Improve endurance for testing

[The_Awesome_User]

I want to try and get my 3rd Dan this year but I don't have anywhere near the amount of endurence id like to have to perform well during the whole test. It's a demonstration so most of the moves are jumping and spining kick combinations, however we do one hand breaking tec. You use two inwards knife hands at the same time to break two boards. I'm not quite as worried about breaking but I think I could use more accuracy to hit the centre of the board. We also use a barrage of hand tec at the start. The test is around one hour but it could be longer (and easier!) depending on how many people are testing (usually around 1-3). There is no real deadline I have to meet. I just turned fifteen this year and I am 6 foot 2 inches and growing. I weigh around 135 lbs. how should I prepare for such a test? if you need any more info just ask.

 

[WaterGal]

Are you talking about cardio endurance? Try running or biking for 30 minutes 2-3 times a week after school. If that gets easy, do it for an hour.

If you want to practice board breaks, you can buy "rebreakable boards" online that are basically two pieces of plastic that fit together to form a "board" that you can break in half. You have to hit right in the center, so that will help with the accuracy.

 

[The_Awesome_User]

Are you talking about cardio endurance? Try running or biking for 30 minutes 2-3 times a week after school. If that gets easy, do it for an hour.

If you want to practice board breaks, you can buy "rebreakable boards" online that are basically two pieces of plastic that fit together to form a "board" that you can break in half. You have to hit right in the center, so that will help with the accuracy.

Sort of. More intense then biking. Sporadic bursts of muscle movement. Like jumps, strikes and kicks. Not a steady use of energy like running and biking. This makes it more challenging as you need to be able to maintain enough energy to perform such bursts.

 

[The_Awesome_User]

I think I need to eat more though. 6 foot 2 inches should be like at least 160 and I am only 130. I'm in the lightest wieght division for my age and am also the tallest.

 

[Jaeimseu]

Sort of. More intense then biking. Sporadic bursts of muscle movement. Like jumps, strikes and kicks. Not a steady use of energy like running and biking. This makes it more challenging as you need to be able to maintain enough energy to perform such bursts.

Try jumping rope or running sprints in timed rounds. Go as fast as you can for 30 seconds and then rest 30 seconds. Do three rounds or so. When 30 seconds becomes sustainable, up it to 45 seconds, then 60 seconds. That will better simulate the bursts of energy you need in Taekwondo.

 

[WaterGal]

I like Jaeimseu's suggestions.

Another drill you could try is "suicides", which you may have done if you ever played soccer. What you do is set up a series of cones (or sticks or whatever) in a line, and then you sprint from the "start" to the first cone and back, then from the start to the second cone and back, and so on. You could also set up cones in a zig-zag or other pattern and run it as fast as you can.

Also, search on youtube for "plyometrics". These are drills that train the kind of thing you're looking for. For example, if you have access to a sturdy bench/step/folded up mat, you can practice jumping up onto the bench and back down, over and over again. This is good cardio and should help with your jump kicks too. There are a lot of drills like that.

Also, do you have a punching bag at home or school that you could use? You can set a timer and practice seeing, say, how fast can you throw 50 roundhouse kicks. How many times you can kick in a minute. Stuff like that.

 

[Flatfish]

I'm old and had (still have) endurance issues during sparring but doing some kind of interval training like the posts above suggest did help a lot.
Things that I do are:
sprints, 200m, then rest for 30s, then go again for 8 to 10 rounds
at the gym on the rowing machine: 30s full blast, 30s slower, the full blast gain for 10 rounds or so
heavy bag training 2-2:30 rounds, 1 min break, go again for 8-10 rounds or so

It makes a difference

 

[The DC]

Sort of. More intense then biking. Sporadic bursts of muscle movement. Like jumps, strikes and kicks. Not a steady use of energy like running and biking. This makes it more challenging as you need to be able to maintain enough energy to perform such bursts.

