Want to get in decent shape for martial arts club

[danvh]

Running and biking will all help, but honestly the best thing might just be to do it. Your going to need a while to get into good enough shape to just jump right in, so might as well just jump in and feel like your going to die for a month..

Though if you are going to run, you might wanna try HIIT. Maybe mix in some wind sprints. A lot of MMA is bursts of activity, then trying to slow your heart and breathing back down to do it again..

By the way. We have lots of people that come into the MMA classes I take that are out of shape. As long as you give it everything you can, no one is going to look down at you (least no one worth a damn).

[Blarg]

If you go to dragondoor.com and check their forums, they have a good search engines and many articles and forum posts on BJJ and fitness. Not all are kettlebell related either, so don't let that put you off.

[Rearden]

OP,

If youre truly interested in it best of luck. Gappling isn't at all a bad hobby. My post was more applicable to some folks with the idea that "I'm going to take a martial art just to get in shape"... for them any martial art is a bad fit whereas a gym is not. That being said you'll obviously gain experience in conditioning and be able to evaluate your strengths and weaknesses better after doing it; but that shouldn't deter you from hitting the gym if you want to up your conditioning for anything.

Just starting out your technique and lack of experience will be your weak points... but you can and should do everything possible to prevent conditioning in terms of cardio, flexibility, and overall strength from every being weak points.... it'll pay off later and in the short term make the classes that much more focused.

[Blarg]

[ QUOTE ]
Why not focus on getting in shape before even joining the class?

The point of taking a martial arts class should be to learn the martial art not to be gasping for air as the techniques and lessons pass you by. Taking a martial art when youre not seriously interested, or just for the purpose of getting in shape, is in my opinion a big mistake which wastes your time and the rest of the class for folks who are there to learn.


[/ QUOTE ]

Agreed on this. It takes quite a while to get in good enough shape for a good martial arts class, and if you just start going to one without being in shape, the chances that you will quit are going to be extremely high. You may have fun when your head isn't spinning and you aren't seeing spots in front of your eyes and your arms and legs don't feel like lead, but that will be way less time than you think, and so you won't really be getting what you pay for. It also not bad to be in a bit worse shape than others, but it kind of sucks to be falling all over the place while others are still doing fine. And then they're able to do techniques while you're still basically gassed into the huh? wha? stage.

People just seem, in my experience, to be far happier with classes they can at least come pretty close to keeping up with. There's no shame in realizing your limitations and just taking a few months to get your body -- and mind, and ego -- ready. After all, you are going to be asking a lot of it, and needing preparation for something like that is natural.

You'll still get gassed in a tough class, but if you're already in shape you will recover much quicker, be less injury-prone, and you'll get your mind back and alert faster. It's a lot easier to learn when you can actually focus your eyes.