More vs Less Training Time

[PhotonGuy]

Lets say a student of the martial arts goes to class three times a week for an hour each time. That would be three hours a week. If that same student were to go only once a week for an hour that would of course be one hour a week. For a student who is able to go three hours a week, they will no doubt progress further in their art in a week if they do train for three hours a week instead of just one hour a week.

Anyway, there can be all sorts of reasons why a student might only train one hour a week instead of three. Maybe their schedule only allows one hour a week, maybe they are only doing it for fun and feel one hour a week is adequate. But the fact remains that they will go further in a week's time if they do three hours a week instead of just one. In one week they will have learned what they would've learned in three weeks if they were to do only one hour a week.

So anyway, is a student being impatient by choosing to train three hours a week instead of just one?

 

[Yokozuna514]

Lets say a student of the martial arts goes to class three times a week for an hour each time. That would be three hours a week. If that same student were to go only once a week for an hour that would of course be one hour a week. For a student who is able to go three hours a week, they will no doubt progress further in their art in a week if they do train for three hours a week instead of just one hour a week.

Anyway, there can be all sorts of reasons why a student might only train one hour a week instead of three. Maybe their schedule only allows one hour a week, maybe they are only doing it for fun and feel one hour a week is adequate. But the fact remains that they will go further in a week's time if they do three hours a week instead of just one. In one week they will have learned what they would've learned in three weeks if they were to do only one hour a week.

So anyway, is a student being impatient by choosing to train three hours a week instead of just one?

"Impatient" ? Based on what you wrote it is difficult for me to give any feedback but if we are talking broad strokes here, all things created equally, more time on the floor is better than less time. However, the caveat to that is and always will be that quality will trump quantity in most aspects of training. Sure there are many students that you can qualify as "impatient" but wanting to spend more time on the floor is generally not something I identify as being "impatient".

 

[Headhunter]

So if someone chooses to train more than once a week they're impatient?....hmm well that's a...unique way of looking at it

 

[daviddz]

It really depends on the student’s goals.

If they are only interested in getting exercise so they can loose weight and get in shape, 1 hour a week just isn’t going to cut it.

If the student is going because their children are also taking a martial art, and they just want to better understand what their child is doing, then it might be plenty.

My daughter goes 4 and 5 days a week,because she really enjoys it. To her, it is just fun. I see it being much more than that for her, so I encourage her.

Since she started doing martial arts, it got me back into it as well. So I am also at the dojo 4 and 5 times a week.



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[jobo]

Lets say a student of the martial arts goes to class three times a week for an hour each time. That would be three hours a week. If that same student were to go only once a week for an hour that would of course be one hour a week. For a student who is able to go three hours a week, they will no doubt progress further in their art in a week if they do train for three hours a week instead of just one hour a week.

Anyway, there can be all sorts of reasons why a student might only train one hour a week instead of three. Maybe their schedule only allows one hour a week, maybe they are only doing it for fun and feel one hour a week is adequate. But the fact remains that they will go further in a week's time if they do three hours a week instead of just one. In one week they will have learned what they would've learned in three weeks if they were to do only one hour a week.

So anyway, is a student being impatient by choosing to train three hours a week instead of just one?

it may seem counter intuitive, but sometimes, quite a lot of the time less is more, theres no guarantee that three times a week is better than two, or twice is better 5han once, so therefore no guarantee that three is better than one. it depends on an awful lot of factors both personal and how the class is structured.

I find once a week, then a few lots of 10 mins scattered through the rest of the week to cement/ practise what iv3 learnt to be optimum. and just about tops out my boredom threshold

any more than that and the extra times is negated by the fact I'd rather be somewhere else doing something a lit less repetitive and general involving women. then I come back refreshed and keen the week after. that and it interferes with my fitness program

 

[skribs]

Lets say a student of the martial arts goes to class three times a week for an hour each time. That would be three hours a week. If that same student were to go only once a week for an hour that would of course be one hour a week. For a student who is able to go three hours a week, they will no doubt progress further in their art in a week if they do train for three hours a week instead of just one hour a week.

Anyway, there can be all sorts of reasons why a student might only train one hour a week instead of three. Maybe their schedule only allows one hour a week, maybe they are only doing it for fun and feel one hour a week is adequate. But the fact remains that they will go further in a week's time if they do three hours a week instead of just one. In one week they will have learned what they would've learned in three weeks if they were to do only one hour a week.

So anyway, is a student being impatient by choosing to train three hours a week instead of just one?

1 hour vs. 3 hours a week, it's kind of hard to see that distinction. I don't know of many that train 1 hour a week, and the one I have that does, it is really hard to learn things in because you have a week to forget it. I've found 3 hours to be the sweet spot for improving. Even if someone trains more, I don't think they are "impatient", but I do think they will burn out. I've seen it happen more often than not.

Of course, I may not be the best person to ask. I've been told I'm impatient because I ask too many questions.

 

[Gerry Seymour]

Lets say a student of the martial arts goes to class three times a week for an hour each time. That would be three hours a week. If that same student were to go only once a week for an hour that would of course be one hour a week. For a student who is able to go three hours a week, they will no doubt progress further in their art in a week if they do train for three hours a week instead of just one hour a week.

Anyway, there can be all sorts of reasons why a student might only train one hour a week instead of three. Maybe their schedule only allows one hour a week, maybe they are only doing it for fun and feel one hour a week is adequate. But the fact remains that they will go further in a week's time if they do three hours a week instead of just one. In one week they will have learned what they would've learned in three weeks if they were to do only one hour a week.

So anyway, is a student being impatient by choosing to train three hours a week instead of just one?

I don't think there's anything inherently impatient about that. They may simply be more interested, have more time available, etc.