Cycling isn't always "a steady use of energy",not every type of riding is road cycling Try mtn biking on a singlespeed bike with lots of hills (short/steep and sporadic),and interval training on or off road

 

[RTKDCMB]

I am going to give you the most obvious suggestion: Go to as many of your classes as you can and practice at home as often as you can and train hard, that way you will work out the same mussels that you will be using at your grading.

 

[Earl Weiss]

The first step in solving a problem is defining it. You want ot improve endurance but don't mention if the issue is Cardio / breathing or if the muscles are getting fatigued too early. If it's Cardio, then the best answer is -Run-. Fighters run long distance to improve cardio. When I was going long distance 5+ miles, the sparring cardio was infinite. It's said that once you hit 5 miles Cardio is no longer an issue for running. From there the muscle endurance needs to be improved. At that point the "Law of Specificity kicks in. While other training can help, only doing the specific motion will help with muscle endurance for that activity.

With Plyometrics, especialy on a young developing body, perform in moderation and land on a padded surface.

 

[Tgace]

Nothing beats simply doing what it is you have to do. If you need to punch and kick for an extended period....punch and kick for a workout.

Sent from my XT1080 using Tapatalk

 

[ks - learning to fly]

your test is only an hour..??? four words: train hard - fight easy

 

[Dirty Dog]

your test is only an hour..??? four words: train hard - fight easy

I've never personally seen any sense in long belt tests.
Our geup tests are 30 minutes. Less for lower geup ranks. Dan ranks? An hour, max.
Why? Because they're not tests. We're tested every day. The "test" is just a demo of what the student is already doing on a regular basis. And for Dan ranks, an excuse for a dojang party.

But I agree that regardless of the test details, if you've been training hard, the test will be easy.


Sent from an old fashioned 300 baud acoustic modem by whistling into the handset. Not TapaTalk. Really.

 

[ks - learning to fly]

I've never personally seen any sense in long belt tests.
Our geup tests are 30 minutes. Less for lower geup ranks. Dan ranks? An hour, max.
Why? Because they're not tests. We're tested every day. The "test" is just a demo of what the student is already doing on a regular basis. And for Dan ranks, an excuse for a dojang party.

But I agree that regardless of the test details, if you've been training hard, the test will be easy.


Sent from an old fashioned 300 baud acoustic modem by whistling into the handset. Not TapaTalk. Really.

Respectfully - I agree that we're tested every day, absolutely - however; our Dan tests are 3 hours and
our keup tests are no less than an hour

 

[Dirty Dog]

Respectfully - I agree that we're tested every day, absolutely - however; our Dan tests are 3 hours and
our keup tests are no less than an hour

Nothing wrong with that. It's just not something I see any sense in doing. We are a small, non-commercial program, so it's not like we're testing large groups.
There are plenty of schools at the other extreme, where promotions amount to "here's your new belt. Now let's get back to class."
Not how I'd do it, either, but it works for them.


Sent from an old fashioned 300 baud acoustic modem by whistling into the handset. Not TapaTalk. Really.

 

[Earl Weiss]

"length of Test" can be somewhat misleading. Oftne times several ransk are testing or many people. That requires groups to swap out as different groups are tested on different stuff. So, if diffferent groups are actualy performing in an alternating or sequential format and for example all are actually "Out on the floor" for the same length of time, and you have 3 groups (Say 1-3 Dan) and the entire process lasts 3 hours did each really test for 3 hours, or one hour?

In the old days with a typical storefront this is how we did gup tests and it took a few hours. Now, in a large park District gym we can test 3-4 Groups at the same time on different parts of the floor. Lower ranks get done quicker and higher gups may take 45 minutes to an hour. Everyone likes this better. Downside is lower ranks don't get to see upper ranks perform. So, the elapsed time for the entire group is 1 hour, but if you added up the time for each group it would be 4 hours.

BB Tests are done with the ohter format, swapping out ranks, It also includes a longer breaking component and Ho Sin Sul part so they do last a few hours depending on # of people and ranks.