Shai Hulud
Purple Belt
The title subject of this thread is something we all have to live with as martial artists/practitioners/combat athletes. To some, it's a supplement to increase performance; to others, it's the end goal (fitness & health).
So how do you do it? How do you train for strength, endurance and/or cardiovascular health for your chosen martial art? What's your attitude or philosophy in approaching it?
I practice Sambo at a proper gym/school here in St. Petersburg, so my S&C routines are usually fixed and at the very least adjusted by my instructors to suit the art. I train 3x a week (M/W/F; 7pm onwards), with each session roughly 2.5-3.5 hours long (3.5 if I'm feeling 100%). Each session opens with 10 minutes of static stretching, and another 10 for joint mobility exercises. [EDIT: breakfalls and rolls are drilled before isolated drills. That takes about 10-15 minutes too!] Approximately 30-45 minutes is then spent drilling different grappling techniques (I'm still something of a novice in the sport, and striking techniques are taught in the higher ranks, so I don't worry about those yet) in isolation with light to medium resistance. The next 30min to 1hr is devoted to sparring and having instructors observe and sometimes step in to correct me in the process.
What follows is about 15-20 minutes** of conditioning work to gas me out for endurance. It's heavily structured so I can break it down here:
- 3 min sledgehammer training
- 8 min Kettlebell workout (Tabata Protocol; mostly pulls e.g. swings, snatches, high pulls and cleans; HIIT)
- 2 min sandbag work (fireman's carries and dead-lifts)
I wrap it up with stretching. I don't really do anything on Tuesdays and Thursdays to let myself recover (I still have graduate school and part time work on the side). I do work out at my flat on Saturdays and Sunday though. Saturdays are for endurance and strength, and on Sundays I have a simple active recovery workout.
Saturdays: (long session consisting of 3 workouts each called "stations"; 15-30 minute breather between stations)
Station 1: "Noble Iron Burpees" by Patrick Jernigan, RKC II
- 2x 16kg kettlebells
- double clean+double jerk+double renegade row
- 5 sets of 5 reps
Station 2: "The Speed Triple - Fatigue Management" by Mark Toomey, RKC
- fatigue management workout consisting of snatches, pull-ups and modified push-ups
Station 3: (this last station I'll sometimes take hours to finish. I like to spread it out throughout the day, unlike stations 1 and 2 which I do first thing in the morning before breakfast)
- One-Hand Push-Ups: 1 set of 15 for each arm
- Pistol Squats (1-legged squats): 1 set of 20 for each leg
- Tactical Pull-Ups (no use of thumbs): 5 sets of 5
- Hanging Leg Raises (3 sets of 15) [leg raises done hanging from pull-up bar]
- Full Back Bridges: 2 sets of 10
Sometimes, especially if I feel like mixing it up, I'll use alternative bodyweight exercises. They're not replacements though - just temporary alternatives to keep things from getting too stale. I'm usually back to the basic 5 by the following weekend.
Sundays: (Active Recovery)
"Sunday Swings" by Chris Holder, RKC
- snatch w/ right hand
- DARC transfer swing to left hand
- snatch w/ left hand
- DARC transfer swing back to right hand
* It stops at a total of 40 snatches. This is one round. I do 4 rounds total.
I have a set of simple movement through awareness exercises from Thomas Hanna and Personal Growth exercises from Moshe Feldenkrais I do every morning and evening. Somewhere between meditation and cooling myself down every morning and evening. Helps keep my nervous and immune system from caving in from the strain I put on them throughout the week.
My diet is simple: little to no processed food, low-carb, high-protein and high fiber. Liver, Kale, Garlic and Broccoli feature heavily.
Currently my body fat level floats around 15-17%; every month I like to take one workout day out (usually Saturday volunteers) to set PR's for myself just so I can log them and keep track of my progress. As of March 7 I can cover 100m in approx. 28.6 seconds, deadlift approx. 150% of my body-weight, and have no problem pressing 100lb for a max of 5 reps.
