Many people who have been spending quite some time in a gym often start thinking about changing it up for a sport, and often their choice is – martial arts. It’s understandable: martial arts (such as MMA, boxing, kickboxing, muay thai, judo, jiu-jitsu and others) develop many physical characteristic that aren’t only strength and stamina that we mostly train in a gym, but also coordination of movements, the ability to think through tactics and strategy of combat, speed and strength endurance. That is why many athletes at one time or another in their lives think that it would be nice for them to master this or that type of martial art. But not all of them know that at the very beginning of the change of sports activity they will face difficulties: in this article we will tell you what the coaches who took the chance to buy Instagram followers and have pretty perfect pictures will never tell you. We will review 3 weak points that those people who are planning to move from the gym to the martial arts hall definitely have.
- Joints. Mainly, the joints of the wrists and shoulders, sometimes (if the legs are involved in the blows of this martial art) – the knees. Before you come to class, take a few weeks (or preferably months) to include exercises to strengthen these joints into your training program. Mostly it should be static exercises, like planks and weight holds for the hands, and specialized static exercises for the legs. Do not forget that before training, the joints should definitely be warmed up well – a high load on a cold joint will not strengthen it, but only destroy it.
- Coordination of movements. Of course, the most active work on coordination will begin right during your martial arts classes, but to prepare yourself for this, we recommend that you include exercises for uncoordinated hand and foot work in your training plan. We will not give specific examples, since all this is easy to Google, but we note that among them there must be running exercises with the participation of hands, which will also help you develop your endurance. Just wait, later you will thank us for this advice!
- And the last, least pleasant one, the one that has never been shown in the accounts of trainers who buy followers on Instagram – the exercises for training the vestibular apparatus. What, you may ask? We’re not talking about astronauts, are we? The fact is that falls and disorientation are a frequent occurrence in the process of any fights, so you should gradually prepare yourself for this feeling. In fact, you don’t need any devices for basic training: start with simple somersaults, learn to somersault back and forth – you can do it yourself if you haven’t had neck or shoulder injuries in the past. Move slowly and use preparatory exercises. Trust us , if you come to the first lesson with this skill behind your back, you will definitely feel more confident than other beginners.
These three are the base that you will feel grateful for when you will start your martial art training. Plus, we would also like to note that there is never enough of the core training. The core muscles in martial arts are used not only for taking body blows and grouping during strikes, but also for rapid movements in different planes of the upper and lower parts of the body – this advice will be especially relevant for boxers. Pay attention to your oblique abdominal muscles and rectus abdominis – in order for classes to be easy, they must be sufficiently hypertrophied and hardy.
Use these tips to prepare and do not spare time for them in the gym: adapt your training routine and the change of sport will be smooth and fun for you. Good luck!