I'll also point out that someone training 3 hours a week will generally learn more in a week than the same person training 1 hour a week. Training just once a week (as is the current case for my classes), there's much time to forget information and movement between classes. Every class is spent partly just trying to rebuild what was forgotten. Take those same students and have them train an hour Mon/Wed/Fri, and they'll have much better recall at the beginning of each hour. They will also get more fitness benefits from whatever moving and stretching is done.

 

[skribs]

I don't think there's anything inherently impatient about that. They may simply be more interested, have more time available, etc.

I'll also point out that someone training 3 hours a week will generally learn more in a week than the same person training 1 hour a week. Training just once a week (as is the current case for my classes), there's much time to forget information and movement between classes. Every class is spent partly just trying to rebuild what was forgotten. Take those same students and have them train an hour Mon/Wed/Fri, and they'll have much better recall at the beginning of each hour. They will also get more fitness benefits from whatever moving and stretching is done.

Mon/Wed/Fri is perfect, or any other variant where there's a similar spread (Mon/Wed/Sat or Tue/Thur/Sat). I think 3 days a week is the point for most people at which they do less re-learning of the forgotten material. I noticed a big difference going from 2 to 3 days, not much going from 3 to 4 or 4 to 6. You will build muscle memory faster the more you train, but 3 days seems to be the "sweet spot" where you get the biggest benefit by increasing your days.

 

[Gerry Seymour]

Mon/Wed/Fri is perfect, or any other variant where there's a similar spread (Mon/Wed/Sat or Tue/Thur/Sat). I think 3 days a week is the point for most people at which they do less re-learning of the forgotten material. I noticed a big difference going from 2 to 3 days, not much going from 3 to 4 or 4 to 6. You will build muscle memory faster the more you train, but 3 days seems to be the "sweet spot" where you get the biggest benefit by increasing your days.

Agreed. Training 2 days a week for the same 3 hours usually results in a big gap between two days. Folks train something like Mon/Wed, then have 5 days to forget things before their next class. Add in a Friday or Saturday class, and suddenly they only have 2 days off at any given time.

 

[skribs]

Agreed. Training 2 days a week for the same 3 hours usually results in a big gap between two days. Folks train something like Mon/Wed, then have 5 days to forget things before their next class. Add in a Friday or Saturday class, and suddenly they only have 2 days off at any given time.

And if they miss a day, they're not gone a whole week.

 

[Flying Crane]

Three hours a week is actually not much training. In the beginning that may be fine, but as one progresses and has more to work on, it won’t be enough for actual progress.

Is is possible to overtrain and suffer from burnout, or to simply have diminishing returns due to exhaustion and needing rest time and time to mentally process the training. We have discussed that issue in the past. But three hours a week is a long way from that threshold.

 

[skribs]

Three hours a week is actually not much training. In the beginning that may be fine, but as one progresses and has more to work on, it won’t be enough for actual progress.

Is is possible to overtrain and suffer from burnout, or to simply have diminishing returns due to exhaustion and needing rest time and time to mentally process the training. We have discussed that issue in the past. But three hours a week is a long way from that threshold.

I think this is talking about class time, not about total time practicing.

Although I agree, if it's total time then both numbers are woefully insufficient.

 

[W.Bridges]

I don't believe you would get much from just 1 hour a week. 3 hours a week is good if that is just in the class room. At the TKD school my son and I attend is only two days a week wish it was more days a week. I still do 3 hours of class room training do to one of the days there is also an advance class right after the all belt class. We both practice at home through the week.

 

[Monkey Turned Wolf]

Mon/Wed/Fri is perfect, or any other variant where there's a similar spread (Mon/Wed/Sat or Tue/Thur/Sat). I think 3 days a week is the point for most people at which they do less re-learning of the forgotten material. I noticed a big difference going from 2 to 3 days, not much going from 3 to 4 or 4 to 6. You will build muscle memory faster the more you train, but 3 days seems to be the "sweet spot" where you get the biggest benefit by increasing your days.

I really think mathematically so much stuff would be easier if weeks were 6 days long rather than 7

 

[skribs]

I really think mathematically so much stuff would be easier if weeks were 6 days long rather than 7

I've had similar discussions on music theory forums regarding scales.

 

[CB Jones]

but I do think they will burn out.

Depends on the person and the situation. I know many that have been training well over 3 hours a week for years.

 

[Dirty Dog]

Is this the 53rd, or 54th time you've asked this same question, thinking you'll get a different answer? I've lost count.

 

[skribs]

Depends on the person and the situation. I know many that have been training well over 3 hours a week for years.

I was mainly referring to the people who jump into the deep end before testing the water. The white belt that signs up for every additional class he can because martial arts is fun! And then quickly realizes it's not as fun when he's not a black belt in 6 months.

Most of the people who go 4+ days a week at my dojang started out at 2 days a week and kept adding on over time.

 

[skribs]

Is this the 53rd, or 54th time you've asked this same question, thinking you'll get a different answer? I've lost count.

Eh, it's new to me.

 

[PhotonGuy]

"Impatient" ? Based on what you wrote it is difficult for me to give any feedback but if we are talking broad strokes here, all things created equally, more time on the floor is better than less time. However, the caveat to that is and always will be that quality will trump quantity in most aspects of training. Sure there are many students that you can qualify as "impatient" but wanting to spend more time on the floor is generally not something I identify as being "impatient".

I would have to agree, that if excessive quantity results in a decrease in quality than it is the quantity that should be reduced until the quality is back at its peak, however, I don't believe in most cases training three hours a week instead of one will reduce the quality of that training at all.

As for wanting to spend more time on the floor, if a student's reason for doing so is because they want to reach a certain skill level in fewer weeks, would that be impatient?