A Lot of Conditioning and Endurance Training, But You Still Get Tired. Why?

Great! So I see that my mobile blogging worked. Now I can write short entries and send in pics even when I'm away from my laptop. I probably will take more pics now throughout the day and add them to the blog.

To all the blog visitors, thanks for dropping by and reading regularly. I re-read a few of my posts earlier and realized that I sometimes mix up words and have typos here and there. I write my blog entries on the fly (i.e. quickly in between classes, when I'm taking a break from working, and/or late when I'm sleepy). I don't go back and re-read my posts and check for mistakes. So, forgive me if I don't make sense sometimes because of any mistakes in spelling/wording, etc. None of the typos were so bad that you couldn't understand what I was trying to say. I don't suspect it will ever get that bad.

I've wrote a number of posts dealing with developing athletes' physical attributes, such as intensity, power and strength, and conditioning. I wanted to change things up a bit and hopefully get some of you thinking about your training from a different angle.

If you've been training in the martial arts for a long time, especially if you compete, you probably have worked hard to improve your cardio. However, you've probably experienced the situation where you wonder why you get so tired quickly despite the fact that you train your cardio religiously. How many of you feel this way? You run a lot (sprints and long runs), you do a lot of pad work, you spar for hours; yet, you seem to get tired easily. What's the reason?

I believe most endurance problems stem from a lack of condition or improper training methods. Nonetheless, there is another reason that people tend to overlook. You might lack technical knowledge and strategy--in other words, you might need to develop more skill.

I've taught a number of great athletes--people who were hardcore wrestlers, runners, boxers, etc.--but when they spar MMA or BJJ for the first few times (maybe even longer), they remark that they've never been so tired or that they are gassing too soon. But why? These people have great endurance. Yes, they do; but they lacked "know-how." If you are not as technically skilled as your opponent, do not have solid strategies to make an opponent play your game, or cannot adapt well to changing situations, you will fall back on your physical attributes. You'll have to use more speed and power. Basically, you will use up a lot more energy than you need or want.

Let's take a hypothetical example. Say you are in a MMA match and you drive a person against the cage or the ropes. Great, you are in a pretty good position and situation. But, what do you do now? A skilled professional fighter will have an entire game plan just for that position/situation. The fighter will have a lot of techniques to go to, will understand different strategies he/she can use, and will be able to adapt to his opponent's different reactions because the fighter is "skilled" in the area of taking down his opponent against the ropes/cage. The professional fighter will be able to use his energy efficiently and effectively.

In contrast, take a fighter who may have great conditioning, but lacks "know how." What do you think is going to happen? You guessed right. He/she is going to get tired pretty quick. Although the fighter may be in a better position, if the person doesn't know what to do, there will be a lot of wasted movement. Likewise, because the person is not skilled in the position, he/she will constantly worry and mentally tire themselves out, trying to figure out what to do next or how to react. It happens all the time.

Proper technique, strategy development, and skill development go a long way. Combined with great conditioning, an athlete can go places. If you lack one though, it's a weakness that can be exploited.

If you're tiring easily these days, don't just tell yourself you have to do more conditioning. The problem may be rooted somewhere else. Think about improving your technique.

Tags: technique, training, conditioning, mixed martial arts, brazilian jiu jitsu