It’s spring. The weather is finally warming up. It’s a great time to try a little training in the great outdoors.
Spring is ideal for outdoor martial arts training and cross-training exercises. It’s warm enough that you can train comfortably without having to layer up, but not so hot that you have to start worrying about wicking fabrics and heatstroke prevention just yet. You can just get outside and enjoy a little sunshine and fresh air while you focus on getting the most out of your workout.
To help you get started this spring, we’ve put together some of our favorite martial arts-themed workout ideas. And we’ve added a few gear suggestions to make your training even more comfortable and effective.
Let’s take it outside.
Karate
The Workout: Footwork Drills
What You Need: weather appropriate workout gear like a rash guard and shorts (or your Karate uniform, if you’d like), mats or shoes that will support your feet on grass or pavement, a timer.
How To Do It: Pick five sports-specific Karate footwork drills (like the Karate bounce, shuffle steps, and lead steps) and five general footwork//cardio drills (like the carioca, tuck jumps, or jogging with high knees).
Clear a space that will give you a few feet of leeway in each direction. Set your timer for one minute intervals and start putting your drills together. Start with one minute of Karate footwork. Then do a minute of cardio. Then switch to active recovery with a minute of toe taps or walking on the spot. Repeat until you’ve done all five exercises.
If you add a five minute warm-up and cool down, you’ve got a fun and challenging 25 minute outdoor workout on your hands.
Boxing
The Workout: Shadowboxing Ladders
What You Need: a rash guard, boxing shorts, boxing shoes, optional mats if you need a more stable or cushioned surface, optional boxing gloves if you want to add an extra muscular and cardiovascular endurance challenge
How To Do It: Clear a space that will give you some room to move in every direction — and make sure that you’re only boxing shadows, and not random branches, street signs, or people. Start your workout with 100 straights (or 50x jab cross combos). Reset, take a quick breath, and do 90. Repeat with 80, and 70, cycling down to 10. Take a minute or two of active recovery, then reset and start again with 100-to-10 hooks. Then do it again with uppercuts. If you’ve still got energy left, try doing sets in the opposite direction, starting with 10 punches and working your way up to 100.
It might sound simple on paper, but in practice it’s a fun and surprisingly challenging workout for your mind as well as your body. Especially when you start climbing back up.
Jiu-Jitsu
The Workout: Solo Mat Blast
What You Need: a Jiu-Jitsu gi or no-gi gear like a rash guard and grappling shorts (so that you can comfortably move around during your drills), a set of jigsaw mats, a timer.
How To Do It: Pick five mat-based solo jiu-jitsu drills (like sprawls, triangle choke setups, or hip escapes) and five general cardio/movement drills (like bunny hops, or bear crawls in place). Find a free and relatively even patch of ground and set up your mats. Set your timer for one minute intervals and go! Start with a mat drill, then move on to cardio, and follow up with one minute of active recovery like marching in place. Move on to the next mat and cardio drills with another rest. Repeat until you’ve finished all five of each type.
Just like the Karate drill above, this makes a great 25 minute workout if you add a warmup and cool down. It will improve your cardio and general muscle strength, and help sharpen your jiu-jitsu fundamentals.
Cross-Training
The Workout: Hill Sprints
What You Need: seasonally appropriate exercise gear like a rash guard and shorts, running shoes, a hill (or a stretch of ground with upward slant if you don’t have any proper hills nearby).
How To Do It: Walk at a moderate pace for five minutes to warm up. Then move to the bottom of your hill to start. Sprint up the hill, using about 90% of your maximum effort, and stop at the top. Once you’re there, you can catch your breath, turn around, and use the walk back down the hill as your active recovery period. At the bottom, turn around and sprint back up again. If you’re just getting started with running and higher intensity cardio training, 3-5 reps is a great start for this kind of workout. If you have a more solid cardio background, you can try pushing to the 7-10 range.
Hill repeats are an excellent way to improve your cardio, but they can also help develop your general body awareness and the muscles in your feet and legs. All of which are beneficial to martial artists of every discipline.