Your turn, MT!
**1-2 minute breaks in between stations
So how do you do it? How do you train for strength, endurance and/or cardiovascular health for your chosen martial art? What's your attitude or philosophy in approaching it?
I practice Sambo at a proper gym/school here in St. Petersburg, so my S&C routines are usually fixed and at the very least adjusted by my instructors to suit the art. I train 3x a week (M/W/F; 7pm onwards), with each session roughly 2.5-3.5 hours long (3.5 if I'm feeling 100%). Each session opens with 10 minutes of static stretching, and another 10 for joint mobility exercises. [EDIT: breakfalls and rolls are drilled before isolated drills. That takes about 10-15 minutes too!] Approximately 30-45 minutes is then spent drilling different grappling techniques (I'm still something of a novice in the sport, and striking techniques are taught in the higher ranks, so I don't worry about those yet) in isolation with light to medium resistance. The next 30min to 1hr is devoted to sparring and having instructors observe and sometimes step in to correct me in the process.
What follows is about 15-20 minutes** of conditioning work to gas me out for endurance. It's heavily structured so I can break it down here:
- 3 min sledgehammer training
- 8 min Kettlebell workout (Tabata Protocol; mostly pulls e.g. swings, snatches, high pulls and cleans; HIIT)
- 2 min sandbag work (fireman's carries and dead-lifts)
I wrap it up with stretching. I don't really do anything on Tuesdays and Thursdays to let myself recover (I still have graduate school and part time work on the side). I do work out at my flat on Saturdays and Sunday though. Saturdays are for endurance and strength, and on Sundays I have a simple active recovery workout.
Saturdays: (long session consisting of 3 workouts each called "stations"; 15-30 minute breather between stations)
Station 1: "Noble Iron Burpees" by Patrick Jernigan, RKC II
- 2x 16kg kettlebells
- double clean+double jerk+double renegade row
- 5 sets of 5 reps
Station 2: "The Speed Triple - Fatigue Management" by Mark Toomey, RKC
- fatigue management workout consisting of snatches, pull-ups and modified push-ups
Station 3: (this last station I'll sometimes take hours to finish. I like to spread it out throughout the day, unlike stations 1 and 2 which I do first thing in the morning before breakfast)
- One-Hand Push-Ups: 1 set of 15 for each arm
- Pistol Squats (1-legged squats): 1 set of 20 for each leg
- Tactical Pull-Ups (no use of thumbs): 5 sets of 5
- Hanging Leg Raises (3 sets of 15) [leg raises done hanging from pull-up bar]
- Full Back Bridges: 2 sets of 10
Sometimes, especially if I feel like mixing it up, I'll use alternative bodyweight exercises. They're not replacements though - just temporary alternatives to keep things from getting too stale. I'm usually back to the basic 5 by the following weekend.
Sundays: (Active Recovery)
"Sunday Swings" by Chris Holder, RKC
- snatch w/ right hand
- DARC transfer swing to left hand
- snatch w/ left hand
- DARC transfer swing back to right hand
* It stops at a total of 40 snatches. This is one round. I do 4 rounds total.
I have a set of simple movement through awareness exercises from Thomas Hanna and Personal Growth exercises from Moshe Feldenkrais I do every morning and evening. Somewhere between meditation and cooling myself down every morning and evening. Helps keep my nervous and immune system from caving in from the strain I put on them throughout the week.
My diet is simple: little to no processed food, low-carb, high-protein and high fiber. Liver, Kale, Garlic and Broccoli feature heavily.
Currently my body fat level floats around 15-17%; every month I like to take one workout day out (usually Saturday volunteers) to set PR's for myself just so I can log them and keep track of my progress. As of March 7 I can cover 100m in approx. 28.6 seconds, deadlift approx. 150% of my body-weight, and have no problem pressing 100lb for a max of 5 reps.Your turn, MT!
**1-2 minute breaks in between stations
Last edited:
