Maintaining a steady exercise or martial arts training routine over the summer can be challenging.
There’s a number of potential road blocks that could be standing between you and your regular training regimen during the summer months. Changes in your work or school hours could mess up your recreational plans. Trips and staycations can alter your routine, too. If you play seasonal sports like baseball or beach volleyball, you might not have the same amount of time and energy to dedicate to other pursuits as you do in the off-season. Weather, especially extreme heat, can also throw a wrench in your workout plans. Even those of us who had big plans or training goals set for this summer might find ourselves working on altered schedules.
The good news is that fall and its more routine-friendly schedules, activities, and weather is getting a little closer. And it might be a little easier to get back into the swing of things.
If you’d like to get in a little more training before you make the jump back into your regular routine, here are five tips to help you reestablish focus, fitness, and discipline before you go back to martial arts school.
Ramp Up Slowly
Depending on where you are, the new school year might still be a few weeks away. Fall is a few weeks later still. If you start now, there’s still time to put together a relatively comfortable program that will slowly build you back up before you jump back into your martial art.
Take a look at the amount of time you have to work with. Make an honest assessment of where you are now. Then look at where you want to be at the end of the time you have to work with. Start with small amounts of the exercises and drills that will get you from A to B as soon as possible and increase your load by about 10% each week.
Try an End of Summer Review
Make a list of the techniques you were working on before your schedule had its own summer break. Write down what you remember about each move. Then try them out and see how they feel. (If any of your techniques require a partner, see if a training buddy might be available to work with you. Or ask a friend or family member if they might be interested in holding pads or putting on a gi top so you can practice on them. If neither of those options are available to you, this blog has a number of solo drill alternatives here.)
Take note of how the techniques feel while you’re doing them. Does everything make sense? Do you feel like you’re missing any details? Is your physical conditioning still on point? If you still feel solid, that’s great! If you notice any holes in your game, that’s okay, too. The very act of trying again is part of the rebuilding process. From there, you can either start to work on your problem areas on your own, or make a note to address them when you return to the gym.
Cross Train
If you don’t have the equipment or the training partners to work on the specific techniques you want to tune up, look at what other exercises could help you get back in the best shape possible for that technique. For example, if you feel like punches aren’t as accurate or strong as they used to be, you can put together an upper body workout designed to improve your muscular strength and endurance. If your cardio for Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu or submission wrestling feels off, put down a set of mats and practice ground-based conditioning drills like mountain climbers and shrimping/hip escapes.
There’s no single exercise routine that’s going to get you in shape for martial arts quite like the martial arts training itself will, but you can take this time to build a level of fitness that will get you at least part of the way there.
Train Your Brain
If the rest of your summer doesn’t leave you with enough time or energy to work on your physical skills, why not focus on the mental side of martial arts training?
Download an app that enables you to work on your concentration. Play memory games. Meditate. Visualize your martial arts training and what aspects of your game you’d like to focus on when you get back into the swing of things. Even if you’re strapped for time, every little bit counts. You can even do these mental workouts while you’re on the way to or from other activities.
Those minutes of extra brain work add up over time and can help to get your mind back in fighting shape.
Dive In
If you don’t really have the time or energy to start getting back into physical or mental shape for your martial arts training, there is another option: don’t force it! Relax and enjoy the rest of whatever is keeping you busy right now. (Or enjoy whatever downtime you have if whatever is keeping you away from the gym isn’t fun stuff.)
The gym will be there when you’re ready for it. And you can responsibly dive back in and get to work when you’re ready.
If you haven’t already seen it, be sure to check out our 2024 Back To School shopping guide. And if you find anything you like, don’t forget to use the code AUG50 at checkout to get 50% off all retail orders at AWMA.com until August 31.
