30 minutes.

For me training kung fu. Just the sheer number of techniques to train is going to take more than a hour just to go through let alone really train it.

Very good point & post.
When I was in the circuit I would peak at training 4-5 hours/day 6 days/week. For a good portion of the year(s) I had 3 coaches, S&C, nutrition, and sparring. Every day was 2-3 hours S&C then the rest sparring and strategy. Every day we went up to 6 five minute rounds but only 2-3 days were full on. When possible we would alternate the sparring partner per round, to keep them fresh and for the obvious differences of sparring a different person.
Add to this the fact I still worked a 40 hour/week job (LEO) plus we were already farming and I look back and don't know how I did it. There was also a ton of travel involved.
I would love to have the motor I had in my younger days.

 

[isshinryuronin]

Please keep in mind, the martial arts of today are so much more advanced than the martial arts of the mid eighteen hundreds to the early nineteen hundreds it's not really in the conversation.

In many ways, this is true. Training tools are more advanced and there are indeed very committed hard core individuals. I grant that the physical techniques, too, have evolved. Kind of reminds me of Rocky 4 when the Russian was working out on computerized equipment with sport doctors, and Rocky was out in the snow, chopping wood and hefting logs. Modern methods and techniques do not automatically equate into superior performance (though does give some edge.) People of spirit and dedication span the globe and the centuries. These, of course, are the main ingredients.

A random thought to consider: What difference in spirit and dedication between one who has professional competitive aspirations and trains full time 6-8 hrs/day, and one who trains half that much (still a lot) purely for self development? Different goals, different rewards, different secondary benefits?

 

[Headhunter]

Oh boy we've gotten to the stage where people are whipping them out and comparing lengths.


Come on boys do we really need to go down the road of "I've done this, trained with them, trained for this long"

You guys are better than that

 

[Flying Crane]

Oh boy we've gotten to the stage where people are whipping them out and comparing lengths

Nah.

Context matters. Comments in a vacuum can be meaningless, or can be perceived in a manner that is not how they were intended.

One’s training history can add context to one’s comments.

 

[Headhunter]

Nah.

Context matters. Comments in a vacuum can be meaningless, or can be perceived in a manner that is not how they were intended.

One’s training history can add context to one’s comments.

Not really. I know plenty of people who've trained for a long time but they're still poor at what they do. Just feels like a lot of chest puffing which isn't needed. If I disagree with someone I won't suddenly agree with it because they have 100 years of experience